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  • Essay / Summary of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

    Fragmented experience is emphasized through the use of register and poetic form, in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by TS Eliot. This fragmentation emphasizes the disjointed experience of the modern world and way of life, as well as the experiences of those who live in it. Using a modernist style, TS Eliot emphasizes this fragmentation through form, meter and register, throughout the poem. TS Eliot uses various forms, metrics and registers throughout the poem. He uses rhyming couplets, often described as “heroic”. The use of the couplet "heroic" serves as a mockery of the main protagonist of the poem, as Prufrock is not described as heroic, nor does he consider himself heroic. Some rhymes have a musical and childish quality, as if mocking. The Oxford Dictionary explains register as "a variety of a language or level of usage, determined by the degree of formality and the choice of vocabulary, pronunciation and syntax, depending on the communicative purpose." , social context and user status. » As Muhammad Saleem (2012) explains, there is a deviation of register in the title, because "The Love Song" is a romantic and poetic phrase, while the name "J. Alfred Prufrock" seems ordinary, unpoetic and unromantic, as if it doesn't belong in a love song. “Pru” indicates a sense of prudishness and the surname “Prufrock” indicates “prudence, primacy and rigor” (Southam, 1977, p.29). This creates a sense of disjuncture from "Love Song", which emphasizes that this is not an ordinary, conventional love song, and that the title is an intentional mockery of ordinary, traditional love . When talking about himself, Prufrock uses expressions such as "a 'baldhead,' 'hair,' 'chin,' 'arms,' and 'legs,' which are ordinary, mundane, and unheroic." These terms, insofar as he refers to his own physiology and himself, are lexical, while the more formal expressions "pin", "tie", "coat" and "collar", refer to clothing that he wears. Prufrock sees his clothes as heroic, not himself, which leads to the juxtaposition. Prufrock does not see himself as a whole, but rather as the sum of many parts. This highlights the fragmentation that takes place throughout the poem. His clothes also seem to be considered fragmented, but they are described as heroic, whereas the description of Prufrock himself is not heroic at first glance.