T.S. Eliot, a notable twentieth century poet, wrote often about the modern man and his incapacity to make decisive movements. In his work entitled, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" he continues this theme allowing the reader to view the world as he sees it, a world of isolation and fear strangling the will of the modern man. The poem opens with a quoted passage from Dante's Inferno, an allusion to Dante's character who speaks from Hell only because he believes that the listener can not return to earth and thereby is impotent to act on the knowledge of his conversation. In his work, Eliot uses this quotation to foreshadow the idea that his character, Prufrock, is also trapped in a world he can not escape, the world where his own thoughts and feelings incapacitate and isolate him.

Eliot paints a picture of the opening scene that depicts a drab neighborhood of cheap hotels and restaurants where Prufrock lives in his solitary gloom. He invites the reader to make a visit with him to a place that Prufrock imagines is filled with women having tea and engaging

Having decided not to try, Prufrock questions whether his efforts would have been worthwhile. He believes that he can not relate to the women that which he feels, "It is impossible to say just what I mean!" (line 104). He rationalizes his fear by imagining that his speaking to the women would not have achieved any real response. He further imagines the women saying, "That is not what I meant at all, / That is not it, at all" (lines 97-98), allowing his mind to interject the reactions from these ladies without the risk in actually having the conversation take place. These internal conversations that Prufrock engages in keeps him inactive and uninvolved.

T.S. Eliot's character, Prufrock, epitomizes what he must have thought of the modern urban man. This character longs for love and relationships but is unable to break away from his solitary life due to his own fears of rejection. He fights with himself, battling with the inner voice that keeps him from reaching out to perhaps ask for the love he seeks. Eliot's characterization allows the reader to view Prufrock as the man that society of modern life has molded. Prufock is t

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Approximate Word count = 767
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)