Which lines from “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” best express themes of alienation and isolation?

A.And I have known the arms already, known them all—

Arms that are braceleted and white and bare

B.But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:

Would it have been worth while

C.No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;

Am an attendant lord…

D.I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think they will sing to me.

Respuesta :

Im pretty sure D is the answer but i am unsure

The right answer does seem to be letter D. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think they will sing to me.

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", by T. S. Eliot, revolves around the speaker's feeling of disillusionment and isolation. Prufrock seems to feel emasculated, incapable of finding carnal satisfaction, as well as spiritually inert. The lines that better represent such feeling of sexual frustration and alienation are "I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.  /I do not think they will sing to me." It conveys that the speaker feels left out, as if women - the mermaids - would not accept him. Mermaids, as mythological characters, are supposed to sing in order to attract men into a trap. The speaker, however, does not seem to be worthy of that. Mermaids do not sing to him: maybe they have chosen not to; maybe the speaker feels immune to their spell... Whichever the explanation, his loneliness is tangible. He is a man to whom the mermaids do not sing.

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