The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock written by T.S. Elliot, is the despondent poem of a middle-aged man named Prufrock suffering from an acute spiritual malaise due to his monotonous and tentative existence. Eliot beautifully told Prufrock's tale through careful use of literary devices. A device that appeared frequently throughout the poem was an allusion. These allusions were used to easily bring forth the impressions and characteristics conveyed by the sources alluded to, as well as creating flexibility for his readers. Hamlet, To His Coy Mistress, and The Bible are a few notable sources that Eliot alludes to within the poem.
Eliot particularly favored the poet Andrew Marvell, the renowned author of To His Coy Mistress. To summarize blatantly, it is a poem about a man trying to convince a woman to sleep with him. The underlying message however is to seize the day. Marvell’s poem is alluded to multiple times throughout The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock. The two poems contrast with each other in their character and in meaning. While Prufrock remains strongly self conscious and questions his own existence, the man in Marvell’s poem is portrayed as a confident bachelor ready to make the most of the time he has. This contrast makes allusions
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Alfred Prufrock are an echo of To His Coy Mistress’ “Let us roll all our strength and all / Our sweetness up into one ball” (41-42). Here an allusion is made to bring forth that contrast between the two characters. With only two lines, Eliot is able to draw a potent connection between the difference in the characters. The inclusion of this allusion can also be interpreted in a myriad of ways that is dependent on the reader and their understanding of the source alluded to. Eliot may not have wanted to address a certain issue directly so he shifted the responsibility of interpretation to the
A paradox, or self contradictory statement, is the perfect way for the speaker to express his predicament. He does not “ deserve pleasure”, but he also “does not deserve pain” explains the speaker’s feelings of guilt and remorse for his immense fortune, while the working class can barely get by. In parallel lines in his poem, the speaker uses the words “failed” and “successful.” He uses these words so close together to demonstrate the failure he and civilization throughout history has faced in order to be
Allusion Throughout Love Medicine Louise Erdrich used allusions to refer to different events that effected Native American culture and their life on the reservation. Vietnam, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and differrent laws surrounding the relocation of Natives were referenced in this piece. Erdrich used allusions to refer to childrens programs like Road Runner and Tarzan. She used Tarzan beating his chest to to convey the emotional prayer he was giving in the church and Howard Kashpaw’s evening televisions show to lead Lishpaw MOrrissey to some deep thoughts about life. However, the more prominate allusions were those that refered to the government deal to give the Native Americans back their land although their land wasnt the same as the one they got back.
This proves that Jack is confident about poetry because he is being inspired by other poetics and he is now starting to write his own poems. Throughout the book, Jack’s thoughts about poetry have grow from timid, then he changed to reluctant and enthusiastic, and now he is confident about poetry because he is now starting to enjoy poetry more and write his own
As one single poem can intrigue the everyday college student, one can imagine the obsessive nature that one poem can have on the mind. The poem, circulating, round and round in the mind, leaving one to ponder the day away all because one poem, as one can be left questioning, such as in "Prayer" by Galway Kinnell. However, even if someone were to be obsessed with one poem, there are ones who are intrigued by not just one, but two, maybe dozens of poems, all by the same author that had them intrigued since the first poem looming in their head. Nevertheless, as one may ponder across an entire work of a single author, this pondering may lead to one who is passionate about the entire work of an author to publish articles about someone and their work respectively. In the article, "Galway Kinnell: Transfigured Dread," by Edward Hirsch, the pondering over the entire works of Galway Kinnel are discussed in great detail.
Elliot simply used these allusions to tell his own story, sometimes giving new meanings to quotes, or adding emphasis to new words or phrases. Often, these references had to be understood themselves for a reader to truly know what was being said in one of Elliot’s works. One such work that contains so many references to past writers and works, is “The Love Story of J. Alfred Prufrock”. The story of Prufrock is an intriguing one dominated by allusions and many references to earlier works of literature that Elliot himself read, and applied to a story of a modern man.
In the poem’s beginning, scenes of vibrant colors are immediately contrasted with death or decay, “leaf blooms [then] burns red”. This opposition between two completely polar ideas, constructs a sentiment of conflict in their work as a whole. In fact, the juxtaposition relates the speaker’s internal conflict. Without these sentiments, the poem would not be able to fully develop its focus on the speaker’s internal dilemma, as the juxtaposition directly works to jar the reader with conflict. Furthermore, the juxtaposition of the specific concepts of life and death supports the poem’s theme about risk taking.
Dickens expresses an attitude of pity towards the peasantry of France, and is derisive towards the aristocracy. He conveys his feelings through repetition, tone, and syntax in the passage. These devices are used to foreshadow the animosity and anger of the oncoming revolution. Firstly, Dickens uses repetition to emphasize the living state of the common people in France.
The main symbolism is that throughout his love song, Prufrock comes to accept himself and his feelings. He shifts from using “I” to using “We”, symbolizing how he has come to understand that he is not alone in this feeling of hopelessness. Another piece of symbolism, which I mentioned earlier in my essay, is the yellow fog. The yellow fog represents light, which shines bright in the city on an October night. In stanza 6, we get a fragmented view of Prufrock’s appearance.
In T.S. Eliot’s work “The LoveSong of J. Alfred Prufrock”, he uses diction to give an underlying meaning and tone to his poem in order to express the downfall of a man. The author uses his diction to give this poem Its tone as if he regrets what he did in life. He also shows great tone changes in this work, giving this poem a dramatic, almost tragic outlook. Many of his word choices also give his work an underlying meaning and adds to his theme and messages. A large part of his poem is also using metaphors to add to this underlying meaning and give more force to this tone he is trying to create.
S. Eliot’s title “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock ironic is that the woman he speaks of never responds to him anywhere in the poem. This makes it to be the realization of Alfred Prufrock’s loveless life. The failure and breakdown of communication from the other side tell about one aspect, which is the symbol of isolation among humans. The beginning of the poem seems like the speaker is talking to a woman whom he loves. It then turns out to be ironic and against normal expectations of the readers because there is the anticipation of something special to be spoken from the other party as well.
In the passage from the novel Middlemarch by Georger Eliot, a newlywed couple struggles in the face of financial troubles. Rosamond and Tertius Lydgate discuss their issues and through this discussion Eliot develops the relationship between the two of them. There is much stress on their new marriage as shown throughout the passage through two literary devices. George Eliot portrays Rosamond and Tertius Lydgate, as well as their strained relationship, through a third person omniscient narrator perspective and selection of detail. Rosamond and Tertius Lydgate 's relationship as husband and wife is developed partly through narrator perspective.
Alfred Prufrock” is fragmented structure itself where he uses scattered, broken pieces that eliminate the traditional linear flow of a poem. This is mostly done through his exquisite imagery. Eliot writes, “I should have been a pair of ragged claws / Scuttling across the floors of silent seas” (“Prufrock” 73-74). With this fragmented image, again, we learn more about Prufrock than we do about Eliot; it explains how Prufrock would be better off being a shelled creature, such as a crab, so he is protected by his outer-covering and doesn’t truly have to interact with anyone in the real world. Eliot also uses imagery to indicate the indecisive personality of the speaker.
I will be comparing T.S Eliot's "The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and Dylan Thomas's "Do not go gentle into that good night" in both of these stories it seems as if the narrators are struggling with the idea of old age and that death is around the corner for them. The speaker in Dylan Thomas's story appears to be speaking to themselves and is trying to give themselves the courage to live life to the fullest with the time they have left. At first, I thought the speaker was speaking to another person but then I noticed certain lines within that indicate otherwise. In T.S Eliot's poem, the speaker is clearly self-conscious about his age and how women find it unappealing.
This self-denial gives him further resolve at the end of the poem to still refuse to propose. Eliot’s allusion to Shakespeare’s Hamlet is clever in this way because in the play Hamlet is also indecisive; so much so that he needs a reminder from his father’s ghost to kill his uncle, Claudius, who killed his father, took the throne, and married his mother (Shmoop). In this same portion of the poem as the Hamlet allusion, Prufrock admits that he thinks he’s too old to marry, that he is so old fashioned he still “wear[s] the bottoms of [his] trousers rolled” (Greenblatt 1304, line 121). This shows the reader that Prufrock still is adamant that he is not going to propose to the
Eliot uses tradition and personal innovation, combined with the revitalization of the twentieth-century British poetry, which leads to poems full of vitality. Based on the poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” this paper explores the poet 's exploration and innovation in the aspects of poetic skills and content. The early works of Eliot are in a low tone, and he often uses association, metaphor, and suggestion to express modern people 's depression. The famous poem “The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock" uses the inner monolog of the protagonist’s desire to love and fear of the contradictory attitude of love to illustrate modern emptiness and cowardice. From the content, the reader gradually learns the poem is about a middle-aged man.