Dramatic Monologue. A dramatic monologue is a poem that presents the speech of a single character in a dramatic situation. The speech is one side of an imagined conversation. Identify the dramatic situation J. Alfred Prufrock is in as you read the poem.
Allusion. An allusion is a figure of speech in which a reference is made to a person, event, object, or work from history or literature. As you read the poem, identify as many allusions as you can.
|
Eliot wrote “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” in 1910–1911 while a graduate student at Harvard. The poem, a dramatic monologue, presents the “conversation with himself” of J. Alfred Prufrock, a middle-aged man who hesitates to speak directly to the woman he loves. First published in Poetry magazine in 1915, the poem was later collected in Prufrock and Other Observations and Poems. In many ways, this poem is typical of Eliot’s work, which is elliptical, leaving out nonessential details, and highly allusive, making reference to people, events, objects, or works from history or literature.
Have you ever hesitated to tell someone how you felt about him or her? Explain why you hesitated and what you would have said if you had been able to speak frankly.
|
