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How Eliots Life Reflected Towards His Poetry

How Eliots Life Reflected Towards His Poetry Eliot’s Life Reflected Towards His Poetry T.S. Eliot composed poems from within his experiences, physical or mental conditions and his own social observations. To fully comprehend Eliot’s work, we must first understand what he has gone through at specific times in his life. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” becomes a great example of were we must primarily understand what has happened to Eliot. “There can be no simple equation between the experiences of the life and the poetry”(Scofield 18). Eliot’s poetry became a reflection of himself, and this is especially noticeable with his poem, “Prufrock.” According to Scofield, Eliot became a victim from acute anxiety and depression in the earlier part of his life (17). This could have been due to Eliot’s failed marriage. Scofield also describes Eliot as having an unstable life. He states that Eliot “took a leave of absence (…) on an account of an illness described as ‘nervous breakdown’”(17). The poem “Prufrock,” is based on male anxiety and insecurity, possibly experienced by Eliot himself. Prufrock struggles with his anxiety, and through out the poem this can be seen by the way that he questions himself in lines thirty-eight to forty-one of “Prufrock”: To wonder, ‘Do I dare?’ and ‘Do I dare? Time to turn back and descend the stair, With a bald spot in the middle of my hair- [They will say: ‘How his hair is growing thin!’] This stanza shows how Prufrock worries about people judging him. Prufrock’s insecurity, which is based upon an image of Eliot’s own insecurity, plays a major role in the poem. By the time this poem was completed, Eliot was in his thirty’s. A man at that age, such as Eliot’s, fears of loosing his hair and of growing old. Insecurity can also be detected by how dependent Prufrock is on his attire for confidence. Line forty-two of “Prufrock” is an example of this: My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin, My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin- [They will say: ‘But how his arms and legs are thin!’] This example shows Prufrock’s insecurity, and shows us that he is worried about what other people think of his physical appearance. Someone who suffers from anxiety and insecurity, such as Eliot, becomes attached to their physical elements. This is because they believe that sartorial property, or any type of concrete object, can give them esurience. Prufrock’s insecurity is also shown when he is worrying about looking like an old fool. He says: I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare eat a peach? This quote helps prove that, he worries about aging. When we begin to age, we tend to shrink and loose our hair, loosing our physical traits that we are used to. Prufrock wants to wear cuffs on his pants due to the belief that in those days they were the most fashionable attires. Prufrock wants to wear them in order to hide the signs of aging: by placing cuffs on his pants he will therefore make them shorter. Prufrock’s insecurity causes him to question himself and have doubts about his appearance. He does not know if he should part his hair back to hide his bald spot, or if he should “eat a peach?” Peaches are known to be messy when eaten. Because of risks, Prufrock becomes uncertain about doing such things as these. These thoughts could be similar to Eliot’s own thoughts at the same period in his life. . “Prufrock” a poem about lack of love, has a lead to protagonist who becomes very desperate for love through out the poem. Eliot becomes very romantic throughout “Prufrock.” Through out the poem, Eliot’s style of writing is in reaction to events in his life. He becomes romantic because his romantic life with his wife had become very unhappy, and in his poem, “Prufrock,” is where his love tensions are released This can be shown when Prufrock says things that reflect his emotions that deal with sexual anxiety, “Time for you and time for me”(line 31). This is a sexual connotation regarding time for two people to perform sexual acts. Other sexual connotations are also found in lines fifty six to fifty eight: The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase, And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin, When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall, This stanza is not only about Prufrock’s sex drive, but it also ties in with his anxiety. This is because we see Prufrock being attracted towards someone, but he is also placed in an uncomfortable situation. She pins him down with her sight, trying to see if he is good enough for her. But Prufrock feels trapped and does not know what to say. He is worried because he fears he would look like an idiot. His thoughts of her are described through lines sixty-three to sixty-nine. He thinks: Arms that are braceleted and white and bare [But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!] Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl. As we can see, Prufrock becomes aroused and turned on by her appearance. He begins to imagine what it would be like to be with her. He says, “And should I then presume?/ And how should I begin?” He wonders how he should go up to her and ask for a date, and how he should then carry on with the night. Prufrock seems to be very desperate, but the only problem is that his insecurity keeps him from taking action. Prufrock then carries on imagining his night with her through lines seventy-eight to eighty. He describes it by saying: Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me. Should I, after tea and cakes and ices, Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis? Here we can see that Prufrock wants to be sexual with this person, but he worries about not being able to perform. Prufrock’s desperateness is a reflection of Eliot’s desire for intimacy. This is because when a man suffers from an unhappy relationship, he starves for love. Eliot probably did not have a loving relationship with his wife, and therefore his wondered and he desired other people. We are able to understand why Eliot chooses such imagery. Eliot was born in the big city of St. Louis. This became Eliot’s source for urban imagery. His social observations of the city’s smog, grubbiness, and cheapness has been one of his main attractions. This urban atmosphere has been the main imagery in Eliot’s work, “Prufrock.” These images have been staggered through out the poem to give the reader an impression of the filthy city that Prufrock wonders through. Eliot writes in lines two and three of the poem describing the scenery. When he writes, “When the evening is spread out against the sky/ Like a patient etherized upon a table”(lines 2-3). Here he describes an evening scene, which symbolizes the end of life. Eliot uses the term “etherized,” which comes from the anesthetic ether. These words create a negative image of the evening, being dead. Eliot gives this negative introduction to give the mood of the poem. These words go beyond that. Eliot has gone through a very negative life, therefore, he projects his feelings about the city through his poetry; this is why we see so much negative imagery within his work. Eliot also describes the scenery of “Prufrock” as having “certain half-deserted streets”(line 4), and describes scenes “Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels/ And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells”(lines 6-7). These descriptions show us the scenery that Prufrock wonders through, but it also ties in with Eliot’s attraction to negative city imagery. “The social world of Prufrock is perceived as images which inhabit his mind”(47). What Scofield is saying, is that Eliot builds scenery from observations that collect in his mind. But Eliot does not just give scenery; he also gives an atmosphere. In lines fifteen and sixteen of “Prufrock”, Eliot describes the air that Prufrock breathes in the poem as being contaminated with gases and smoke. It says: The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes, The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes Such images as these are like those seen by Eliot when he once lived in St. Louis. Due to Eliot’s obsession with certain scenery and negative outlooks on life, he is able to project moods into his work. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is a reflection of Eliot’s life in almost everyway. Everything that Eliot was going through, such as a bad marriage, anxiety and depression, and his observations of city life, have been echoed in his poem “Prufrock.” Therefore, I believe that it is Eliot who walks in the streets of “Prufrock,” and not Prufrock himself. Bibliography:

Word Count: 1500