FREE ESSAY ON "THE LOVE SONG OF J. ALFRED PRUFROCK" BY T.S. ELLIOT

"THE LOVE SONG OF J. ALFRED PRUFROCK" BY T.S. ELLIOT

Nobody Can Hear Me
In the poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," T. S. Elliot uses a vast amount of
symbolism to depict the fantasy feelings of his character. Of the many he chooses, I feel
the epigraph is the most important in setting the overall feeling of J. Alfred Prufrock.
T. S. Elliot chose to take the lines, spoken by the character of Count Guido da
Montefelltro from Dante's Inferno," and use them as the epigraph to his poem. In this
story, Dante meets the punished Guido in the Eighth chasm of Hell. Guido explains that he
is speaking freely to Dante only because he believes Dante is one of the dead who could
never return to earth to report what he says. Translated from the original Italian, the
lines are as follows: If I thought that my reply would be to someone who would ever
return to earth, this flame would remain without further movement; but as no one has ever
returned alive from this gulf, if what I hear is true, I can answer you with no fear of
infamy (pg. 831). J. Alfred Prufrock, the speaker of this ironic monologue, is a modern,
urban man who, like many of his kind, feels isolated and incapable of decisive action.
The use of this epigraph suggests that Prufrock is one of the damned and that he speaks
only because he is sure no one will listen, yet at the same time is unable to speak of
the love he feels for the woman. Since the reader is overhearing his thoughts, the poem
seems at first rather incoherent. But Prufrock repeats certain phrases and returns to
certain core ideas as the poem progresses. The you and I of the opening line includes the
reader, suggesting that only by accompanying Prufrock can one understand his fears and
problems with intimacy.
Throughout the poem Prufrock imagines his arrival, his attempt to converse intimately
with the woman whose love he seeks, and his ultimate failure to make her understand him.
Prufrock has attended such parties many times and knows how it will be, and this
knowledge makes him hesitate out of fear that any attempt to push beyond simple polite
conversation, to make some claim on the woman's affections, will meet with a
frustratingly polite refusal. Prufrock would like more than anything to speak of love to
this woman, but he does not dare. Deciding not to try, Prufrock questions whether his
efforts would have been worthwhile. He excuses his fear by rationalizing that his
speaking to the woman would not have achieved any real response.