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The title of the poem is for ironical purpose. The type of the poem is dramatic

monologue.

Thetitleofthepoemisforironicalpurpose.Thetypeofthepoemisdramatic

monologue.  The poem starts with an Italian quotation. This quotation is about hell. Dante is

askingGuido;whattypesofsinsyouhavecommitted.Thepoetreferstothisexact

quotationbecausetheyareliving"thepoetandDante"islivinginsimilarHell;oneis

physical hell and the second is Metaphysical hell. This poem is like a confession of his sins.

Thepoemisa referencetoallusion.Instanza4weseehowitisanallusionto"hiscoy

mistress"byAndrewMarvel.ThepoemisaboutAlfredPrufrockwhoisphysicallyweak

"thinlegandarms".Heisinthemiddleagedmandwithabaldspotinthemiddle

ofhis hair.Hedressesaccordingtothelatestfashion.Helacksasenseofselfconfidentashe

alwayscaresofwhatpeoplewillsayabouthim.Heiswomanizer.Heisnotattractiveto

women.Heiscareless,irresponsibleanddoesn'tknowthevalueoftime.Heistimidand

cowardwhokeepsrepeating"DoIdare".Hecannottakedecisions. Heisnotamanof

action. His words are louder than his actions. He is a man of word. He is a hypocrite living

among hypocrites. The setting of the poem is modern city

life; "half deserted streets", "one night cheap hotel", "saw dust restaurant", "Museums, large big hall".

It is interesting to see Prufrockfrom

TheLoveSongofJ. AlfredPrufrock

byT.S.EliotcomparehimselftoHamlet. Ofcourse,Prufrockimmediatelyre

jectstheidea,claimsheisnowhereasimportantas

Hamlet,andreturnstohisusualself-criticism.Hesuggeststhathewouldbeaminor

characterinaplay,nottheprotagonist.However,Prufrock'sdenialinbeingsimilarto Hamlet is somewhat more iron

ic than true because he does, in fact, resemble him. Similar toHamlet,Prufrock'sgreatestflawishisindecisivenessaswellashisself-deprecation.

AlthoughHamletandPrufrockhavecompletelydifferentsituations –

onehesitatingto murder his uncle a

nd the other hesitating to ask a girl out these two characters prove to

the readers that the way they act (or don’t act) upon these dilemmas are exactly the same.

The poem starts with an Italian quotation. This quotation is about hell. Dante is

asking Guido; what types of sins you have c

ommitted. The poet refers to this exact

quotation because they are living "the poet and Dante" is living in similar Hell; one is

physical hell and the second is Metaphysical hell.

This poem is like a

confession of his sins.

The poem is a reference to allusion. In stanza 4 we see how it is an allusion to "his coy

mistress" by Andrew Marvel. The poem is about Alfred Prufrock who is physically weak

"thin leg and arms". He is in the middle aged mand with a bald spot in the middle

of his

hair. He dresses according to the latest fashion. He lacks a sense of self

-

confident as he

always cares of what people will say about him. He is womanizer. He is not attractive to

women. He is careless, irresponsible and doesn't know the value of t

ime. He is timid and

coward who keeps repeating "Do I dare". He cannot take decisions.

He is not a man of

action. His words are louder than his actions. He is a man of word. He is a hypocrite living

among hypocrites. The setting of the poem is modern city

life; "half deserted streets", "one

night cheap hotel", "saw dust restaurant", "Museums, large big hall".

It is interesting to see

Prufrock from

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

by T.S. Eliot compare himself to Hamlet.

Of course, Prufrock immediately re

jects the idea, claims he is nowhere as important as

Hamlet, and returns to his usual self

-

criticism. He suggests that he would be a minor

character in a play, not the protagonist. However, Prufrock's denial in being similar to

Hamlet is somewhat more iron

ic than true because he does, in fact, resemble him. Similar

Hanan Algarni

3

to Hamlet, Prufrock's greatest flaw is his indecisiveness as well as his self

-

deprecation.

Although Hamlet and Prufrock have completely different situations

–

one hesitating to

murder his uncle a

nd the other hesitating to ask a girl out

–

these two characters prove to

the readers that the way they act (or don’t act) upon these dilemmas are exactly the same.