"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock": Character Sketch

Paper Summary:

This paper provides an analysis of the character of J. Alfred Prufrock in T.S. Eliot's poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". The paper depicts Prufrock's fears, insecurities and views in the society he lives in and uses quotes and lines from the poem to support the analysis.

From the Paper:

"J. Alfred Prufrock, the main character in the poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", by T.S. Eliot, appears to be an unhappy man aware of his weaknesses and riddled with self doubts. Prufrock is portrayed as someone who is in despair and helpless. He feels as if he has never accomplished anything in his life and is painfully aware of his failures: "For I have known them all already, known them all:/ Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,/ I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;/ I know the voices dying with a dying fall/ Beneath the music from a farther room/ So how should I presume?" (Eliot, 1917, Lines 55-60). This awareness of his failures is what puts Prufrock in despair: "But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed,/ Though I have seen my head [grown slightly bald] brought in upon a platter,/ I am no prophet-and here's no great matter." (Eliot, 1917, Lines 87-89). He mocks himself for being too weak and too helpless to turn his life around. This very helplessness fills him with panic and despair: "When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,/ Then how should I begin/ To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?/ And how should I presume?" (Eliot, 1917, Lines 64-67). Prufrock, to put it bluntly, is clueless on how to start over and to pick up the pieces. He perceives himself as doomed to his fate: "Till human voices wake us, and we drown." (Eliot, 1917, Line 138), "I do not think they will sing to me." (Eliot, 1917, Line 131)."

More papers on "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock": Character Sketch:

• Comparison Essay # 8122 : "T.S. Elliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
• Book Review # 74590 : "T.S Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
• Analytical Essay # 54214 : "Setting in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: