The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Summary

J. Alfred Prufrock is the central character of famous poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock The poem is in the nature of an “interior monologue”. It probes deep into the sub conscious of the protagonist, Prufrock, renders his actual thought process, and in this way highlights his neurotic nature and moral cowardice.

Prufrock is not an actual character but a successful model of a modern man. His speech and activities show the temperament and character of a modern man. Prufrock is a character who wants to make love to women but he does not have the courage to propose to a lady.

He is timid and nervous. He is so paralyzed of his will that he cannot bring himself to propose to his lady, He hesitates to propose his heart's desire to the lady because he thinks that whatever he says to the lady will be answered by, “That is not what I meant  at all. That is not it, at all”.

Prufrock is very timid and his timidity results from his experience about the society in which he lives. His life is a series of meaningless activities because he is unable to “dare” and “force the moment to a crisis." Thus he exhibits, a Hamlet-like temperament. Hamlet has put the nature of his own ailment in such remarks as, “thus conscience doth make cowards of us all”, and “the native hue f resolution is sicklied over with the pale cast of thought”.

Prufrock is a man of split personality. He has no power to reach decision whether he should propose to his sweetheart or not.  He represents a split consciousness, a division between heart and head.  In fact, he has two selves romantic and realist. His heart is his romantic self persuades him to go to his beloved and propose to her, but his realist self clearly suggests that he lacks the necessary courage to speak out his feelings and propose to her.

Prufrock hesitates and fails to come to a decision. Being bored with his own indecision, he longs to escape into some world of romance. He has often walked on the beach dressed in white flannel trousers and he shall do so again to escape from the boredom of the present and has seen mermaids singing to each other. But such visions of beauty has been short lived, for reality has always intruded upon his romantic dreams and awakened him to a sense of actuality.

The poem ends where it began. There is no progress in the love affair of Prufrock because he could not come to a decision. However, there has been a deeper and deeper probing into the consciousness of Prufrock. The poet has succeeded in highlighting the dilemma of an enervated man as well as the sordidness and pettiness of modern urban civilization.

Thus Prufrock seems to epitomize the frustration and impotence of the modern individual. He seems to represent thwarted desires and modern disillusionment.