In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” T.S. Eliot weaves a dark variation of the classic interpretation of a love song. Despite the use of rhyme, repetition and hints at unrequited love, traditional to love songs, the text reads like the ramblings of an unsettled mind. Twisting and turning through tunnels of thought fraught with anxiety, fear and repression coupled with allusions of grandeur. Eliot’s clever use imagery reveals the intricate facets of a personality to convey a solitary, obsessive, egocentric man crippled by indecision and fear. Utilizing clever word choices reveal the secrets of a man who is both the creator and victim of his own destiny. In the first stanza the speaker invites the readers on a quest that ends in a question they are not allowed to ask. The ensuing lines project a dismal solitary life of seedy hotels and lowly restaurants. The employment of similes, “Like a patient etherized upon a table (line 3) and “Like a tedious argument of insidious intent”(lines 8-9) is a suggestion that he is paralyzed and ineffectual in his ability to control his choices and resulting consequences. …show more content…
Fear and anxiety are expressed in the placement of the women. The women along with their ideas of masculinity are set-aside in a room, which prevents him from acting on his desires and protects his fragile