Comparing Dover Beach and Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock...

A Comparison of the Victorian and Modernist Perceptions as Exemplified by Dover Beach and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Matthew Arnold and T.S. Eliot, in their respective poems, share a sense of alienation, not only from other people but from nature and God as well. Arnold is writing in an age when the place of man in the universe is coming into question, for the first time since the advent of Christianity. He can no longer take the same solace in nature and the love of God that his Romantic predecessors did. While Arnold comments on isolation, however, he still addresses himself to a lover in Dover Beach, whereas Prufrock is presented as a man who has completely retreated within himself. Eliots isolation is total. In†¦show more content†¦Nature no longer retains its importance in an era where the precepts of the Bible are being widely questioned. Romantics admired the natural world not only because it was beautiful of itself, but because it was a constant reminder of the presence of Gods hand everywhere. Such revelations as Darwins theory of evolution, and the discovery of a geologic record indicating that the Earth is much older than formerly imagined, make all Biblical history, and therefore the Christian god himself, suspect. Human beings are no longer central to the workings of the universe -- we, along with everything else that once seemed a wonderful creation, are now merely the results of genetic serendipity. This is what J. Alfred Prufrock means when he says he has seen the moment of [his] greatness flicker. This scientific perception of eternity, which was deeply entrenched in the popular psyche by Eliots time, creates blind panic in Mr. Prufrock. Eliot also anticipates the nondiscriminatory view of death that was realized during the Great War. The realization that Prufrocks life is a mere eyeblink in history fills him with a kind of hysteria that there wont be any time for him, that he will be old far too soon. His wish to squeeze the universe into a ball might indicate a desire to retreat back into a smaller, more familiar world, where things were more certain. Like anyone whoShow MoreRelatedThe Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock986 Words   |  4 PagesIn The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot and Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold the poets utilizes poetic devices to convey their respective themes. Through use of symbols and metaphors, the speaker in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock displays his fears of the changes brought with the younger generation, and isolation from the changing society. The speaker in Dover Beach, utilizes symbols, metaphors, and similes to state that the younger generation has less faith than the older, and society