Blog #9

[timshel]

Part One:
I think the title of "The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock" is used as a great ironic introduction to the man portrayed in the poem.  The title is the only place where we learn the name of the character the poem is about because the poem is written from a first person point of view.  The reader might assume, because of the nature of love songs, that the poem will be about romance or love in some form.  Upon reading the title for the first time I thought the poem would be about the happy love that J Alfred Prufrock experienced in his life.  The irony becomes apparent upon reading the third line in the poem: "like a patient etherized upon a table."(3)  Because the title is so light hearted, this line shocked me and made me ask questions of what this poem might be about.  The irony between the title and the content of the poem made me more interested in reading it right to the end.  Prufrock describes himself as a man with little confidence who is very self-aware and conscious of what others think of him. When he physically describes himself, he predicts what women in particular will think about him: "[They will say: 'But how his arms and legs are thin!'] Do I dare. Disturb the universe?"(44)  This also displays his views towards women.  His descriptions of women often illustrate them to be uneducated and untrustworthy, and people he doesn't have must respect for.  The line "in the room the women come and go, talking of Michelangelo,"(13) is repeated twice and can illustrate Prufrock's thinking that women aren't around for long and fake their knowledge in order to get what they want.  Through the descriptions of "yellow fog,"(15) yellow smoke,"(16) "dusk,"(70) and "the wind blow[ing] the water white and black,"(28) a deary setting lingers as the poem is read.  This also adds to the irony of the cheery title.  

Part 2:
The myth of Demeter and Persephone explains the changing seasons and the crop cycle.  Demeter was the sister of Zeus and she controlled the harvest.  She had the ability to ruin the crops if she got mad.  Persephone was her daughter who was kidnapped by Hades, the uncle and God of the Underworld.  There was a legend that if you ate while in the Underworld, you could not leave.  Persephone grew hungry however, and ate some pomegranate seeds.  Zeus, not wanting the crops to die, struck a deal with Hades, that upon marriage Persephone could return to Earth for six months as long as she was the Queen of the Underworld for the other six.  Every fall Demeter would cry when her daughter left Earth, therefore killing the crops and beginning the winter season. The universal theme that comes across in this myth is the love that a mother holds for her daughter that never changes.  Even though Persephone is married and each year growing older, the heartache of losing your child never escapes you.  A mother's love for her child is unbreakable and Demeter is willing to risk the crops to morn, until her daughter returns to her every year.  
http://greece.mrdonn.org/greekgods/demeter.html