summaries

Prufrock and Chaucer

The author of this article compares Prufrock's attire with the clothing described in Chaucer, particularly the Monk's physical description in the General Prologue of the Canterbury Tales. The similarities may seem coincidental because the Edwardian style clothing was hardly uncommon but there is a certain rhyme-scheme in both that parallels. This article also offers research from the OED on the history of the word 'pin' and how it relates to Prufrock's self-worth.





Fool from Hamlet and Prufrock

The only available fool in Hamlet is already deceased, and Prufrock lives till human voices wake him and he drowns, but he exists in a sort of living death, paralyzed by his fears of rejection and he is never fully alive. The entire passage that begins "No! Am not Prince Hamlet..." contains ambiguous references to many characters in the play. Yorick mocked the meaninglessness of his world as Prufrock moans and frets over the futility of his own life, measured out with coffee spoons. Yorick appears as only as a skull; Prufrock sees his own head upon a platter.



Hamlet and Prufrock

Beginning epigraph if Prufrock, Guido's words, sets the stage for the macabre scenes of one man's sorrowful lament that he cannot reach out to his fellow humans, similar to the brief encounter between Hamlet and the ghost of his father. The epigraph allows the reader a glimpse into the Other Side, similar to the ghost of the old King Hamlet in the beginning of the play. Hamlet and Prufrock are both perplexed by an overwhelming question with similar results though the questions differ; both feel as though their world is stale and lost meaning, exist within the yellow fog. Prufrock and Hamlet also share a difficulty relating to women and spent much of their time preparing their faces to meet others, and share an intrinsic hesitancy, a wobbling back and forth on the proverbial fence before making a move.
They differ in that Hamlet does take action eventually; Prufrock dies a 1000 times before his death because he never makes his move.
Prufrock may also be compared to Ophelia as both characters drown.