1. In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, T.S. Eliot succeeds in describing the characters of a man who lets his inhibition and doubtfulness determine his own destiny. He cares greatly about in what way he is perceived by the “universe”, which demonstrates his lack of confidence in his appearance – “(They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”); “(They will say: But how his arms and legs are thin!)”. Besides being unconfident about his look, as the poem progresses, he also criticizes his knowledge and ability, telling himself “I’m no prophet” or “I am not Prince Hamlet. To this point, the man comes across as a pessimist who dares not to venture out into the battleground to find the love of his life.
2.
“No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince, no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,
Politics, cautious, and meticulous:
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous-
Almost, at times, the Fool.”
The above stanza reveals the protagonist’s struggle in defining his social standing as an individual within the society. Denying that he is “Prince Hamlet”, the man accepts to be the “attendant lord”. The contradiction between the two characters in this analogy speaks to the man’s submission to his destiny. Clearly he claims that he’s merely “an easy tool” for the prince – “no doubt”. This strong yet negative assumption ridiculously turns him into a coward. The ridiculousness increases towards the end of the stanza as readers realize that he is totally aware of his cowardice. In fact, he admits to be “the Fool”. By placing adjacently words of contrasting meanings such as “at times” and “almost”, T.S Eliot unravels a mental and constant struggle that the protagonist is facing – the struggle between taking control of his life or being the victim of his own pessimism.
3. The three questions:
– Why does he bring up the character “Lazarus” mentioned in line 94?
– Who does he allude to in “you” and “me” and what’s their relationship?
– Who is “we” in the last stanza?