English essay - Prufrock and preludes Flashcards
Learn my essay (15 cards)
Whats the thesis
T.S Eliots poems love and preludes both effectively capture the alienation and fragmentation of individuals in response to industrialisation and urbanisation.
When was Prufrock written?
1910
Prufrock positions 20th century…
conventions and expectations as a threat to individuals in society
And presents social seclusion as
an existential crisis
Preludes presents modernity as
fragmented- leading to the isolation of individuals and a tragically futile existence
P1 -Prufrock explores the profound
alienation and fragmentation experienced by modern individuals in an urban setting
What is illsutrated
illustrates how societal expectations and internal doubts isolate the self
Opening lines “let us go…
you and i/ when the evening is spread out against the sky/ like a patient etherised upon a table”
Uses what to do what
romantic, poetic imagery - immediately counterbalanced by a disturbing simile- normally peace - vulnerable patient
Zoomorphism quote
“the yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window panes” - cat like qualities through extended metaphor
what is evoked through soft l sounds - then what
familiar movements creating a paradoxical sense of warmth and comfort - undercut by the fact that the smoke represents pollution
Masquerades in Preludes
“there will be time / to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet” - inauthenticity and fragmentation of modern life
repetition of faces
emphasises performative nature conceals their true selves behind socially constructed facades
Rhetorical question
“Do I dare / Disturb the universe?”
Hyperbolic expression suggests that even
minor choice feels monumental - lack of control over his life and his true sense of helplessness
