The languages of modernity in “Paper Pills” and “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

5 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

07/13/2009

Category :

Philosophy & literature

Sub category :

Literature

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Summary :

Introduction
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock as an expression of the tortured
Feeling of isolation and disconnection from humanity
Image of desolation and loneliness
The sentimental connection to the pre-modern age
Conclusion
Works cited

Abstract

Jean Francois Lyotard describes modernity as an era of irrevocable progress forward, a subtle movement onwards that is characterized by the centralization of authority and imposition of a teleological mentality, whereby every development is considered valuable from an evolutionary perspective. Associated with the industrial revolution to some extent, works such as T.S. Eliot's "the love song of J. alfred prufrock" and Sherwood Anderson's "paper pills" epitomize the symptoms of modernity in an age that romanticizes the simplicity of the pre-modern. In Eliot's work specifically, the modern is represented as a dirty, unnatural and inhuman age; one characterized by the imposition of the urban environment and the disconnection one perpetually feels from the intricacies of the human condition.

Anderson's "paper pills" offers the reader a similar image of marginalization and isolation, both of which are commonly associated with modernity as an era. In the age of the industrial revolution, the emphasis was continually placed on the creation of a product through the implementation of a regimented order and the impediments afforded by the human condition were typically regarded as a form of displaced indulgence. Eliot and Anderson are consequently able to emulate the anxiety associated with the modern condition and vocalize a kind of loneliness that is simply a feature of the collective social unconscious. That is to say, both authors allude to a sense of isolation and marginalization that is a direct result of the disconnection one feels in the midst of a modern environment.