In “The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot, the speaker, J. Alfred Prufrock, states “No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be” (Eliot 111).  However, the two characters have similar traits. Both are equivocating and accepting of fate, and both find comfort in the subconscious, while fearing the real world. Prufrock’s denial of being a Hamlet figure reverberates ironically throughout the poem. He is, in fact, very similar to Hamlet. The dramatic irony echoes Hamlet in that Hamlet, like Prufrock, is simultaneously the speaker and the audience of his own speech. Both men overhear their own thought and mock it.

Just as Hamlet is indecisive in his actions to avenge his father’s murder and kill Claudius, Prufrock cannot bring himself to ask someone the “overwhelming question” (Eliot 10). We assume that Eliot is going to ask a woman something, perhaps for her hand in marriage, but he never gets to it. Prufrock repeatedly says, “There will be time.” (Eliot 23-37), avoiding the risk of rejection. He continues to overthink everything, until it is too late. Later in the poem, when he arrives at a party, he wonders if he should “turn back and descend the stair” (Eliot 39), just as Hamlet turns around, sword in hand, when he incorrectly thinks that Claudius is praying.

Both characters see themselves as foolish. Prufrock brings up his physical appearance and how the Footman snickers at him. Hamlet proclaims, “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!” (Shakespeare Act II Scene ii) as he realizes his lack of action for such an important cause. While Hamlet believes he is foolish, however, Ophelia thinks of him as the “glass of fashion” (Shakespeare Act III Scene i), a desired man – that is, until she believes he has gone mad.  Both Prufrock and Hamlet are their own worst critics who overstate their weaknesses.

In addition to over-analyzing their plans of action, Hamlet and Prufrock are Fatalists. They know that whether they act or not, a greater force will always be in play. Prufrock has seen “the eternal Footman hold [his] coat, and snicker” (Eliot 85), the Footman symbolizing death. Hamlet reacts similarly to his episode at sea when he discovers the planning of his death, saying, “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends.” (Shakespeare Act V Scene ii).

Hamlet and Prufrock both live in the subconscious, dreaming of what could be and over-planning the future, rather than entering the real world, where they would be forced to make decisions and, even worse, act upon those decisions. Hamlet’s seven soliloquies are evidence enough of his discomfort with facing his problems and confronting others. He would rather his “too, too sullied flesh would melt” (Shakespeare Act I Scene ii) than deal with the real world. Prufrock prefers to live underwater, or in his subconscious, dreaming of women rather than talking to real ones. He fears when the day when “human voices wake us, and we drown.” (Eliot 131), or when he is forced to come out of his imaginary world. Ironically, Prufrock knows that he would “drown” in the real world but thrives underwater in his subconscious mind where he is “by sea-girls wreathed.” (Eliot 130).

Hamlet and Prufrock are melodramatic characters, looking forward to the day when they don’t have to deal with their problems. Unfortunately, they don’t ever attain this; Hamlet dies, barely finishing his task, and Prufrock remains a sadly isolated figure, knowing that his “Love Song” will go unheard and unanswered.