by Tricia Psarreas Murray

Created on: June 11, 2009

In T. S. Eliot's poem, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," the reader is struck with numerous complex themes. The most complicated aspect of the poem, however, is not the situation itself, but the mindset of the main character. J. Alfred Prufrock is a man who lives in a mundane world where people simply go through the motions rather than actually live. As a result of living in this world, the narrator is bored, lonely, and hopeless. While he would ultimately like to find love and change his lifestyle, his cowardice and fear make that impossible.

Prufrock's fears are first brought up at the beginning of the poem, when he states, "Let us go then, you and I, / When the evening is spread out against the sky/ Like a patient etherized upon a table" (lines 1-3). The unpleasantness of that image immediately makes the reader aware that this will not be a conventional love poem. On the contrary, the reader can see that the idea of going to meet this woman makes Prufrock feel as helpless as a surgery patient.

As the poem progresses, Prufrock's reluctance to meet and propose to this woman is further explained. The aristocratic world in which he lives is full of idle chatter about things that are meant to have importance, such as art. Rather than having genuine interest in these subjects, the women only talk about them because that is what they are meant to do while they engage in their cycle of teacups (Fryxell). Although Prufrock detests the women who "...come and go/ Talking of Michelangelo" (lines 13-14), he knows that he is part of that group and he is equally guilty of doing that which he hates.

The lifelessness of his social group also applies to other areas of Prufrock's life. As is evident by his fixation on his baldness, the main character is just as concentrated on his appearance as the elite women are on theirs (Fryxell). In fact, everybody in his elite circle seems to have abandoned anything of true value for the appearance of a good life. Much like all of the others, Prufrock's life has no real meaning. He states, "I have measured out my life with coffee spoons" (line 51), to emphasize this.

Despite the fact that Prufrock is bored with his existence, he still shows that he is lonely and that he would like to take a chance and ask this woman to marry him. Unfortunately, his cowardice prevents him from actually doing that, so he makes excuses. He saves himself from taking a chance by telling himself that he is simply procrastinating.

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