1. What is the role of Time in this poem?
The role of time is to show how quickly life goes, how quickly life can end, how easily we forget that we do not have forever, that we must do all we can ASAP, not wait and keep putting things off. At the beginning, the narrator kept saying "there will be time, there will be time," but by the end he wonders where all the time went, he questions his decision to measure out his life "with coffee spoons." It also seems to say, "Oh, a minute is time," but that minute may not be enough for revisions, decisions, or to wonder "if you dare."
2. What is the significance of Eliot's allusions to Hamlet and the "eternal Footman"?
The importance lies in that Prufrock is like Hamlet, Prufrock faces an inability to act or make decisions. "No, I am not Prince Hamlet!," is an ironic line, meant to show his indecision, as he promptly returns to questioning what he will do in his old age. The "eternal Footman," represent just that, death. An allusion is made to death to show Prufrock's fear at dying without accomplishing much in his name.
3. Choose a moment in which Eliot uses figurative language and:
- interpret the image
- explain how the image and its meaning contribute to your understanding of the theme of the poem
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.
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 image that comes to mind is Prufrock, wallowing in sin and desperation, his inability to
make choices leading him to follow the voice of others, or the sea-girls, which can also be
identified as temptation. Human voices represent reality, Prufrock is forced to awaken and
realize that he drowns in a wasted existence. This contributes to my understanding of time
because it took Prufrock so long to realize that his entire life he spent questioning himself,
never acting, considering what he would do every minute of every day but never actually
achieving anything.
Intro to the poem from Dante's Inferno
"If I believed that my reply was
A person who never returned to the world,
This flame staria no longer shock.
But because of this never end
I do not return alive any, s'i'odo true,
Without fear of infamy I answer."
Questions:
Why is there a description of how he looks at an older age?
"So how should I presume?" What does this line mean?
Why is there a repetition of "And I have known..." (Evenings, mornings, eyes, arms)
Why does he mention that he is no prophet?
What do the mermaids represent? Why does he believe they won't sing to him in particular?
No comments:
Post a Comment