Eliot’s utilisation of the recurrent questioning “Do I dare?” amplified by his consistent negative appraisals equate to earlier poetic traditions of modernism; heightening the classification of Prufrock as the neurotic man of modernity. Emanating the contextual ramifications of the post-war period, Eliot’s use of the dramatic monologue emphasises Prufrock’s ‘revelation’ when manipulating and understanding his own conflicting thoughts between love and isolation. The fragmented form envelops the modernist literary style, emulating the belief that their writing should mirror their fractured and chaotic world.
Eliot explores the disintegration of culture in the bourgeois society prevalent in the early 20th century. The poem highlights the physical and psychological facets of the modern world as it tries to redefine itself. The visual imagery sparked through “we have lingered in the chambers of the sea…till human voices wake us, and we drown” evokes the stagnant image of death, encapsulating the disintegration of Victorian era through its replacement of an industrialised society. The irksome personification of the streetscape in “muttering retreats”/”restless” equates the protagonists own feelings of restlessness due to the tension sparked by the eeriness of the streets - despite lacking human qualities - withholding a greater partiality to communicate in comparison to Prufrock. The enjambment of the lines “restless nights in one-night cheap hotels”/ “certain half-deserted streets”/”muttering retreats” conveys the labyrinthine spatiality of the city with images undeniably bleak and empty, evoking the theme of aimlessness and disorder.
Eliot utilizes the internal characterization of J Alfred Prufrock psyche as the physical representative of early Modernism. Eliot’s portrayal of a sexually frustrated, cultivated and oversensitive man envelops the characteristics of Victorian speakers of early poetry, emanating the individual’s feelings of entrapment inside their own vigilance. The epigraph’s textual allusion to Dante’s Inferno extends to a dual-purpose – reflecting not only the poem’s confessional tone but also Prufrock’s point of connectivity to Guido – illuminating the protagonist’s only outlet in the freedom of communication. Prufrock continuously refers to an “overwhelming question…” that he intends to discover – extending to the period of Enlightenment rationalism of over-analysis. However, Prufrock’s continuous withdrawal “Oh, do not ask” provides a platform in analyzing Prufrock’s insecurity – evidently being located in the fear of vindication, rejection and misinterpretation within the developed modern world.
Eliot utilizes the narrator to evoke the fragile psychological state of humanity evident from the realities of WWI. The poem’s fragmented style can be utilized as a motif to demonstrate the chaotic state of modern existence, portraying an external representation of the internal conflicting perspective. The reoccurring rhyme “In the room the women come and go/Talking of Michelangelo” portrays Prufrock’s sexual frustration in his inability to communicate with the opposite sex; referencing to the shifting gender power balance that encompassed the post-war period. This becomes amplified by Prufrock’s rhetorical question “Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?” emanating his hesitation in sparking conversation, as the ultimate fear of misinterpretation renders him incapable of speech. Eliot’s textual allusion to Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’, “No! I Am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;/Am an attendant lord…” portrays Prufrock’s insecurities – both physical and intellectual – in failing to attain the heroic traits of Hamlet, falling short to an ‘attendant lord’; a figure devoid of status and diminution. Prufrock’s psychological identity paranoia reflects the social shift of Victorian ideal, challenging the cultural notions of masculine identity.
Note:
He crystallized his ideas about how to achieve this extinction of personality in another essay, "Hamlet and His Problems" ⇒ "The only way of expressing emotion in the form of art is by finding an 'objective correlative';