T. S. Eliot (Thomas Stearns)

2. T. S. Eliot(Thomas Stearns)

3. Born in St. Louis, to wealthy family • Went to Harvard as undergraduate • Published number of poems in Harvard Advocate. • When W W 1 broke out, he went to live in England • Influenced by Ezra Pound • Urged him to publish “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

4. Early works focused on frustration and despair of life in modern times and utilized new techniques • In 1922, he published his most influential work: The Waste Land • This poem contrasts the lack of spirituality in modern Europe with the values of the past • Became an English citizen in 1927 and a member of the Church of England in 1928

5. Changes in his citizenship and focus on religion enabled him to change the themes of his writing • Eliot felt these new themes could serve as a healer for the spiritually lacking society he wrote about in The Waste Land

6. He also became a playwright. • First major play was Murder in the Cathedral, based on the death of Thomas a Becket • Received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1948.

7. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” • Stream of Consciousness writing style • Narrator uses “you” and “I” when referring to himself because he sees himself as conflicted • One part eager to take action • One part wants to hold back • This poem is a variation of a dramatic monologue

8. Summary of Poem • Prufrock is main character: modern man--overeducated, eloquent, neurotic, and emotionally unequipped • Prufrock wants to tell this woman how he feels about her, but he never really does. • Instead he just debates with himself if he should tell her how he feels. • His self image is not a good one, often referring to himself as aging, a Fool, and going unnoticed by younger women

9. Dramatic Monologue • Like a soliloquy • Has 3 main components • The speech is specifically addressed to a specific person in a particular moment • The person the speaker is addressing is not really present, but rather implied • The purpose of the monologue is to reveal character traits of the speaker

10. Does this poem meet the 3 criteria of a dramatic monologue?

11. Questions • What allusions are used in the poem? • What does the “yellow smoke”/”yellow fog” in lines 15-21 refer to? • What is Prufrock’s image of himself? (lines 39-44; line 83; lines 109-120) • In lines 109-118, list 4 adjectives he uses to describe himself. Do you see a conflict between them?

12. Why would the women be coming and going talking of Michelangelo? • Prufrock is acknowledging that he is NOT in fact someone they, the women, would talk about. • Contrasting his image of himself to that of Michelangelo’s work • (see lines 39-44)

13. What about Hamlet? • Prufrock acknowledges he is NOT the Prince of Denmark • Mocking the fact that he is aging and the only way he could be younger is if he could go backwards like a crab. • By the way, crabs are bottom feeders of the sea • Interesting it is this animal he wishes he should be

14. And Lazarus? • The love of this woman would bring him back from the dead, but since he won’t tell her, he won’t be resurrected at all.