Prufrock and Other Observations (1917) - Morning at the Window Summary

The narrator of this poem stares down at the street one morning. He hears the sounds of a community coming to life. He senses housemaids reporting for duty - almost robot-like - at the doors of homes in the area. He looks down and sees all the passersby, and one woman, who flashes a smile that seems to rise in the air and disappear. People here are pursuing their lives in a matter-of-fact way as they always have done. It is as if they are content and bored with their lives at the same time, and this comfort zone does not cause them to make changes in their life. Eliot seems to want to show his readers that they can enliven their lives and make their daily...