Dramatic monologue in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

A dramatic monologue is a type of lyric poem which is essentially a speech delivered by a single person about a definite and particular event or character to his silent audience. It is also essentially a study of character, of mental states, of moral crisis, made from the outside. The poem gains added affects and dimensions as the speaker comments on the characters and circumstances. The ideal aim of a dramatic monologue is the self-portrayal. Another character of characters remain all-along silent but every now and then react to the speaker, which is understood by the turns and shifts of the speaker’s speech.

A comparison between the dramatic monologue and the soliloquy will afford us to understand the features of the dramatic monologue better. Both of these forms of poetry are speeches of single person. The dramatic monologue implies the presence of some other persons or person. But a soliloquy is the speech of a single man to himself. It is something of a private talk or debate. In it the speaker delivers his own thoughts uninterrupted by the objections or propositions of other persons. It is not objective but the dramatic monologue has to be objective if it is written properly.

Although The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is the first poem of Thomas Stearns Eliot’s first published volume of verse, it evidences the signs of and already mature poet. His genius is essentially dramatic. His early poetry up to The Waste Land is predominantly dramatic in nature, and even his later poetry, which is predominantly lyrical, has a dramatic element. His remarks in the “Dialogue on Dramatic Poetry” that “All great poetry tends towards drama” can very well be applied to his poetry. The element of drama in Eliot’s poetry is the drama staged and exacted within the human soul. The dramatist observes complete detachment, and whatever he has to say, is said through the mouths of the dramatis personae. Eliot’s early poetry has this dramatic objectivity. Thus in the Love-Song, Prufrock is the center, and the entire poem is but a projection of his consciousness, moods, reflections, and reactions to the situation.

In any sense The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is a dramatic monologue, as it describes the self of the speaker, Prufrock, and not of the poet. Of course, the poem differs from other dramatic monologues like Browining’s because it, despite the use of the “You” has no listener in reality. No reaction is shown by any character, nor it is understood in the speech of the speaker. Besides, the poem lacks coherence and logical development. There are only sudden “Mental jumps” and “Free association of ideas”. Dujardin considers the poem rather and interior monologue because the “You” in the poem is no character. The “I” and the “You” may be the two selves of the protagonist- the realist self and the romantic self. The protagonist is, there, a split personality and the poem is replete with mental clashes and conflicts. The line “Do I dare, do I dare” externalizes his fickleness, futility, cowardice, timidity, lack of energy and enthusiasm, will-power and manliness. He faces a problem of speaking to a woman to make a proposal of love or marriage to her. He thinks and rethinks, takes decision and revises them. In a number of democratic ways he expresses his inability to make the proposal. He makes profuse use of images, allusions and references to reveal him-self. Remarkable that they also symbolize the miserable plight of the contemporary urban city and civilization.

Above all, the tragedy in the life of Prufrock is the tragedy not only of a modern man of the 20th century but also of all ages, which lends a universal color to the dramatic monologue, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.