T. S. Eliot (Thomas Stearns)

Born in St. Louis, to wealthy family Went to Harvard as undergraduate –Published number of poems in Harvard Advocate. When W W 1 broke out, he went to live in England Influenced by Ezra Pound –Urged him to publish “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

Early works focused on frustration and despair of life in modern times and utilized new techniques In 1922, he published his most influential work: The Waste Land –This poem contrasts the lack of spirituality in modern Europe with the values of the past Became an English citizen in 1927 and a member of the Church of England in 1928

Changes in his citizenship and focus on religion enabled him to change the themes of his writing Eliot felt these new themes could serve as a healer for the spiritually lacking society he wrote about in The Waste Land

He also became a playwright. –First major play was Murder in the Cathedral, based on the death of Thomas a Becket Received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1948.

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” Stream of Consciousness writing style Narrator uses “you” and “I” when referring to himself because he sees himself as conflicted –One part eager to take action –One part wants to hold back This poem is a variation of a dramatic monologue

Summary of Poem Prufrock is main character: modern man-- overeducated, eloquent, neurotic, and emotionally unequipped Prufrock wants to tell this woman how he feels about her, but he never really does. Instead he just debates with himself if he should tell her how he feels. His self image is not a good one, often referring to himself as aging, a Fool, and going unnoticed by younger women

Dramatic Monologue Like a soliloquy Has 3 main components –The speech is specifically addressed to a specific person in a particular moment –The person the speaker is addressing is not really present, but rather implied –The purpose of the monologue is to reveal character traits of the speaker

Does this poem meet the 3 criteria of a dramatic monologue?

Questions What allusions are used in the poem? What does the “yellow smoke”/”yellow fog” in lines refer to? What is Prufrock’s image of himself? (lines ; line 83; lines ) In lines , list 4 adjectives he uses to describe himself. Do you see a conflict between them?

Why would the women be coming and going talking of Michelangelo? Prufrock is acknowledging that he is NOT in fact someone they, the women, would talk about. Contrasting his image of himself to that of Michelangelo’s work (see lines 39-44)

What about Hamlet? Prufrock acknowledges he is NOT the Prince of Denmark Mocking the fact that he is aging and the only way he could be younger is if he could go backwards like a crab. By the way, crabs are bottom feeders of the sea –Interesting it is this animal he wishes he should be

And Lazarus? The love of this woman would bring him back from the dead, but since he won’t tell her, he won’t be resurrected at all.