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The Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrocks description of the urban environment and the
personas expression of his inner thoughts create a disconnection of humanity.
Link to question and embed quotes. The sordid city Eliot describes in his poem
could refer to St. Louis where he grew up or London, to which Elliot moved to in
1914. Eliot was heavily influenced by Dantes works and begins his poem with an
epigraph from Dates Inferno. The epigraphs notion of Guido being condemned
in hell parallels Prufrocks own inner hell of isolation and disconnection to
humanity. Synecdoche is utilised when Prufrock reduces people to faces, eyes
and arms. This conveys that Prufrock believes he is judged on his outward
appearance and also does the same to others. He is self-conscious about his
body shown through the anaphora of his indecisiveness. "I shall wear the
bottoms of my trousers rolled. Shall I part my hair behind? So I dare to eat a
peach? I shall wear white flannelled trousers, and walk upon the beach." Prufrock
is afraid to make a fool of himself and does not interact with anyone resulting in
his disconnection from society. Eliot shows Prufrocks inferiority through the
metaphor of the yellow fog as a cat. Prufrock limits himself to the corners of the
evening; and becomes the victim of ridicule and condescension represented by
the soot that falls from chimneys. In this way, Eliot utilises poetic devices to
support the notion that ones isolation can lead to a disconnection of humanity.
Eliot uses his life experiences to depict the notion of suffering in Preludes. Link to
question embed quotes. Preludes was written in England early in Eliots poetic
career and concerned the quality of life due to the unrelenting thirst for urban
expansion during the industrial revolution. The poem conveys the mundane and
repetitive nature of society in the urbanised modern world. In each description of
urban life, the different times are emphasized in each prelude. The short line
length of Six oclock and the personification of the morning as it comes to
consciousness, highlight the unchanging cycle of day and night. The cyclical
monotony of the poems structure is dull and repetitive, parallel with the lifestyle
of modern society. Eliot combines the tiresome rain beating down with the rhyme
of words such as passageways/days, wraps/scraps and lots/pots. The
repetitions of the plural words add a sense of weariness to the poem and
emphasises the dull routine of the citys empty purposeless lives, reminiscent of
the Industrial revolution. The use of polysyndeton in the repetition of and, Eliot
emphasises the drab nature of suffering in a never-ending loop of monotonous
life. This can be seen in At four and five and six oclock; /and short square
fingers stuffing pipes, /And evening newspapers, and eyes. The poems title,
Preludes is a paradoxical title, as it does not lead to anything better. Wipe your
hand across your mouth, and laugh. This does not mean a laugh of happiness
but rather of bitter depression. The dystopian feelings of despair and the
suffering of mankind echoes throughout the poem and reflects the concerns of
the time period.
Similarly, Eliot expresses the views of the meaninglessness of life in The
lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock. Link to question embed quotes. The sordid
condition of the city seen in the poem reflected the banal disposition of the 20 th

century society in which Prufrock lived in. The line, When the evening is spread
out against the sky like a patient etherised upon a table, uses vivid imagery to
describe both modern man and the modern world. They are both lifeless, sick,
paralysed and ultimately there is no meaning in the wasted existence. Eliot
skilfully uses enjambment when describing the city of restless nights in one
night cheap hotels/And sawdust restaurants with oyster shells; /streets that
follow like a tedious argument, to further convey the repetitive and labyrinthine
nature of the urban environment. The repetitive and dull nature of the society is
shown through the repetition of the line In the room the women come and go
talking of Michelangelo. The subject matter of the conversation is the renowned
Renaissance artist, and juxtaposes against the pathetic persona of Prufrock,
further highlighting the meaninglessness of his life. Self-dehumanising
metaphors compare Prufrock to a lonely crab, I should have been a pair of
ragged claws, Scuttling across the floors of silent seas. The strong imagery
depicts the persona has given up on life and longs to be alone. Prufrocks
depressing thoughts can be related to his living conditions of the confusing city
and the dull routines of his endeavours.
Preludes explores the inevitable decay of identity resulting from residing in the
heavily urbanised environment. The rapid industrialisation and the widespread
urbanisation of the twentieth century have led to Eliot expressing his ideas
poetically. The urban environment displays its ability to corrupt personal identity
shown through the separation of the environment and mankind in the first two
stanzas. This is shown in the withered leaves about your feet and muddy feet
that press which show how Preludes conveys human identity as disjointed and
incoherent under the influence of a dilapidated and exhausted city. This idea
emerges yet again in the last stanza through the persona, with "his soul
stretched tight across the skies", only to have his identity, "fade behind a city
block" and "trampled by insistent feet. Using the metaphor, Eliot expresses
how the personas hope and freedom is annihilated by the masses of people.
Furthermore, a life driven by a clock has created a superficial society full of
false facades. With the other masquerades, suggests that the people of the
city hide their secret lives of the night and put on a fake personality during
the day. This relates to the city itself, which is shown to be tired and worn out
under the guise of a World War painted by the powerful imagery. Eliot also
explores the corrupting nature on identity of the city life. This is shown
though the third prelude from the point of view of a woman constantly
tossing throughout the night. We see her reflection on a thousand sordid
images of which her soul was constituted. Brooding over her morally
corrupt lifestyle, the poem shows that even with a physically and
metaphorically elevated view of the many muddy feet on the street, and her
understanding of her corruption, she resigns herself to a debauched and
dissolute identity. Through the masterful use of poetic techniques, Eliot
questions the negative impacts of the industrial revolution to evoke deep
questions of identity.