¿And should I then presume? / And how should I begin?¿ Through the character of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot meditates on love, regret, and desire while alluding to some of history¿s greatest poets. Despite conjuring Shakespeare and Dante, however, Eliot¿s voice, which is Prufrock¿s, elevates the doubts, frustrations, and fears of modern man to a prominent place in world literature.