A long influence

'Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock'(1915) is a landmark modern poem written by T.S. Eliot in the sense is that it broke all traditional textures of Romantic poetry and influenced subsequent literature in general. In the poem, Prufrock, the protagonist is unable to propose and finds it utterly impossible to open up his heart in a society that stands totally against his divided-mind. Prufrock is an urban man dared not to confront the modern world and face his courting lady with 'overwhelming question.' Instead, he asks himself a series of questions that do reflect his deepening anxiety: 'Do I dare / Disturb the universe?'

Too much consciousness and fastidious nature along with inner-questioning is an impediment that thwarts modern people to communicate with world he lives in. Doubt, futility and fear incapacitate his deep desire. Unlike the setting of a romantic poem in a wide open beautiful and vast land the poem takes place in small room, dirty roads and cheap hotels. The character is not in bliss rather in 'restless nights in one-night cheap hotels'. Tedious journey of the protagonist is obvious, when in monologue he utters, 'There will be time, there will be time'. The mere proposal is so heavily burdened with Prufrock that it seems to disturb the whole universe. Furthermore In the poem the triviality of modern life is exposed: 'I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.' The ever questioning mind and procrastination of Prufrock is a stamp of a modern man:

And should I then presume?

And how should I begin?

Modernism has introduced a number of influential concepts to the twentieth century literary world some of which are superficial pseudo-intellect inquiry, doubt, individualism, despair, hopelessness, paralysis, anxiety, a sense of meaninglessness, chaos, search for meaning and answer, the crisis of belief, loss of faith etc. All these concepts can be found fully in this poem. In The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock,' Eliot sets his speakers to journeys for meaning and answer, reveals their fragmented visions, and analyses the modern man's perception of life, norms and faith. In this sense, Eliot's powerful poetry, characterised by fragmentation, questioning and hopelessness constitute various successful examples of the implications of modernism that brings about a new way of looking and appreciating life and its components.

The inner thinking and re-thinking and endless procrastination make Prufrock a peculiar character. Over-educated, neurotic, and sensitively stilted Prufrock is a mentally divided personality. The fear of modern man is, in a large scale, is present in him. His timidity and inactivity and to face the reality boldly make a pathetic juncture. Though he claims he is 'not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be', he is quite similar to Hamlet in the sense that Hamlet is also characteristically unable to control or accept his doubts or take any proper action.

Prufrock's continual return to the 'women who come and go / Talking of Michelangelo' and his recurrent questionings 'how should I presume?' and pessimistic appraisals 'That is not it, at all.' All of these describe the consciousness of a modern neurotic individual.

Stream of consciousness and blank verse technique and symbolism also present a new treatment in literature. Chaos, mental disorder, neurotic behavior of Prufrock is noteworthy because it showcases a senseless condition where every man is caught. The symbolic presentation of the evening as curling cat is Prufrock's inactivity from which every man suffers. The numbness that the great line focuses 'patient etherized upon a table' also shows the morbidity and alienation of modern time. Prufrock lives, indeed, in a corrupted sense of reality where hollowness of intelligence and superficiality of modern life is blatantly obvious. The women who are even ignorant of their own selves talk of 'Michael Angelo' thereby demonstrating their pseudo-intelligence. Prufrock being a victim of the time in his aimless journey suffers from self-identity. Question of identity is also found in Tagore when he says 'Amar Hiyar Majhe Lukia Sile Dekhte Ami Paini' or in Lalon 'Aponare Chinte Parle Jabe Ochanere Chena' and in Socrates thousands years back when he said 'know thyself' likewise modern people are suffering acutely from self effacement.

Eliot modernizes the form by removing the implied listeners and focusing on Prufrock's interiority and isolation. Prufrock has to live in an unsympathetic world where nobody would care for his problem so he keeps silent but recurrent questionings 'how should I presume?' goes on in his psyche. Temporizing the matter just kills his volition: 'And indeed there will be time.' His anxiety over lack of being proper with a bald head is nothing but a sign that he is excommunicated. His anguish becomes grave when he knows that he has limitations and he is caged in a dimensional world like a picture from where there is no way out. His inner voice in anguish laments 'When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall / Then how shall I begin.' From indecisiveness and anxiety over future and his aging, which results in a kind of psychological paranoia, a state of passivity, Prufrock is haunted by his fear of making decisions that may not have a tangible result at all.

 The mental struggle of Prufrock is symbolic of every modern man who is much conscious of his ill fate in a world that counts more on reasoning than that of emotional value. So his mind is full with unanswered questions. Although he knows that there is no answer for 'the overwhelming question' or at least no point in answering it at all, he still cannot help asking and pursuing it as the modern man's search for meaning and answer is nearly instinctive and compulsive, which is evident in these lines: 'Streets that follow like a tedious argument/Of insidious intent/ To lead you and overwhelming question/Oh, do not ask, 'what is it?' / Let us go and make our visit.' Thus, the subjects of the speaker undergo frequent fragmentations as a result of his self-interrogation and self-consciousness, which is a reflection of modernist perception in literature.