Prufrock Answers
Poem Summary
Lines 1-6
This epigraph is taken from Dante’s Divine Comedy. It reads: “If I thought my answer were to one who could ever return to the world, this flame would move no more; but since no one has ever returned alive from this depth, if what I hear be true, without fear of infamy I answer you.” The words are spoken by a lost soul, damned to Hell for the attempt to buy absolution in advance of committing a crime. This correlates with Prufrock’s need to know the answer to the question he wants to ask as a condition of asking it. Or perhaps in order for Prufrock to be able to ask the question he would have to not care what the answer would be; in that case, the answer wouldn’t matter.
Lines 7-9
Prufrock, the persona of the poem, issues his invitation to an unspecified “you” to go with him to an as yet unspecified place. To establish when they will be going, he introduces the disconcerting simile “like a patient etherised upon a table.” This peculiar use of simile reflects immediately back on the persona, for the sky itself would probably never be like this; however, Prufrock, looking up at the sky, might indeed perceive it pressing back down upon him in such a way that he would feel like he was “spread out” “upon a table.” The word “etherised” indicates a sense of helplessness.
Lines 10-13
The route he and the “you” will be taking is through a tawdry part of the city where “cheap hotels” predominate, along with lower-class dining establishments. “Muttering retreats” suggests places where people who go to be alone speak in low voices so their private conversations will not be heard. The phrase “one-night” refers to hotels where lovers meet in secret, and the reference to “oyster-shells” carries with it the connotation of sexuality, as these are a food said to improve sexual stamina.
Lines 14-18
“Streets” are further described by a simile that indicates that even once you pass through them, the things you have seen there continue to affect you,
Lines 1-6
This epigraph is taken from Dante’s Divine Comedy. It reads: “If I thought my answer were to one who could ever return to the world, this flame would move no more; but since no one has ever returned alive from this depth, if what I hear be true, without fear of infamy I answer you.” The words are spoken by a lost soul, damned to Hell for the attempt to buy absolution in advance of committing a crime. This correlates with Prufrock’s need to know the answer to the question he wants to ask as a condition of asking it. Or perhaps in order for Prufrock to be able to ask the question he would have to not care what the answer would be; in that case, the answer wouldn’t matter.
Lines 7-9
Prufrock, the persona of the poem, issues his invitation to an unspecified “you” to go with him to an as yet unspecified place. To establish when they will be going, he introduces the disconcerting simile “like a patient etherised upon a table.” This peculiar use of simile reflects immediately back on the persona, for the sky itself would probably never be like this; however, Prufrock, looking up at the sky, might indeed perceive it pressing back down upon him in such a way that he would feel like he was “spread out” “upon a table.” The word “etherised” indicates a sense of helplessness.
Lines 10-13
The route he and the “you” will be taking is through a tawdry part of the city where “cheap hotels” predominate, along with lower-class dining establishments. “Muttering retreats” suggests places where people who go to be alone speak in low voices so their private conversations will not be heard. The phrase “one-night” refers to hotels where lovers meet in secret, and the reference to “oyster-shells” carries with it the connotation of sexuality, as these are a food said to improve sexual stamina.
Lines 14-18
“Streets” are further described by a simile that indicates that even once you pass through them, the things you have seen there continue to affect you,