1	“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” p. 2364 Overview Stream-of-consciousness technique dissects the mind/personality of speaker Speaker is a weak, self-conscious man, isolated and incapable of decisive action Speaker embodies dilemmas of the modern self
2	Title Irony of title Contrast between romantic image (“love song”) and unromantic name of protagonist Poem features protagonist’s isolation and inability to love “Love Song” implies communication to another, but poem is an interior monologue
3	Epigraph From Dante’s Inferno Damned spirit reveals his crimes Implies Prufrock is stuck in internal “hell” Prufrock recognizes the futility of his confession
4	Dramatic Monologue— “You and I” Interior monologue—speaker addresses himself “You”: Id, instinctual self “I”: Ego, rational self Descent into speaker’s subconscious An imagined conversation with another person Invitation to a tea party Perhaps addressed to a lady for a “date”
5	Dramatic Monologue— “You and I” An address directly to the reader Prufrock mirrors the modern self Invitation to self-examination
6	Setting Prufrock’s mind Stream-of-consciousness imagery reveals Prufrock’s thoughts and personality The modern city (lines 4-22) City imagery suggests emptiness, obscurity, purposelessness of modern, urban man
7	Setting A tea party (real or imaginary) (starting at line 13) Trivial chit-chat on great topics suggests modern isolation—inability to establish relationships/ communication of substance
8	Narrative Action (or Inaction!) Prufrock considers taking action, making an effort to communicate, and simultaneously procrastinates (lines 1-72) Afraid of rejection, Prufrock withdraws and rationalizes his inability to act (lines 73-131)
9	Imagery Paralysis—impotence, frustration of modern self Descent/withdrawal—interiority, isolation of modern self Dismemberment/disembodiment—fragmentation, superficiality of modern identity Great heroes—modern self’s incapacity for heroic action
10	“Prufrock” on the Internet To see an interactive “hypertext” of T. S. Eliot’s poem, click here: http://www.cs.amherst.edu/~ccm/prufrock.html The hypertext links the loosely associated images of Eliot’s text to related websites on the Internet