时间：2022-09-07 04:36:01
ABSTRACT
Prufrock in the poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is a split character with timidity and hesitation，who wanders around salvation and temptation. This paper tries to analyze his paradoxical psychology with the analysis of the poem.
KEY WORDS：Prufrock，salvation，temptation，psychology
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is a very famous poem written by the prominent American writer T. S. Eliot. This poem is a dramatic monologue of the main character J. Alfred Prufrock. Using his own eyes and ears，Prufrock depicts a picture of the society，which has already been corrupted and degraded. From his words，it can be seen very clearly that on the one hand，he wants to change the situation of the society，that is to say，he intends to save the dying world；on the other hand，he is also tempted by those women，by sexuality. When he thinks of the erotic society，he intends to use his voice to wake people. However，he denies it very soon，because he considers those women，and he also wants to flow with the main stream of society. In this way，Prufrock wanders and wanders around salvation and temptation without making decisions. This paper will analyze his paradoxical psychology in details.
The opening stanza of the poem is an epigraph from Dante’s Inferno. This indicates that Prufrock finds an ideal listener who will never betray to the world the content of his present confession and it also implies the society that they are going to visit is just like the hell. The word “ etherized” describes the general situation of the world. The first thing they see and hear is“women”，who tempt Prufrock. Then he uses several images to describe the society：“the yellow fog”，“the yellow smoke”，“the pools”，“the soot”，“terrace” and “a sudden leap”. These sexual images show that the whole society is filled by the people’s sexual desire and sexual actions. The fog and smoke is like a cat fired by sexual desire，which “licked its tongue into the corners of the evening”. In the next stanza，Prufrock says，“there will be time？” and “Time for you and time for me，/ And time yet for a hundred indecision，/ And for a hundred visions and revisions”. He has already been very tired of the phenomenon of the society，but until now he refuses to make his decision to save the world because he thinks，“there will be time”. He thinks of the temptation―those women again. “In the room the women come and go / Talking of Michelangelo”. It seems very tedious for the women to talk about Michelangelo，the great artist，who paints a lot of male figures，full of muscles and very masculine，such as David. The strong male figures remind Prufrock of his own physical situation：bold and thin，so he hesitates and wanders again.
He asks himself “ Do I dare？” Here he wants to ask，“ Do I dare to go to those women？” and later he asks himself again “Do I dare/ Disturb the universe？” “ Disturb the universe” means doing something very significant， and here he means to use his own voice and action to save the world. “My morning coat，my collar mounting firmly to the chin，/ My necktie rich and modest，but asserted by a simple pin”. He is very decent and has a heart of gravity，but his necktie is asserted by a simple pin. “A simple pin” is a symbol，which symbolizes the social influence. He is also restricted by his own weakness―his sexual desire. He thinks it is time to make decisions but he cannot. “ In a minute there is time/ For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.” He decides to do one thing，but very soon he denies it，and later denies the other decision. And the decision is always postponed to make.
In the next three stanzas，he says “ I have known them all，known their eyes and arms already” and “ I have measured out my life with coffee spoons”. Prufock often spends his days in the coffee shop and has already been used to those girls. He knows very well their meaning only by their eyes. He thinks that he should not be tempted by them and he wants to give up the temptation. But he says “ Is it perfume from a dress/ That makes me so digress？”，which shows that he still cannot escape from temptation. But he knows very well that he cannot sleep with those women because “And how should I begin？” if he does so. If he had sexual relationship with one of those girls，how can he begin to preach other people and how can he save the society？ Thus he is really in the paradoxical situation. He begins to rehearse how he starts his preach，but he still has no courage. He says “ Should I，after tea and cakes and ices，/ Have the strength to force the moment to its crises？” He intends to begin but thinks of another question “Would it have been worth it，after all”.
He compares himself to John the Baptist，Lazarus，Prince Hamlet，Polonius，and the Fool. John the Baptist is killed by the erotic woman Herodia. John sacrifices himself but paves the way for the coming of Jesus Christ，and he is quite worthwhile. However，Prufrock thinks，“I am no prophet―and here’s no great matter”. Unlike John，the prophet，even if Prufrock makes his voice to preach people to stop doing that kind of things and sacrifices himself，he cannot change much of the world. He will not be memorized by the people but snickered by them，just like “the eternal Footman hold my coat，and snicker” Thus his death is not worthy at all. Then he thinks of Lazarus，who died once but later resurrected. Lazarus comes to the world to wake the Pharisees to believe Jesus Christ. If he does like Lazarus，and says，“ I am Lazarus，come from the dead，/ Come back to tell you all，I shall tell you all”， will people listen to him？ The women will not listen to him，and are not willing to change. He questions himself：“Is it worth to die like Lazarus but achieves nothing？”
He says：“No！ I am not Prince Hamlet，nor was meant to be”. Hamlet hesitates to kill his Uncle and revenge for his father，but at last he takes action. Prufrock is unlike Hamlet，and will not take his action. He just wanders and wanders，looking for some excuses to postpone his action. He thinks that he is only Polonius，who always provides some suggestions. Polonius cannot see the situation very clearly and his suggestions are not constructive but useless. He is just like the Fool in the play King Lear. The Fool can see the situation very clearly and gives very good proposals. However，people regards him as a fool and do not listen to him. Therefore，no matter whether you provide good suggestions or bad proposals，the result is the same：a failure. Prufrock regards himself as Polonius and the Fool，which means he knows exactly what the result is if he took action to make his voice to save society.
Thus in the next stanza he signs，“I grow old？I grow old？/ I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.” He finds one excuse for his giving up the salvation：old age. He tries to escape from society and tries not to care about the society any more. However，if he does not save the society，what will be his life afterwards？ “Shall I part my hair behind？ Do I dare to eat a peach？ / I shall wear white flannel trousers，and walk upon the beach. / I have heard the mermaids singing，each to each.” Will he fall into the trap of temptation again？ No. He says，“I do not think that they will sing to me.” He will not be tempted by them. “We have lingered in the chambers of the sea/ By sea- girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown/ Till human voices wake us，and we drown.” The end of this poem is a little obscure. He does not swim against the main stream but keeps silent. However，the result is the same：death.
The whole poem depicts very vividly Prufrock’s paradoxical psychology. From the beginning of the poem to the end，he is wandering around the salvation and temptation. He cannot make any decision and has no courage to have his own voice in the society. He is a split character with divided consciousness.
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