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J Alfred Prufrock Meaning

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Although poems can have multiple interpretations, the poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot seems to be about a pessimistic middle aged man’s midlife crisis looking towards the end of his life, the quote at the beginning, the questions he asked, and the conclusion lead me to believe this. There is a quote in Italian that starts the poem off. Translated it reads "If I thought that my reply were given to anyone who might return to the world, this flame would stand forever still; but since never from this deep place has anyone returned alive, if what I hear is true, without fear of infamy I answer thee.” It is a quote from “The Inferno”, a poem written by Dante Alighieri during the Italian Renaissance. The poem is about a man named Dante, who is shown around hell to help him become good, and the quote is the answer he was given when he asked a man he met in hell how he had got there. The guy in hell said that he would tell Dante his story because he is quite sure that no one has ever escaped hell, and he has no fear that his reputation will be ruined by it. What does this mean in the poem? Maybe it means that the speaker, Alfred Prufrock is on his way to hell.(?) He seems rather down in the dumps about how he is growing old, and despite how long and rambling the poem is, it is not …show more content…

“And how should I presume?” Presume has 2 main meanings. The first is to suppose something is the case on the basis of probability and/or to take for granted that something exists or is the cause. The second main meaning is to be audacious enough to do something. The poem uses the second meaning, which leads me to believe that Alfred Prufrock is having a midlife crisis, he doesn’t think that he has the audacity to change his ways and start over. Left behind after 3 stanzas worth of self doubt is yet another rhetorical question, “And how should I

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