Melancholic Modernism: An Analysis of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

Melancholic Modernism. "When I had journeyed half of our life's way, I found myself within a shadowed forest, for I had lost the path that does not stray." (Alighieri, 1980, p.3) Modernism. "A term referring to the literature and art developed during the early part of the twentieth century beginning with World War I and lasting until World War II. It is defined by its rejection of classical literary conventions and traditions of the nineteenth century …

…the meaning to life is criticized. Individuals are nothing without a purpose; existence is hindered by cautious agony. In conclusion, although Eliot's tone is melancholic, society is warned of contemporary light. So what must one do to avoid such malaise altogether? "We must build our own tomorrow, blindly, gropingly; build it from its roots without giving in to the temptation to recompose this shards of old shattered idols and without constructing new ones." (Levi, 2005, p.25)