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Blog #9
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot is an interesting title, which I think is essentially used as a gimmick. While the title is quirky and fun, the poem is quite depressing and melancholy and never refers back to the playfulness at the top of the page.
The Man:
Prufrock is the quintessential nerd, intelligent and bright but socially awkward, especially, apparently, among women. He describes himself as “an attendant lord, the Fool” who is gradually growing older (112, 119). While he continually convinces himself that there is time left to engage with the rest of society he considers himself to be worse than, he still continues to hesitate, and as time passes, he knows that he will only continue to fade.
The Women:
The narrator's low self-esteem causes him to see women as almost ethereal and unreachable, likening them to "mermaids singing" (124). He also declares that they are not going to sing to him, describing them as voices that communicate feverishly with each other yet ignore him. His impression is not negative, for he seems to blame himself, yet is nevertheless resentful of their higher place in the world, even if it is largely self-imposed.
The setting:
The city Prufrock lives in is described as filthy, polluted, and dark, in fact, as nothing less than hell. Full of "cheap hotels and sawdust restaurants" (7-8), Prufrock describes his environment as an anti-utopia, a festering world where joy comes to die. And yet this may not even be slightly accurate. One's worldview is largely determined by a state of mind, and if he was well adjusted and happy instead of lonely and depressed, who know if Prufrock would describe his city as negatively as he currently does?
A major universal theme in the story Demeter and Persephone is the expression of all forms of love, both maternally in the bond shared between the mother and daughter, and romantically with Hades' jealous possession of Persephone. Love is largely a biological creation (regardless of what romantics choose to believe) and this tale shows it to be alive and well in the Greek era.
A second universal theme is the cycle of death and rebirth, shown by Persephone's continuous revival and descension, as well as the death and restoration of the natural world it creates. The story of life and death is an eternal area of respect and wonder among the human race, due both to its inherent mysteries and its complete inevitability.
As a side note: Although this does not qualify in any way as a universal theme, I found it very interesting that the story contains a woman who's eternal downfall is caused by the consumption of a forbidden fruit. Does that not sound just a little bit like the Christian Bible? As far as I know the Bible isn't influenced by Greek mythology, as I thought it was based largely on Pagan traditions, but this is a very interesting connection, in my humble opinion.
The Man:
Prufrock is the quintessential nerd, intelligent and bright but socially awkward, especially, apparently, among women. He describes himself as “an attendant lord, the Fool” who is gradually growing older (112, 119). While he continually convinces himself that there is time left to engage with the rest of society he considers himself to be worse than, he still continues to hesitate, and as time passes, he knows that he will only continue to fade.
The Women:
The narrator's low self-esteem causes him to see women as almost ethereal and unreachable, likening them to "mermaids singing" (124). He also declares that they are not going to sing to him, describing them as voices that communicate feverishly with each other yet ignore him. His impression is not negative, for he seems to blame himself, yet is nevertheless resentful of their higher place in the world, even if it is largely self-imposed.
The setting:
The city Prufrock lives in is described as filthy, polluted, and dark, in fact, as nothing less than hell. Full of "cheap hotels and sawdust restaurants" (7-8), Prufrock describes his environment as an anti-utopia, a festering world where joy comes to die. And yet this may not even be slightly accurate. One's worldview is largely determined by a state of mind, and if he was well adjusted and happy instead of lonely and depressed, who know if Prufrock would describe his city as negatively as he currently does?
A major universal theme in the story Demeter and Persephone is the expression of all forms of love, both maternally in the bond shared between the mother and daughter, and romantically with Hades' jealous possession of Persephone. Love is largely a biological creation (regardless of what romantics choose to believe) and this tale shows it to be alive and well in the Greek era.
A second universal theme is the cycle of death and rebirth, shown by Persephone's continuous revival and descension, as well as the death and restoration of the natural world it creates. The story of life and death is an eternal area of respect and wonder among the human race, due both to its inherent mysteries and its complete inevitability.
As a side note: Although this does not qualify in any way as a universal theme, I found it very interesting that the story contains a woman who's eternal downfall is caused by the consumption of a forbidden fruit. Does that not sound just a little bit like the Christian Bible? As far as I know the Bible isn't influenced by Greek mythology, as I thought it was based largely on Pagan traditions, but this is a very interesting connection, in my humble opinion.
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