The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock is placed in a city where we are given vivid, deathly images to acquaint ourselves with the setting. This places a very negative tone on the poem as T.S Eliot uses words such as, “half deserted streets” and “one-night cheap hotels”. He also repeats some lines which give us a very sharp image of the streets which the journey takes place. The journey is one which describes the personality of Prufrock. It allows us to get a sense of what he’s like without meeting him. When the ladies are talking of Michelangelo, he continues onward suggesting that he is unsociable and that he may feel emasculated by this. His attention to detail at this section also seems as though he is particularly interested in Michelangelo. However the poem is written so that we get a perspective of what the person going through this journey is feeling and seeing, it is almost as though we are behind his eyes looking in first person rather than looking upon the situation in third person. This raises a strange debate of perception as someone with a different personality walking down the same street may see the things completely different. This arises a strange question of how do other people see the things that I am seeing.