Love Song Of Prufrock Essays - Chapbooks, , Term Papers

Love Song Of Prufrock In his poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," Eliot explores the timeless issues of love and self-awareness - popular themes in literature. However, through his use of Prufrock's profound self-consciousness he skews the reader's expectations of a "Love Song" and takes a serious perspective on the subject of love, which many authors do, but few can create characters as deep and multi-layered as Prufrock; probably the reason that this poem still remains, arguably, Eliot's most famous. The beginning of the poem is pre-empted by an excerpt from Dante's Inferno which Eliot uses to create the poem's serious tone, but also to begin his exploration of Prufrock's self-consciousness. By inserting this quote, a parallel is created between Prufrock and the speaker, Guido da Montefeltro, who is very aware of his position in "hell" and his personal situation concerning the fate of his life. Prufrock feels much the same way, but his hell and the fate of his life are more in his own mind and have less to do with the people around him. The issue of his fate leads Prufrock to an "overwhelming question..."(10) which is never identified, asked, or answered in the poem. This "question" is associated somehow to his psyche, but both its ambiguity to the reader and Prufrock's denial to even ask "What is it?"(11) gives some insight into his state of internal turmoil and inability to reason. Prufrock's dissatisfaction in his personal appearance is one, but not the most important of his idiosyncrasies. Not only is he unhappy with the nature of his appearance, having "To Prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;" but he is fearful of what others will have to say about him: "(They will say: ?How his hair is growing thin!')"(41) and "(... ?But how his arms and legs are thin!')"(44). Prufrock is insecure and frightened of peoples' reactions to his balding head and slim, aging body. Unfortunately, his lack of confidence isn't limited to his looks. Prufrock has difficulty communicating with people - not surprising considering his extreme lack of confidence in his appearance. He's indecisive and unsuccessful in his attempts to communicate with other people, repeating "visions and revisions"(33) and "decisions and revisions..."(48). Eliot uses repetition here to emphasize the concept of Prufrock's alterations in behavior - whether he does change his behavior or not is another issue... most likely he doesn't because he also repeats the question "?Do I dare?' and, ?Do I dare?'"(38). Possibly, he's asking if he should dare "and drop a question on your plate;"(30) meaning one of his "dares" could be something that he'd like to ask a woman but can't; he also asks "Do I dare/ Disturb the universe?"(45-46). In this case Eliot uses hyperbole to give the reader the impression of the seriousness of Prufrock's insecurities - they are his whole "universe." However, this is only one explanation where there are a number of possibilities. Once again, Eliot uses the device of ambiguity to reflect the internal struggle in Prufrock and lead the reader to ask themselves again "What is the ?overwhelming question' that Prufrock is asking?" Unfortunately even Prufrock himself doesn't have the answer... even recognizing the issue itself is beyond the simplicity of his mind, which he confesses by saying "I am no prophet- and here's no great matter;"(84). By downplaying the importance of the issue, Prufrock echoes his lack of self-worth. In fact, to Prufrock, the issue is extremely important - the fate of his life depends on it. His declaration that he isn't a prophet indicates Prufrock's view on his position in society, which he is as confused about as everything else. To interject a little history: Eliot wrote this poem during a time in which social customs, especially in Europe, were still a very important issue. There were basically two classes - rich and poor, neither of which Prufrock really fits into. Eliot creates the idea of Prufrock being caught between the two classes in the very beginning of the poem, (if not by J. Alfred Prufrock's unusual pompous/working class sounding name) when he juxtaposes the images of "restless nights in one-night cheap hotels/ And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells"(4-5) and the women who "come and go Talking of Michelangelo."(13-14). These two images represent two completely different ways of life. The first image is of a dingy lifestyle - living among the "half-deserted streets"(4) while the second is the lifestyle that Prufrock longs to be associated with - much like the image of Michelangelo's painting on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel where God

The Russian Pogroms on a more Personal level essays

The Russian Pogroms on a more Personal level essays Russian Pogroms on a more personal note At the beginning of Nicholas II's reign in 1894, Russia was faced with revolution. People were beginning to fight for political reformations, and their right to freedom of speech, but Nicholas II was attempting to make it clear that he was going to be just as strict in his guard of the autocracy as his father, Alexander III, was before him. The Russian government had just failed to gain warm water ports in the West, and was now turning toward the East, which meant inevitable war with the growing Far East empire, Japan. This far off war also served to distract the Russian people from pursuing revolution and deflect their attention to the nationalistic battle in the East. However, violence resided not only at the front against Japan, but at home within Russia's borders in the form of pogroms, where Jews were sought out and murdered by the hundreds and in some places, the thousands. In the Pogroms of 1903 to 1906, thousands of Jews were slaughtered across Russia in these waves of anti-Semitic hatred. After violent anti-Semitic campaigns had been breaking throughout Russia for months, the Russian city of Kishinev witnessed the first pogrom. Forty-five people were murdered, and 1,300 homes and shops were plundered. The violent participants in the Kishinev pogrom received very light criminal punishments, and Russians everywhere were shown that pogroms were to become perfectly acceptable and even encouraged. Russia fell to disastrous defeat in the hands of the Japanese. As the Russians were looking for someone to blame for their devastating loss, the government proposed the Jewish people as a scapegoat for the people's anger and frustration. This new program of the extermination of the enemy Jews was done quickly and without remorse, before the heat could be turned back onto the Czar and while there was still a chance that the fires of revolution could be rekindled. People were con...

Communication Campaign of The Body Shop Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Communication Campaign of The Body Shop - Essay Example The key stakeholders and the target publics of the Body Shop are likely to be affected by the three main issues faced by the company. †¢Ã‚  Mergers of the company: the merger of the company would affect the existing shareholders and the employees of the organization. The shareholders would be suspicious about the performance of the company in the new merged position in the market. Rather the working culture of the organization would also change with the merger, this would affect the employees. The consumers would also doubt the ethical virtues of the company after the merger as LO real is known to not follow ethical issues in business. †¢Ã‚  The recession in the world economy: the crisis of finance in the global economies can force the company cut down some jobs, this would affect the employees. Rather the fall in the disposable income levels would hamper the purchasing power capabilities of the consumers. The suppliers would also be reluctant to provide raw materials at lo wer prices. †¢Ã‚  The ethical virtues of other cosmetics companies: this would directly affect the decisions of the consumers in the market. They might reduce the demand for the products of The Body Shop. Considering the initial business analysis, it can be stated that any change made in the business operations of The Body Shop would surely affect its stakeholders. Figure 1 and 2 in the Appendix, shows the stakeholders map for the Body. The most important stakeholders of the company are the customers and the shareholders.