Examine Eliot’s treatment of women in Prufrock, Preludes, Portrait of E

Examine Eliot’s treatment of women in Prufrock, Preludes, Portrait of a Lady and Rhapsody on a Windy Night In all four of the poems; ‘Prufrock’, ‘Preludes’, ‘Portrait of a Lady’ and ‘Rhapsody on a Windy Night’, Eliot makes references to women. Eliot seems to treat women almost as objects to either be looked at with wonder and, at times, fascination or as objects to be scorned upon. In all of the poems Eliot makes the voice of the poem slightly distanced from the women and this, to me, makes the women seem almost untouchable. When looking at the poem ‘Prufrock’ we must first notice that the full title is ‘The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock.’ This title seems almost ironic as, after reading the poem, we realise that the poem is not a love song at all. The title is beauteous however, like the women Eliot makes reference to in the poem; â€Å"In the room the women come and go / Talking of Michelangelo.† This small, non-descriptive mention of women tells us much about Eliot’s perception of women in ‘Prufrock.’ These two lines, presented to us almost like a chorus, interrupt the flow of the poem, which is perhaps what women did in Eliot’s life. These lines also show Eliot’s fascination with women as women were less educated than men around 1910 when ‘Prufrock’ was conceived, so for these women to talk of Michelangelo is almost shocking and something to be marvelled upon. In Prufrock, I believe Eliot is concerned with the high society of women and the poem shows his fascination with them. The tone of ‘Prufrock’ is not bitter towards the women, nor does it celebrate them, it merely comments on the women and Eliot seems to give a fairly neutral view of women. ‘Portrait of a Lady’ is another poem in which Eliot ex... ...apsody on a Windy Night’. By appealing to our senses, Eliot draws us in to his poetry up to a point where we can almost smell exactly what he is describing, which brings us closer to the women in his poems. Between the four poems â€Å"Prufrock†, â€Å"Portrait of a Lady†, â€Å"Preludes† and â€Å"Rhapsody on a Windy Night† Eliot provides us with a rounded view of women. He describes the beautiful and untouchable side of them in ‘Prufrock’, the darker, more sordid side of women in ‘Preludes’ and ‘Rhapsody on a Windy Night’ with a description of how false women can be in ‘Portrait of a Lady’. Eliot’s imagery is effective in the poems, as by using it he justifies his reasons for describing the women in the way he does. I feel that Eliot describes women in the way in which he views them, drawing from personal experiences and what he takes from poets who have gone before him.