I had to read this in high school and it was analysed by the teacher and us. I was so mesmermized by this poem that I memorized the first half and now know what it is about. I was just enthralled by the poetry.
This is a wonderful explanation! Made me appreciate this poem so much more. I feel like every time I read Eliot's work, I find something new to analyze. Thank you!
I enjoyed joining you on our journey through this magnificent, powerful poem. Years ago when I was working, to pass the time during my drive to work I memorized Prufrock and would recite it on my way. It always saddened me. Perhaps there were times in my life when I felt just like Prufrock, a scuttling crab. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us readers and listeners.
Brava! You deserve kudos for the relatively gentle and painless way of inviting your audience to engage with the poem, holding their hands on their first cycle around the hermeneutic circle--or perhaps I should say the hermeneutic spiral. .
Thank you for your time and effort, i really appreciate what you are doing for learners and to explain beautiful poems for us. I have been watching you for 4 years now ❤️
The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock is one of the most beautiful, compelling, enigmatic poems of the 20th century. Many of us, I'm sure, have come back time and time again to this poem, wondering what additional glimmer of insight may illuminate it and move us - as I have, and been moved. So here's my take. First of all, it is a love song. So while it may be a stream of consciousness, it is a structured one - e.g. note the repetitions - albeit a complicated structure. Indeed, Prufrock is in love, painfully so. He longs deeply for a particular woman, whom he refers to in "If one, settling a pillow by her head..." Some have argued that Prufrock is terribly indecisive and passive. Similar to Hamlet, he seems to agonize and obsess over what to do, in relation to her, and and may indeed paralyze himself into saying nothing or doing nothing. Instead, I would argue that he has approached this woman, spent a lot of time with her, and gone to bed with her! He is neither indecisive nor passive. But alas Prufrock is a dour, anxiety-riddled man who, in bed with his love, sometimes goes soft on her - his erection fails him. It is so deeply embarrassing that he dies on the spot. That death is figurative of course, but it figures prominently throughout the poem: Shame so discombobulating to and disintegrating of his psyche, i.e. self esteem, that it paralyzes him, it demoralizes him, and it makes him wonder "Would it have been worth it..." To my argument about his increasing impotence, reference the following lines: Should I, after tea and cakes and ices, Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis? But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed, Though I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter, I am no prophet - and here’s no great matter; I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker, And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker, And in short, I was afraid. Poor Prufrock wonders, after a dissatisfying turn in bed with his love, if he should have at it again next time. Of course, he does, because he's in love with her! Besides being a love song, Eliot's masterpiece is a highly erotic one. More specifically I argue that it is a brothel that he frequents, and sex is literally everywhere around him. Prufrock is a proper gentleman, as evidenced by his attire: My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin, My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin... But the opening two main stanzas speak to the route he has to walk and the air he has to breathe - it's all a bit macabre ("Like a patient etherized upon a table") and seedy ("pools that stand in drains" and "soot that falls from chimneys"). But more metaphorically, Eliot's vivid description of the surroundings tells the tale of how Prufrock experiences his love and lust for a woman and what he has to go through psychologically to be with her. It makes me think of another famous Shakespearean character - Prince Hal - who, long before he became King Henry V, frequented the taverns and cavorted with the common people, much to the chagrin of his royal father. For Prufrock it is his gentlemanly sensibility that finds the longing, lustful side of himself despicable. The repeated lines: In the room the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo... are the ladies in the brothel. In general, he's enamored with them: And I have known the arms already, known them all- Arms that are braceleted and white and bare (But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!) Is it perfume from a dress That makes me so digress? I doubt that they, in turn, are enamored with him, but over time they've become used to him and some of them may even find him endearing. But notice that he doesn't refer to them as whole people, but as body parts - arms and eyes. I argue that this is a manifestation of his obsessive, psychologically compartmentalized nature and also his haughty demeanor. He looks down on these women: After all what do they know about Michelangelo, he may wonder; and they shouldn't be talking about the great artist in passing anyway, he may silently scoff. Back to his love affair with one of those women: Prufrock is an awkward gentleman, not just in his manners but also in his speech: "It is impossible to say just what I mean!" So we can imagine his conversations with her as having a fair amount of misunderstanding. He hopes to win her love, and maybe even believes at times that she does. Alas, however, having sex with him is only a job for her! She may like him, but it doesn't seem that she truly loves him at all. So his repeated love overtures only come across to her as repeated misunderstandings: “That is not it at all, That is not what I meant, at all.” Moreover, it kills Prufrock every time his woman has sex with another client: I know the voices dying with a dying fall Beneath the music from a farther room. We can imagine him sitting in one of the rooms in the brothel, time and time again having coffee by himself, waiting for this woman and her client to finish their business. The sound of sex surrounds him, and the owner knows that it's best to have some music to drown it out. But Prufrock knows this woman's voice, and perhaps her clients' voices, too, and he hears them - oh, he hears them - and it's utterly painful and deflating! The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock is a profound philosophical treatise, similar, I'd argue, to The Myth of Sisyphus. Beyond the brothel setting and Prufrock's love affair, Eliot may be speaking to the Zeitgeist of the time when he wrote it - the advent of World War I. While Camus argued that Sisyphus was happy, despite having to repeatedly push a boulder up a hill, it is a life of existential absurdity and tedium. Love and life, work and sex had perhaps become that absurd and tedious for scores of people as well, at least according to Eliot. So in light of this world that Eliot created in The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock, what does he do in the end? He elevates that brothel, its ladies, and its business to mythic levels: I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think that they will sing to me. I have seen them riding seaward on the waves Combing the white hair of the waves blown back When the wind blows the water white and black. We have lingered in the chambers of the sea By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown Till human voices wake us, and we drown. Just as Camus can argue with Sisyphus, so too Eliot can argue with Prufrock: i.e. that in the end he is happy. My sense is that he beds other women in the brothel, and because there isn't that anxiety and disenchantment of his unrequited love, getting hard and getting his rocks off aren't an issue: Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach [i.e. have oral sex]? I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach [i.e. put on a condom, and have intercourse]. At the end of it all, he is satisfied. We ought not take "we drown" as literal, though. In Shakespeare, the notion of dying is a metaphor for having an orgasm. There is that sharp, guttural sound from man and woman as they approach climax (i.e. "human voices") and there is that pleasurable death (wink, wink) among those "sea-girls." Finally, what is that "overwhelming question" that is also a pervasive theme in The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock, which he can hardly acknowledge even to himself? It is this, I'd argue: He wants to ask this one woman "Do you love me?" Surely, he knows that it's only a job for her, but he wonders if she has any feelings for him and whether she truly cares about him. He can tolerate the other ladies seeing him as nothing more than a skinny man with a bald spot on his head. But with this one woman, his love is of mythic proportions and his lust fills him with existential pain.
Oh, thank you, Rebecca. Thank you as well for your patient walk through of the poem. Your interpretation, as well as others' on UA-cam, have helped clarify my thoughts over the past several months. While we may all have different perspectives, we share a common love for this poem! And isn't that what masterful poetry is all about :)
There doesn't seem to be much room for ambiguity in your interpretation. Good poems tend to work at several levels. That surely is the point. Otherwise why bother?
I am an adjunct instructor and have decided to include this poem in my upcoming course on World Literature After 1660. I confess it has always baffled me. I didn't have thorough instruction on it while in school, and that was part of the problem. The language always put me off a bit as well. I'm much more comfortable with Medieval and Renaissance works. However, I felt that it was important to include "Prufrock" in my course, though I was completely mystified as to how to approach teaching a work I didn't understand myself. You have enlightened me tremendously! I can't tell you how much I appreciate your mini-lecture on this. Simply fabulous! Thank you!
Well, wow! You're so welcome. I avoided teaching this poem for a while myself. I finally decided to dig in and try to figure it out. I heard a lecture on it back in the 90's by Agah Shahid Ali, a 20th century poet. That helped. Some of it still challenges me. Good luck with your course!
Amazing. I adore your warm, insightful approach to teaching poetry and prose. Makes me think about these works in an entirely different way. Thank you!
0:37 Dante’s Inferno - Embarassment, Secrets 2:06 Inviting the reader in 4:00 - Tedious, Bleak, Going nowhere (or not getting anywhere) 5:17 Women going by, talking about art 8:13 Facial preparation (persona) 30:00 Fear of being misunderstood. Hamlet and Polonius 33:46 “Do I dare Eat a peach” 🍑? 35:27 Sea seaweed, linger, drown
I stumbled onto this site and I'm so glad I did. What a great teacher you are, I really enjoyed listening to you. I can't wait to listen to the rest of your videos. Thank you, made my day.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! You explained this poem in such a way that left me informed of your great ideas, but also allowed me to form my own opinions of the life of Prufrock. You were enjoyable to listen to as well. :)
Thank you for posting this. I haven’t heard it since college but the images have stuck with me for 4 decades. I walked to the coffee shop this morning to buy and read my favorite newspaper. Inside, a girl sat at a sunny table behind a black tripod, staring wide eyed at me. The paper hadn’t yet been delivered. As I walked out empty handed, no paper, no coffee, I realized she was “influencing” into her phone. The jingle of the opening door had spoiled her line and she’d have to say it over again. I let my hip hit a metal chair and it scraped on the tile. I think Eliot’s Prufrock wanted to ask a young peach on a date but believed he had nothing but indecision and coffee spoons to offer her.
How many many times I have felt what TS Eliot is here describing.What a horrible feeling and thinking process. Again Rebecca thank for the elucidation... I can listen and listen to you till the time of End...
"And time for all the works and days of hands" (line 29), might refer to Works and Days (Érga kai hemérai, ca 700 BC) by Hesiod. The farmer in that poem emphasises the importance of living your life in the manner that the Gods have seen fit. This could be compared to Prufrocks difficulties in breaking free from his trivial life due to fear of rejection and/or other consequences. Just a thought. You've highlighted some stuff I didn't think about in my paper on the subject. Nice video. Greetings from Norway!
This was incredibly helpful. I come out of this knowing and appreciating the poem so much more. Thank you very much. I hope you continue to do this for a very long time.
I've always found it interesting that so much of this poem reads as if it was written by a middle aged (or older?) man. Yet, I believe T.S. Eliot was only 23 (and still in college?) when he wrote it.
This was more than awesome. i am preparing for my final exam in university and missed my class lecture for this poem....and i must say you've helped me out.. I've got this poem so well now. tysm mam. keep uploading more. God bless ya :)
I think he asks 'Do I dare to eat a peach?' in part because eating a peach is a bit messy, with the juice dripping down the chin - not something to do in polite society, which is his own milieu.
He knew ... and still knows but doesn't know for sure! The overwhelming question (O do not ask what is it) has many answers all of which are wrong ... even the question is wrong ... what is it? Question the question!
+Mick Maphari Both of your interpretations were revelations to me, so thanks. I'm new to Eliot, I've always found him intimidating. Doesn't help that I started a long time ago with Ash Wednesday.
missed the prufrock lecture in my lit class while i was a senior in high school and it’s been on my mind ever since. thank you for analyzing this incredible poem ☺️
OMG thank you so much! I was really having a hard time grasping the concept of this poem when I read it for school but now that I have listened to this video, I really get it now and it is really cool! Plus I loved listening to you talk, you have a nice voice. But anyway, great video!
Amazing video. Loved the way you broke down every sentence of this poem. By far one of the best explanations i have heard or read. After watching this video i understood the poem in its entirety. I am recommending your videos for others in my class to see! Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much for this break down! I love your videos, they really help me get a better handle on the meanings and ideas behind my favorite poems and stories!
Sounds like the guy is in a mid-life crisis. Anyway, thank you so much for posting this! This poem has easily become one of my favorites. Thank you again
I am so thankful for these videos. I stumble upon some poems that I love but don’t quite understand; only to come here and begin to understand. Thank you so much. I love this channel. Been watching videos here for years now.
I was really lucky to have found this video. This was so perfectly splendid, so profoundly explained. I enjoyed your explanation thorough out and I really thank you for doing such an amazing job !
This is a 'love song' and therefore presumably addressed to a woman he is in love with. We have an expression 'to pop the question' meaning to ask the woman you are in love with to marry you. This surely provides the conceptual frame within which the 'events' of the poem take place. It could perhaps be fruitfully compared with Philip Larkin's poems on a similar theme, notably The Whitsun Weddings. Is Prufrock in fact old? Or does he just see himself as old? Or is he seeing himself as he might be in the future if he never marries? (Hamlet also is uncertain of what to do with himself. As well as having his father's death to avenge there is also the question of what to do about Ophelia, Polonius's daughter!)
@Phil Dodd (HistoriaAntiqua.ORG) : 'Should I be married? Should I be good? / Marry the girl next door, with velvet suit and Faustus hood?' is Gregory Corso's version of this poem. Though of course phrased in terms of a much less highly refined and erudite sensibility. Eliot wrote many Personae which might be compared with the Dramatic Monologues of Browning. Except that Eliot's Personae are always thinly disguised versions of himself. Therefore I think it more instructive to read the poem in the light of his own biography. The evidence is not that Eliot felt that he was unattractive to women and would therefore fail to find a woman at all but that he felt most women were far too shallow and vapid - he was a terrible snob and extremely conceited and came from the American equivalent of an aristocratic family - and that he would get involved with the wrong woman. A woman who would bore him - or even worse - destroy him. The main point at issue between us is whether Eliot's protagonist is more afraid of rejection or of acceptance. I maintain that it is acceptance he is terrified of. You rejection. I suspect that in the light of Eliot's other poems on a similar theme it is I who am right. Though the argument you put up is extremely plausible. Eliot was a man with a very finely developed sensibility. A man of highly educated tastes and about as aesthetically refined as one could get. He was certainly an aesthete. He was also a genius. He would have been aware of that. He was in himself a highly wrought and extremely delicate work of art. His education was extremely elaborate and very expensive. The last thing he would have wanted to do was throw himself away on the wrong woman. And not only he but his family would have felt the same. They had extremely strong views on the subject and great difficulty with the woman he did finally choose - Vivian. To me the repeated couplet about the women coming and going and talking of Michelangelo demonstrates not a fear of being rejected by women but a demonstration of his own distaste for vapid women. He is in many ways a misogynist. He is as terrified of involvement with empty-headed women as of a lonely bachelorhood. Both are a terrifying prospects for him. He is weighing up the pros and cons. Both prospects are equally appalling. 'But since, up from those depths, no one has yet returned alive ... ' is surely the central point of the epigraph. I think you should reread 'Conversation Galante'. Surely it supports my reading of this present poem better than yours. 'Hysteria' is another case in point. 'La Figlia Che Piange' is not a poem written by a man who thinks he is fundamentally unattractive to women. Or one who thinks that women are fundamentally unattractive. On the contrary the right woman is extremely important to him. And that is precisely the point. Eliot was a perfectionist. And a perfectionist in everything. And from a very strong Calvinist tradition. Hence all his difficulties. And our difficulties with him. 'Perfection is terrible:/it cannot have children,' complained Sylvia Plath. And indeed Eliot never fathered children. Either at the physical level. Or at the spiritual. Just admirers. Who then went away and did something different. Then there is the problem of precisely why Eliot would want to write a poem about a fundamentally unattractive man. As I say there is no evidence that Eliot felt himself to be unattractive vis-à-vis other men. He may have felt that the human animal was unattractive in itself. And in many ways it is. After all physically what are we but a more or less attractively packaged bag of shit and piss and snot and vomit and blood and pus and guts? And Eliot was too deep and too religious a man to be taken in by the superficial appearance of anything. In short I think you neglect Eliot's complexity and oversimplify him. Yours is but one reading among many. And ignores too many aspects not just of this work but of the rest of his oeuvre.
Dead on that this is about love. Elliot is sharing feelings of rejection by the women he encounters. Prufrock is a middle aged man, facing his mortality and lost opportunities. Elliot, however, is a man in his early 20’s. He is projecting his feelings as a young man struggling through his romantic life onto a man like him after 30 years of these struggles. A professor of mine at Berkeley had met Elliot. They were at dinner, and Elliot was reading the menu. He said, “Oh, do I dare to get a lobster?” My professor laughed uncontrollably, and answered, “…do you dare to eat a peach?”😂
I love the videos you make! Your videos really help me understand and appreciate the work so much more. As opposed to just being confused and dragging through English 2. Thanks so much for your work!
Thank you so much!! I was told to write about the modernism in this poem and did even fully understand what the poem was about at first but now I have a better understand of what is going on.
OMG! Thank you so much for that video! I need this poem for a final exam, and I read it twice in english, then I read it in bulgarian (i'm bilingual) I read summary, notes etc. and I still felt like an idiot not getting what this is really about, and then I found your video and now It opened my eyes :D i already know much more for 38 minutes than from 3 hour researching :D
Jason Beech I sincerely did not mean to come across as pedantic; but I am certain that we here are either poets, students of poetry, or at the very least English majors. I did enjoy the lecture, but correct grammar in a lecture of this nature is the least we should expect... Charis
Thank you for your thoughts. I had to go back an finish. Fun, giant steps to ponder! I trusted your credit by your appreciation, modesty, and disarming sincerity. When I see someone allowing themselves to be as they feel.. as they are...I am inspired. " I can do that! And not give a..."
Thank you sooooo much. I have to do a presentation on this poem, and I didn't understand it at all until watching your video. You made everything make a lot more sense!
I'm so glad you explained so well . Thank you so much,I nearly omit the poem.I wasnt going to prepare this for tomorrow's exam cuz I found it so tough.But u did so easily n I got many points out of it ...U are so good ♡
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. This poem is so important to me even if it never truly opened up to me until now. I study English lit and I love poetry, however, I'm still intimidated by poems more often than not... But this video certainly helped me get started with this particular poem, and I think it also gave me more confidence for the future. So thank you again, and keep on doing these videos! :)
+Laura Jalkanen You're so welcome! Keep enjoying poems and reading. I felt the same way about poems -- that they were intimidating and "smarter" than me -- but I kept reading and learning. Rewarding! Thanks for commenting. Good luck with everything!
Thank-you so much, Rebecca! Extremely pleasant to listen to ! Such an empathetic and unpretentious discussion of one of my very favourite poems that I recite lines of to myself frequently. It's lovely how you sort of harmonise and move along a little journey with the poem, treating the listener to generous quotes, and gentle queries about the connections. So refreshing and appreciative, rather than steam -rollering the poem with alienating analysis that almost disgards it and infers it's not enough in itself. I'm not sure about the Dante mention at the beginning. Perhaps Alfred J. is likeable partly due tp his humility and yet sad but in a creative way due to his somewhat distanced observor stance musings, yet showing a touch of appealing wit. Perhaps he asks himself if he dares to eat a peach, concerned about dribbling the peach juice, whereas, as you say, he might have totally relished it when younger. That's an interesting interpretation of "Am an attendant lord..." - as not using the I pronoun certainly fits the role, as maybe a depletion in ego - also, the assonance of "am" scans nicely. Yet the touch of graceful melancholy is very life-romantic IMO - despite the final "and we drown" phrase, where I think he's inviting the reader to empathise rather than literally drown. I'm still wondering what the "crisis" is tho, that he doesn't feel able to provoke - perhaps the mystery adds a metaphysical touch! Thank-you again, best of wishes, Anne Seagull - songs on www.anneseagull.com
He seems to be daydreaming; imagining him self with life in conversations, but is woken by human voices/ reality; the women, not the mermaids and is once again drowning in conversation.
My guess in connection with: "To drop a question on your plate", refers to "What's the meaning of Work?" What does all the convoluted interaction between human beings truly mean? Is it shallow or deep? Are we living in a Hollow Space, or a space filled? These are deep subconscious and fearfully conscious questions. Also, the smoke represents the free part of your soul. The non-material part of you, that's left adrift, without being noticed. Thanks for putting yourself out there. It's truly a beautiful gesture.
the toast and tea line, @ 10:45 reminds me of being in hospital post operation. Its toast and tea that is brought to you first by the nurses. As you recover you have certainly lots of time, lying in bed to think about your life
Thank you so much! I'm so happy I found this! I'm an Italian student,and I am trying to study Eliot alone,but it's so hard! But anyway with your lesson I was able to understand a little bit more about this poem! Thank you so much! Now i will watch all your videos! Thank you!
I think, on surface level, by "overwhelming question" he means Prufrock wants to propose the woman he loves, like, 'Will you be mine, or will you marry me?'. On other levels, this question may be something higher philosophical question regarding the nothingness of human existence (notice the tone of hopelessness all through the poem). Again, the question overwhelms him because he does not know the answer... The burden of his dual personality (you and I) makes him wonder about insignificant things. It's connected to the mental drama going inside, rather than any practical or physical action. That's what I think!
That's what I always thought, until I learned about his life with his wife. I think he wants to ask for a divorce and is debating the consequences of growing old alone, will anyone else want him when she's gone.
I had to read this in high school and it was analysed by the teacher and us.
I was so mesmermized by this poem that I memorized the first half and now know what it is about. I was just enthralled by the poetry.
You have a lovely voice.
Adrian Grant
simp
Simp
This is a wonderful explanation! Made me appreciate this poem so much more. I feel like every time I read Eliot's work, I find something new to analyze. Thank you!
I enjoyed joining you on our journey through this magnificent, powerful poem. Years ago when I was working, to pass the time during my drive to work I memorized Prufrock and would recite it on my way. It always saddened me. Perhaps there were times in my life when I felt just like Prufrock, a scuttling crab. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us readers and listeners.
Brava! You deserve kudos for the relatively gentle and painless way of inviting your audience to engage with the poem, holding their hands on their first cycle around the hermeneutic circle--or perhaps I should say the hermeneutic spiral. .
Thank you for your time and effort, i really appreciate what you are doing for learners and to explain beautiful poems for us. I have been watching you for 4 years now ❤️
Such a hauntingly beautiful work, so many lines that keep you thinking! Wonderful analysis, thank you so much!
I think that "you and I" refers to the writer's private and public self. The private- when he is alone and the public- the mask he puts when going out
Yes, that makes sense. I like it!
yeah, you are right. definitely it can not be the reader ::
+SixMinuteScholar ... It's a 'love song' addressed to himself?
Angie Valerius nice way of teaching
its a love song, you is a referring for a woman.
A WONDERFUL EXPLICATION OF A POEM THAT HAS ELUDED ME FOR MANY YEARS.
The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock is one of the most beautiful, compelling, enigmatic poems of the 20th century. Many of us, I'm sure, have come back time and time again to this poem, wondering what additional glimmer of insight may illuminate it and move us - as I have, and been moved. So here's my take.
First of all, it is a love song. So while it may be a stream of consciousness, it is a structured one - e.g. note the repetitions - albeit a complicated structure. Indeed, Prufrock is in love, painfully so. He longs deeply for a particular woman, whom he refers to in "If one, settling a pillow by her head..."
Some have argued that Prufrock is terribly indecisive and passive. Similar to Hamlet, he seems to agonize and obsess over what to do, in relation to her, and and may indeed paralyze himself into saying nothing or doing nothing. Instead, I would argue that he has approached this woman, spent a lot of time with her, and gone to bed with her! He is neither indecisive nor passive.
But alas Prufrock is a dour, anxiety-riddled man who, in bed with his love, sometimes goes soft on her - his erection fails him. It is so deeply embarrassing that he dies on the spot. That death is figurative of course, but it figures prominently throughout the poem: Shame so discombobulating to and disintegrating of his psyche, i.e. self esteem, that it paralyzes him, it demoralizes him, and it makes him wonder "Would it have been worth it..."
To my argument about his increasing impotence, reference the following lines:
Should I, after tea and cakes and ices,
Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?
But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed,
Though I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter,
I am no prophet - and here’s no great matter;
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,
And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,
And in short, I was afraid.
Poor Prufrock wonders, after a dissatisfying turn in bed with his love, if he should have at it again next time. Of course, he does, because he's in love with her!
Besides being a love song, Eliot's masterpiece is a highly erotic one. More specifically I argue that it is a brothel that he frequents, and sex is literally everywhere around him. Prufrock is a proper gentleman, as evidenced by his attire:
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin...
But the opening two main stanzas speak to the route he has to walk and the air he has to breathe - it's all a bit macabre ("Like a patient etherized upon a table") and seedy ("pools that stand in drains" and "soot that falls from chimneys"). But more metaphorically, Eliot's vivid description of the surroundings tells the tale of how Prufrock experiences his love and lust for a woman and what he has to go through psychologically to be with her. It makes me think of another famous Shakespearean character - Prince Hal - who, long before he became King Henry V, frequented the taverns and cavorted with the common people, much to the chagrin of his royal father. For Prufrock it is his gentlemanly sensibility that finds the longing, lustful side of himself despicable.
The repeated lines:
In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo...
are the ladies in the brothel. In general, he's enamored with them:
And I have known the arms already, known them all-
Arms that are braceleted and white and bare
(But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!)
Is it perfume from a dress
That makes me so digress?
I doubt that they, in turn, are enamored with him, but over time they've become used to him and some of them may even find him endearing. But notice that he doesn't refer to them as whole people, but as body parts - arms and eyes. I argue that this is a manifestation of his obsessive, psychologically compartmentalized nature and also his haughty demeanor. He looks down on these women: After all what do they know about Michelangelo, he may wonder; and they shouldn't be talking about the great artist in passing anyway, he may silently scoff.
Back to his love affair with one of those women: Prufrock is an awkward gentleman, not just in his manners but also in his speech: "It is impossible to say just what I mean!" So we can imagine his conversations with her as having a fair amount of misunderstanding. He hopes to win her love, and maybe even believes at times that she does. Alas, however, having sex with him is only a job for her! She may like him, but it doesn't seem that she truly loves him at all. So his repeated love overtures only come across to her as repeated misunderstandings:
“That is not it at all,
That is not what I meant, at all.”
Moreover, it kills Prufrock every time his woman has sex with another client:
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room.
We can imagine him sitting in one of the rooms in the brothel, time and time again having coffee by himself, waiting for this woman and her client to finish their business. The sound of sex surrounds him, and the owner knows that it's best to have some music to drown it out. But Prufrock knows this woman's voice, and perhaps her clients' voices, too, and he hears them - oh, he hears them - and it's utterly painful and deflating!
The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock is a profound philosophical treatise, similar, I'd argue, to The Myth of Sisyphus. Beyond the brothel setting and Prufrock's love affair, Eliot may be speaking to the Zeitgeist of the time when he wrote it - the advent of World War I. While Camus argued that Sisyphus was happy, despite having to repeatedly push a boulder up a hill, it is a life of existential absurdity and tedium. Love and life, work and sex had perhaps become that absurd and tedious for scores of people as well, at least according to Eliot.
So in light of this world that Eliot created in The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock, what does he do in the end? He elevates that brothel, its ladies, and its business to mythic levels:
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
I do not think that they will sing to me.
I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.
We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.
Just as Camus can argue with Sisyphus, so too Eliot can argue with Prufrock: i.e. that in the end he is happy. My sense is that he beds other women in the brothel, and because there isn't that anxiety and disenchantment of his unrequited love, getting hard and getting his rocks off aren't an issue:
Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach [i.e. have oral sex]?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach [i.e. put on a condom, and have intercourse].
At the end of it all, he is satisfied. We ought not take "we drown" as literal, though. In Shakespeare, the notion of dying is a metaphor for having an orgasm. There is that sharp, guttural sound from man and woman as they approach climax (i.e. "human voices") and there is that pleasurable death (wink, wink) among those "sea-girls."
Finally, what is that "overwhelming question" that is also a pervasive theme in The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock, which he can hardly acknowledge even to himself? It is this, I'd argue: He wants to ask this one woman "Do you love me?" Surely, he knows that it's only a job for her, but he wonders if she has any feelings for him and whether she truly cares about him. He can tolerate the other ladies seeing him as nothing more than a skinny man with a bald spot on his head. But with this one woman, his love is of mythic proportions and his lust fills him with existential pain.
Ron Villejo Wow, this is great! I follow your reasoning easily. This hangs together well. Thank you for a stimulating essay on the poem!
Oh, thank you, Rebecca. Thank you as well for your patient walk through of the poem. Your interpretation, as well as others' on UA-cam, have helped clarify my thoughts over the past several months. While we may all have different perspectives, we share a common love for this poem! And isn't that what masterful poetry is all about :)
There doesn't seem to be much room for ambiguity in your interpretation. Good poems tend to work at several levels. That surely is the point. Otherwise why bother?
Interesting take and strangely enough, I just so happened to pick up Sisyphus today for the first time.
@@johnmartin2813 Isn't literature supposed to be open to interpretation? I think his interpretation is great.
I am an adjunct instructor and have decided to include this poem in my upcoming course on World Literature After 1660. I confess it has always baffled me. I didn't have thorough instruction on it while in school, and that was part of the problem. The language always put me off a bit as well. I'm much more comfortable with Medieval and Renaissance works. However, I felt that it was important to include "Prufrock" in my course, though I was completely mystified as to how to approach teaching a work I didn't understand myself. You have enlightened me tremendously! I can't tell you how much I appreciate your mini-lecture on this. Simply fabulous! Thank you!
Well, wow! You're so welcome. I avoided teaching this poem for a while myself. I finally decided to dig in and try to figure it out. I heard a lecture on it back in the 90's by Agah Shahid Ali, a 20th century poet. That helped. Some of it still challenges me. Good luck with your course!
Amazing. I adore your warm, insightful approach to teaching poetry and prose. Makes me think about these works in an entirely different way. Thank you!
Thank you so much. I loved this interpretation -not too out there or over my head. Made me enjoy the poem so much more.
Wish I had you for a teacher when I was in college.
0:37 Dante’s Inferno
- Embarassment, Secrets
2:06 Inviting the reader in
4:00
- Tedious, Bleak, Going nowhere (or not getting anywhere)
5:17 Women going by, talking about art
8:13 Facial preparation (persona)
30:00 Fear of being misunderstood. Hamlet and Polonius
33:46 “Do I dare Eat a peach” 🍑?
35:27 Sea seaweed, linger, drown
I stumbled onto this site and I'm so glad I did. What a great teacher you are, I really enjoyed listening to you. I can't wait to listen to the rest of your videos. Thank you, made my day.
love this explanation. after reading the poem twice I found myself still having questions. this truly helped thank you.
I like this lady a lot. I already graduated but i come back to her all the time, she makes me so relaxed with her voice
Thank you, thank you, thank you! You explained this poem in such a way that left me informed of your great ideas, but also allowed me to form my own opinions of the life of Prufrock. You were enjoyable to listen to as well. :)
I'm so glad! Thanks. :-)
Thank you for posting this. I haven’t heard it since college but the images have stuck with me for 4 decades.
I walked to the coffee shop this morning to buy and read my favorite newspaper. Inside, a girl sat at a sunny table behind a black tripod, staring wide eyed at me.
The paper hadn’t yet been delivered.
As I walked out empty handed, no paper, no coffee, I realized she was “influencing” into her phone. The jingle of the opening door had spoiled her line and she’d have to say it over again. I let my hip hit a metal chair and it scraped on the tile.
I think Eliot’s Prufrock wanted to ask a young peach on a date but believed he had nothing but indecision and coffee spoons to offer her.
How many many times I have felt what TS Eliot is here describing.What a horrible feeling and thinking process.
Again Rebecca thank for the elucidation...
I can listen and listen to you till the time of End...
"And time for all the works and days of hands" (line 29), might refer to Works and Days (Érga kai hemérai, ca 700 BC) by Hesiod. The farmer in that poem emphasises the importance of living your life in the manner that the Gods have seen fit. This could be compared to Prufrocks difficulties in breaking free from his trivial life due to fear of rejection and/or other consequences.
Just a thought. You've highlighted some stuff I didn't think about in my paper on the subject. Nice video. Greetings from Norway!
Good idea! Thanks for giving me something to think about!
This was incredibly helpful. I come out of this knowing and appreciating the poem so much more. Thank you very much. I hope you continue to do this for a very long time.
you are literally a LIFE SAVER for my online literature class. thank you.
I've always found it interesting that so much of this poem reads as if it was written by a middle aged (or older?) man. Yet, I believe T.S. Eliot was only 23 (and still in college?) when he wrote it.
I'm listening to it right know ,I need to be prepared for my exam after few hours 🙃
This was more than awesome. i am preparing for my final exam in university and missed my class lecture for this poem....and i must say you've helped me out.. I've got this poem so well now. tysm mam. keep uploading more. God bless ya :)
Aishwarya Sahdev I'm in the same position.
I think he asks 'Do I dare to eat a peach?' in part because eating a peach is a bit messy, with the juice dripping down the chin - not something to do in polite society, which is his own milieu.
+Mick Maphari Also obvious sexual innuendo
Obviously sex is a messy business!
Mick Maphari Who knew? :D
He knew ... and still knows but doesn't know for sure! The overwhelming question (O do not ask what is it) has many answers all of which are wrong ... even the question is wrong ... what is it? Question the question!
+Mick Maphari Both of your interpretations were revelations to me, so thanks. I'm new to Eliot, I've always found him intimidating. Doesn't help that I started a long time ago with Ash Wednesday.
missed the prufrock lecture in my lit class while i was a senior in high school and it’s been on my mind ever since. thank you for analyzing this incredible poem ☺️
OMG thank you so much! I was really having a hard time grasping the concept of this poem when I read it for school but now that I have listened to this video, I really get it now and it is really cool! Plus I loved listening to you talk, you have a nice voice. But anyway, great video!
I'm glad this helped! That makes my day. :-)
Amazing video. Loved the way you broke down every sentence of this poem. By far one of the best explanations i have heard or read. After watching this video i understood the poem in its entirety. I am recommending your videos for others in my class to see! Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much for this break down! I love your videos, they really help me get a better handle on the meanings and ideas behind my favorite poems and stories!
This is a beautiful interpretation! Your video is going to help me in my AP class. Thank You love.
Sounds like the guy is in a mid-life crisis. Anyway, thank you so much for posting this! This poem has easily become one of my favorites. Thank you again
I am so thankful for these videos. I stumble upon some poems that I love but don’t quite understand; only to come here and begin to understand. Thank you so much. I love this channel. Been watching videos here for years now.
Thanks, Rebecca! Great job. And enjoyable half hour that will stick in my mind.
I was really lucky to have found this video. This was so perfectly splendid, so profoundly explained. I enjoyed your explanation thorough out and I really thank you for doing such an amazing job !
My name is Prufrock and I approve this explication.
This is a 'love song' and therefore presumably addressed to a woman he is in love with. We have an expression 'to pop the question' meaning to ask the woman you are in love with to marry you. This surely provides the conceptual frame within which the 'events' of the poem take place. It could perhaps be fruitfully compared with Philip Larkin's poems on a similar theme, notably The Whitsun Weddings. Is Prufrock in fact old? Or does he just see himself as old? Or is he seeing himself as he might be in the future if he never marries? (Hamlet also is uncertain of what to do with himself. As well as having his father's death to avenge there is also the question of what to do about Ophelia, Polonius's daughter!)
Yes, good points! Thank you for adding a scholarly comment!
@Phil Dodd (HistoriaAntiqua.ORG) : 'Should I be married? Should I be good? / Marry the girl next door, with velvet suit and Faustus hood?' is Gregory Corso's version of this poem. Though of course phrased in terms of a much less highly refined and erudite sensibility.
Eliot wrote many Personae which might be compared with the Dramatic Monologues of Browning. Except that Eliot's Personae are always thinly disguised versions of himself. Therefore I think it more instructive to read the poem in the light of his own biography. The evidence is not that Eliot felt that he was unattractive to women and would therefore fail to find a woman at all but that he felt most women were far too shallow and vapid - he was a terrible snob and extremely conceited and came from the American equivalent of an aristocratic family - and that he would get involved with the wrong woman. A woman who would bore him - or even worse - destroy him.
The main point at issue between us is whether Eliot's protagonist is more afraid of rejection or of acceptance. I maintain that it is acceptance he is terrified of. You rejection. I suspect that in the light of Eliot's other poems on a similar theme it is I who am right. Though the argument you put up is extremely plausible. Eliot was a man with a very finely developed sensibility. A man of highly educated tastes and about as aesthetically refined as one could get. He was certainly an aesthete. He was also a genius. He would have been aware of that. He was in himself a highly wrought and extremely delicate work of art. His education was extremely elaborate and very expensive. The last thing he would have wanted to do was throw himself away on the wrong woman. And not only he but his family would have felt the same. They had extremely strong views on the subject and great difficulty with the woman he did finally choose - Vivian.
To me the repeated couplet about the women coming and going and talking of Michelangelo demonstrates not a fear of being rejected by women but a demonstration of his own distaste for vapid women. He is in many ways a misogynist. He is as terrified of involvement with empty-headed women as of a lonely bachelorhood. Both are a terrifying prospects for him. He is weighing up the pros and cons. Both prospects are equally appalling.
'But since, up from those depths, no one has yet
returned alive ... '
is surely the central point of the epigraph.
I think you should reread 'Conversation Galante'. Surely it supports my reading of this present poem better than yours. 'Hysteria' is another case in point. 'La Figlia Che Piange' is not a poem written by a man who thinks he is fundamentally unattractive to women. Or one who thinks that women are fundamentally unattractive. On the contrary the right woman is extremely important to him. And that is precisely the point.
Eliot was a perfectionist. And a perfectionist in everything. And from a very strong Calvinist tradition. Hence all his difficulties. And our difficulties with him. 'Perfection is terrible:/it cannot have children,' complained Sylvia Plath. And indeed Eliot never fathered children. Either at the physical level. Or at the spiritual. Just admirers. Who then went away and did something different.
Then there is the problem of precisely why Eliot would want to write a poem about a fundamentally unattractive man. As I say there is no evidence that Eliot felt himself to be unattractive vis-à-vis other men. He may have felt that the human animal was unattractive in itself. And in many ways it is. After all physically what are we but a more or less attractively packaged bag of shit and piss and snot and vomit and blood and pus and guts? And Eliot was too deep and too religious a man to be taken in by the superficial appearance of anything.
In short I think you neglect Eliot's complexity and oversimplify him. Yours is but one reading among many. And ignores too many aspects not just of this work but of the rest of his oeuvre.
Dead on that this is about love. Elliot is sharing feelings of rejection by the women he encounters. Prufrock is a middle aged man, facing his mortality and lost opportunities. Elliot, however, is a man in his early 20’s. He is projecting his feelings as a young man struggling through his romantic life onto a man like him after 30 years of these struggles.
A professor of mine at Berkeley had met Elliot. They were at dinner, and Elliot was reading the menu. He said, “Oh, do I dare to get a lobster?” My professor laughed uncontrollably, and answered, “…do you dare to eat a peach?”😂
I think the woman is much younger than he.
Thank you for such a lovely interpretation.
It was really really good. I understood the poem now. Thank you so much!
Well done, a very good talk. Thanks, I appreciated this.
I love the videos you make! Your videos really help me understand and appreciate the work so much more. As opposed to just being confused and dragging through English 2. Thanks so much for your work!
Thank you for helping me with most of my college courses as an English literature student
Terrific review, thank you, your voice is honey to the ears.
This was a HUGE help! Thank you so much for sharing your interpretations with us.
You're welcome!
Thank you so much!! I was told to write about the modernism in this poem and did even fully understand what the poem was about at first but now I have a better understand of what is going on.
Thank you for such wonderful and illuminating observations I about prufrock!!!
OMG! Thank you so much for that video! I need this poem for a final exam, and I read it twice in english, then I read it in bulgarian (i'm bilingual) I read summary, notes etc. and I still felt like an idiot not getting what this is really about, and then I found your video and now It opened my eyes :D i already know much more for 38 minutes than from 3 hour researching :D
Definitely helped me gain a better understanding for sure, thank you so much.
that's not what I meant at all - ts eliot
And one day you will be too. Let that sink in.
Ha ha!
It's not just ambiguity that distinguishes poetry from prose. Both are filled with yellow fog if they are good at all.
That is exactly what I thought as I listened to this superficial, societal focused analysis.
@@kylepatrick4996 Yo, 2020 was crazy. You around?
I read the poem earlier and i had absolutely no idea what was going on. Thank you, i understand everything now and i can even relate to poor Alfred.
You're welcome!
I'm taking an online class on American Literature and I always come across your work so I've subscribed, Thank you!
Thank you very much for your videos. They are really great!
i had absolutely no idea what this poem was about the first time I read. thanks for helping me understand!
I accidentally stumbled upon this while looking for Anthony Hopkins' recording of the poem, and boy am I glad I did. Thank you.
Well, cool! Me, too. :-)
i have been in love with this poem for more than 10 years.... and your commentary is thoroughly awesome... you have my sincerest gratitude!
The Lone Wolf Creations Many thanks! Your kind words made my day!
SixMinuteScholar you are most cordially welcome!
This is great. You are great. Thank you!
I just finished my ENC1102 class, and your videos were so helpful. THANK YOU SO MUCH
Thank you very much. That reading, and you (and I) was wonderful.
Jason Beech I sincerely did not mean to come across as pedantic; but I am certain that we here are either poets, students of poetry, or at the very least English majors. I did enjoy the lecture, but correct grammar in a lecture of this nature is the least we should expect... Charis
Thank you for your instruction on this piece of poetry. It really helped me understand it more and also finish my paper. :)
Thank you for your thoughts. I had to go back an finish. Fun, giant steps to ponder! I trusted your credit by your appreciation, modesty, and disarming sincerity. When I see someone allowing themselves to be as they feel.. as they are...I am inspired. " I can do that!
And not give a..."
I love your energy around this poem!
A really great video. Thanks so much.
Thanks a lot Rebecca. Your explanation was really helpful.
This really helped me with my finals exams thank you so much, you have a very soothing voice and an interesting take on things.
Lillian Lockett Thanks! Good luck with your education!
Although this analysis is long, THANK YOU SO MUCH for making this video! It really helped me understand the poem. Now I can write my essay! :)
Thank you sooooo much. I have to do a presentation on this poem, and I didn't understand it at all until watching your video. You made everything make a lot more sense!
Good! Glad to hear it. Good luck with your presentation!
I'm so glad you explained so well . Thank you so much,I nearly omit the poem.I wasnt going to prepare this for tomorrow's exam cuz I found it so tough.But u did so easily n I got many points out of it ...U are so good ♡
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. This poem is so important to me even if it never truly opened up to me until now. I study English lit and I love poetry, however, I'm still intimidated by poems more often than not... But this video certainly helped me get started with this particular poem, and I think it also gave me more confidence for the future.
So thank you again, and keep on doing these videos! :)
+Laura Jalkanen You're so welcome! Keep enjoying poems and reading. I felt the same way about poems -- that they were intimidating and "smarter" than me -- but I kept reading and learning. Rewarding! Thanks for commenting. Good luck with everything!
thank you for this wonderful explanation, it really helped me understand fully :)
thanx, your explanation opened up the poem hugely for me !
i'm old enough for it to sting ! :o)
many thanks for all of your videos. they helped me a lot!!
This has been enlightening. As you pointed out, it just gives us a way to think about the poem. Thank you. I have a test today on it. :D
Thank you for the explanation!!
Thank you so much, it helped me to highlight the social deformation in Eliot's poems for my graduation project.
Thank-you so much, Rebecca! Extremely pleasant to listen to ! Such an empathetic and unpretentious discussion of one of my very favourite poems that I recite lines of to myself frequently. It's lovely how you sort of harmonise and move along a little journey with the poem, treating the listener to generous quotes, and gentle queries about the connections. So refreshing and appreciative, rather than steam -rollering the poem with alienating analysis that almost disgards it and infers it's not enough in itself. I'm not sure about the Dante mention at the beginning. Perhaps Alfred J. is likeable partly due tp his humility and yet sad but in a creative way due to his somewhat distanced observor stance musings, yet showing a touch of appealing wit. Perhaps he asks himself if he dares to eat a peach, concerned about dribbling the peach juice, whereas, as you say, he might have totally relished it when younger. That's an interesting interpretation of "Am an attendant lord..." - as not using the I pronoun certainly fits the role, as maybe a depletion in ego - also, the assonance of "am" scans nicely. Yet the touch of graceful melancholy is very life-romantic IMO - despite the final "and we drown" phrase, where I think he's inviting the reader to empathise rather than literally drown. I'm still wondering what the "crisis" is tho, that he doesn't feel able to provoke - perhaps the mystery adds a metaphysical touch! Thank-you again, best of wishes, Anne Seagull - songs on www.anneseagull.com
mam hii...r u a professor
He seems to be daydreaming; imagining him self with life in conversations, but is woken by human voices/ reality; the women, not the mermaids and is once again drowning in conversation.
massive thank you. that was a great help, and you made it so easy. Thank you again
You're welcome! :-)
My guess in connection with: "To drop a question on your plate", refers to "What's the meaning of Work?" What does all the convoluted interaction between human beings truly mean? Is it shallow or deep? Are we living in a Hollow Space, or a space filled? These are deep subconscious and fearfully conscious questions. Also, the smoke represents the free part of your soul. The non-material part of you, that's left adrift, without being noticed. Thanks for putting yourself out there. It's truly a beautiful gesture.
Thank you so much for this analysis.
My pleasure!
THANK YOU!!!! You helped me appreciate this poem so much more! With love in Christ, have a blessed day! :D
bayonettafan001 You're welcome! Blessings to you too. :-)
the toast and tea line, @ 10:45 reminds me of being in hospital post operation. Its toast and tea that is brought to you first by the nurses. As you recover you have certainly lots of time, lying in bed to think about your life
An insightful review of one of my favourite pieces
It’s amazing how differently I interpreted each part and the poem as a whole.
Thank you. Love from India, Assam. You saved me.. have semester exams in 3 weeks.. thank you so much.
Thank you very much this helped me quite a bit to better understand the poem. You're great :)
Thank you so much! I'm so happy I found this! I'm an Italian student,and I am trying to study Eliot alone,but it's so hard! But anyway with your lesson I was able to understand a little bit more about this poem! Thank you so much! Now i will watch all your videos! Thank you!
You're welcome! I'm so glad this helped. Eliot is a challenge. Good for you for wading into his deep waters!
Fantastic. Thank you so much
This made my day! couldn't have understood the poem so well without this video's help.
Please upload more videos like these.
And yeah, thanks
I'm glad. You're welcome!
Great stuff, great voice, thanks a lot
This was so helpful, thank you so much!
Thank you so much! This video helped me so much while studying for finals!
Wonderful , this first time I listen to English poem but I enjoyed and understood
That was beautifully analysed. Thanks a lot.
You're so welcome! Thanks for watching.
This is great! You explain this so much better than my professor does! Very helpful review, thank you!
You're welcome! And thanks. :-)
Thank you for this great video. If possible could you mention what critics said about certain stanzas and ideas of the reviewed poems. :]
Thanks for what you do
I think, on surface level, by "overwhelming question" he means Prufrock wants to propose the woman he loves, like, 'Will you be mine, or will you marry me?'. On other levels, this question may be something higher philosophical question regarding the nothingness of human existence (notice the tone of hopelessness all through the poem). Again, the question overwhelms him because he does not know the answer... The burden of his dual personality (you and I) makes him wonder about insignificant things. It's connected to the mental drama going inside, rather than any practical or physical action.
That's what I think!
That's what I always thought, until I learned about his life with his wife. I think he wants to ask for a divorce and is debating the consequences of growing old alone, will anyone else want him when she's gone.
Well done. Thank you for your thoughts.
You're welcome! And thanks.
Thank you so much! This was incredibly useful and I think I'm starting to make the connections.
Good for you! This poem is deep and wide; it flows out in many directions!