English 2307E Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Antihero, Purgatory, Epigram
21 Mar 2014
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The different parties collapse into one event resembling another: he seems to be very obsessed with his appearance (he is middle-aged and doesn"t look the same anymore) He goes through the motions to prepare his face to meet the faces he will meet (a concern about appearance) They are always acting and trying to create themselves (suggests there may not be much underneath) Eliot compares prufrock to sticking pins in insects to collect them: he is still concerned with the overwhelming question and wonders if this is time to ask it. He is worried that he will be mocked. The question stands in for anything that might disturb people"s sense of propriety. If he asks the question, it could be like suggesting that their lives are meaningless: there is a moment where prufrock reflects and says that he should have been a pair of ragged crab cloths. This connects to the beginning of the poem at the restaurant.
