The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

J. Alfred Prufrock is a lonely man of unquestionable issues. He seeks love, but cannot withhold it. It's ironic that the poem is entitled The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock because, this man has never experienced or possibly ever will experience love to which he can sing about. Throughout the poem Prufrock is judging the woman around him, constantly finding things about them that he finds unattractive, yet he yearns for love to fill the lonely void inside him. His shallowness truly lies within his insecurities, he has no self confidence what so ever. For example in line 40 he he says "Do I dare? and, Do i dare? time to turn back and descend the stair with a bald spot in the middle of my hair (They will say: "How his hair is growing thin!") My morning coat, my collar mounting to my chin, my necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin (They will say; "But how his arms and legs are thin!') He believes that if he attends this party, woman will talk secretly about him. But he makes the same judgments towards women, he continuously finds something wrong with women, to avoid loving them. He is ultimately afraid love and commitment, he is also afraid to put himself out there because he is worried that he will be let down, his major fear is rejection. His problem, is most likely the type of women that he surrounds himself with. In the poem the line "In the room women come and go Talking of Michelangelo." is stated twice, because these women are only talking about Italian artist to sound intelligent, which is just another characteristic that irritates Prufrock. It is possible that he has not experienced love, because he just continues to associate himself with the wrong kind of women. 

He also alludes to Hamlet, saying that he is in no way like hamlet, but actually the two are very similar in the way that they are both extremely melancholy. Prufrock is capable of finding love, he just underestimates his abilities to do so, which makes him lonely, which makes him sad. Hamlet is bitter about the state of affairs in Denmark, and the murder of his father, which makes him contain a deep sadness as well. By description it would appear that Prufrock is growing, and time is running out for him to ever experience love. With his choice of woman, and his noticeable insecurities there is no telling whether or not Prufrock ever will find the love that wants yet avoids.