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Political aspects of The Love Song of Alfred Prufrock The poem The Love Song of Alfred Prufrock by Thomas Sterns Eliot can be considered as the ultimate expression of metaphysical decadence, in the form of intellectual symbolism. Many critics analyze this poem out of historical or political context, which prevents them from understanding the essence of Eliot's message. The Love Song of Alfred Prufrock reveals the mindset of the typical representative of third generation. In order for us to realize the true significance of Eliot's poem, we will need to make a historical intermission. The history of Western civilization can be thought of as the continuous succession of generations that posses a specific psychological traits. For example, in Homers poems, the characters are defined almost exclusively by their sheer will-power.
There is nothing else about them. Such people are usually being referred to as representatives of first generation. They are the fathers of nations, great military leaders and explorers. The history of their lives is read like an epic. People that belong to second generation have both strength and intellect. They are the ones who build and conquer, while strengthening the foundation of earlier accomplishments.
Martin Luther and Shakespeare, for example, are the typical representatives of second generation. As history progresses, people slowly loose their strength and all that there is remaining is intellect. The 19 th and 20 th centuries are strongly associated with emergence of many prominent people, who clearly belong to third generation. They are undoubtedly intellectual and oversensitive but they have neither the strength nor will-power.
It is around this time that spiritual decadence became fashionable among Europeans. Thomas Eliot was such a person. What is truly remarkable about his poem The Love Song of Alfred Prufrock is the fact that author pinpoints exactly to the reason of his unhappiness in very clear language: And indeed there will be time 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 (Eliot) It appears that Prufrock is not content with surrounding reality because his lack of will-power does not allow him to affect it. He does not consider daring but only wondering about how to dare. Many critics suggest that the high symbolism of Eliot's poem allows it to be interpreted freely. This might very well be the case, when author talks about womans hairy arms, but there is no doubt that Prufrock suffers from the fact that he knows too much, which prevents him from perceiving the reality in idealistic manner. This is why The Love Song of Alfred Prufrock should be considered as being more political than it is generally accepted.
One cannot mistake it for something that was written in historic time other than the beginning of 20 th century. Back than, the progress of the science was amazing, yet, people were growing increasingly unhappy, because they could not support their worldviews by the clear set of ideas. Prufrock's statement is nothing but the expression of deep psychological anxiety, felt by many people in Europe at the time. Eliot knows about his psychological inadequacy, still, he cannot do anything about it.
The biggest virtue, which is left for him, is to honestly describe his feelings, while knowing that it is only the matter of time, before his poem is going to be analyzed in context of decadence, as we do now: Time for you and time for me, And time yet for a hundred indecision's, And for a hundred visions and revisions, Before the taking of a toast and tea (Eliot) Indecision's, revisions these are the words from vocabulary of 20 th century. It requires certain strength to name things for what they are. Prufrock prefers to withdraw from rearranging the world, according to his own wishes, and to simply indulge into the dubious pleasure of savoring different aspects of his own sensuality. We can say that Prufrock represents the essence of Liberalism, as we know it. The main feature of this obscure doctrine, which is presented to us now as only the option, is the fact that it is absolutely deprived of power, which could be felt on subconscious level. It is not by pure accident that only the people that consider Liberal dogmas seriously are predominantly White.
This is because White people had lost their touch with something that allowed them to exercise an undisputed authority throughout the world - the belief in their own power. This coincided with the beginning of their decline as race. Today White people constitute 6 % of worlds population. By the year of 2050 this number will shrink to 2 %. Nowadays, we are witnessing the rise of representatives of first generation, who are deprived of intellect and artistic finesse, but who posses a brutal will-power and ability to survive under the most impossible circumstances. As history shows, only this counts, when it comes to achieving cultural and political dominance.
The graffiti can hardly be considered as form of art, but it is seen everywhere and becomes more popular, as time goes by, while only a very few people still take pleasure in observing a real art, which is slowly getting covered by the layer of dust in museums. This is why reading Eliot's The Love Song of Alfred Prufrock is essential, when it comes to understanding why our civilization will be inevitably plunged into the barbarism, before the spiral of history takes new turn. This is because the race that single-handedly used to push cultural and social progress had lost the sense of its own destination and became weak. Therefore, we can say that the essence of Eliot's message is weakness. At the time when he was writing his poem, it used to be very fashionable among European aristocrats to have a very pale color of skin, as if they were ill. They used to swallow small portions of poison to accomplish this effect.
It is not too hard for us to imagine Prufrock being such person, given the fact that he describes himself as classical decadent, who probably never held anything heavier in his hand than a pen: 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! (Eliot) Eliot's masterpiece is called a love poem. But it is doubtful whether author could feel a love towards anybody but himself. In order to know how to love, one must know how to sacrifice. While living in England, Eliot did not volunteer to become a soldier, during World War One, while preferring to remain in the rear.
He considered himself to be too sophisticated to join the ranks. Poet can never attain an artistic finesse, unless he had experienced some extreme states of mind. The seemingly deep philosophical allusions, found in Love Song of Alfred Prufrock are utterly artificial. Eliot's poem did not have a greater purpose than to socially establish the author as credible poet. Prufrock is absolutely right when he says that he can never be compared to Prince Hamlet, although he does not quite understand why. The reason is simple Hamlet was a soldier, who actively acted according to his beliefs.
He had so much love in him that he was hurrying to spend out as much of it as he could. Prufrock, on the other hand, is nothing but a bank clerk, at best, with allusions of grandeur, because he refers to himself as: Attendant lord, one that will do To swell a progress, start a scene or two (Eliot) Eliot had his chance to start a scene or two, but he had chosen to act as coward. Therefore, we cannot seriously consider his poetry as something that comes straight from the heart. Love Song of Alfred Prufrock is overly sensitive and intellectual for us to believe that Eliot-Prufrock was able to experience love, in the first place. Because love is a simple set of strong feelings, which are best realized through action than through empty words. Thus, we can say that text of Eliot's poem is certainly a political, although we need to adopt a deterministic view of history, in order to agree with this point of view.
Every consequence has a cause. What was the true reason for the great ancient civilizations to decline? It was the fact that elites biological quality was being slowly undermined, resulting in situation when they were beginning to lack idealistic' qualities of character, which allowed previous generations to maintain the culture. The more intellectual people were becoming, the easier they could be conquered. This is why Love Song of Alfred Prufrock must be thought of in terms of decline of the West.
This is poems true political significance. It promotes social withdrawal: I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each (Eliot) If Eliot was alive today, he could be found among those aging White Americans, who spend most of their time on cruise ships. Their spiritual weakness allowed their country to start turning into a Third World, but they could not care less.
The representatives of third generation are simply trying to take from life all they can, while engaging in social escapism. They are the ones who appreciate Eliot poetry the most, because they confuse depravity and weakness with sophistication. They are very intellectual, but their children are listening to rap. This is why; I think that Love Song of Alfred Prufrock must definitely be read, but only for educational purposes.
There is no need to praise this poem to the sky, as some critics do, because too much thinking gives wrinkles. This is why people invented physical exercises. The best relief for depression is a couple of push-ups. It is obvious that Eliot was unaware of this; therefore, he will go down in history as poet, whose talent was undermined by his decadent attitudes. Bibliography: Barzun, Jacques.
From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present. New York: Harpercollins, 2000. Eliot, Thomas Love Song of Alfred Prufrock. 1910. 2007. Poetry Online.
Org. 28 Mar. 2007. web Stableford, Brian. Deals Book of Decadence: Moral Ruins. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1992.
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Research essay sample on Political Aspects Of The Love Song Alfred Prufrock
