The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Manipulation Quotes

Yes, we feel bad about using a quote in Italian, but if it makes you feel better, we’ll give the translation: "If I thought that my reply would be to someone who would ever return to earth, this flame would remain without further movement; but as no one has ever returned alive from this gulf, if what I hear is true, I can answer you with no fear of infamy." This is Guido da Montefeltro speaking to the poet Dante Alighieri in Hell (go back to the Detailed Summary if you need more info). The quote basically shows that Guido is only talking about himself because he thinks no one will find out. It shows us he’s pretty much a manipulative toad, which should raise our suspicions about the poem that follows.

Even the streets are trying to mislead us. They have an "insidious intent," which means they are wind all over the place and will likely make us lost…A lot like the poem. Come to think of it, all of Prufrock’s arguments are fairly "tedious," too. You could change the word "streets" to "verses" and it would perfectly fit this "love song."

You’d think that Prufrock was narrating something that actually happened here, or that is actually happening: he wants to go tell someone something, but he chickens out and runs for the exit. But by putting the line, "And indeed there will be time" in front of this little story, he turns it into a hypothetical situation, one that may or may not have happened. This is one of the places we learn not to trust this guy.