The Weakness of T. S. Eliot's J. Alfred: More of Verdenal in “Prufrock”

Abstract

Recently published letters from Jean Verdenal to T. S. Eliot corroborate my earlier suggestion that Prufrock may be modelled on Verdenal. Prufrock's weakness in normal sexual identification reflects the poet's close friendship with Verdenal, who has also been suggested as the “Floret” of another poem. Onomastically, the connection may go beyond the secretive J. of the first name to the name Alfred itself, which is almost an anagram of Verdenal.