Prufrock's Severed Head

Hamilton, Essential Literary Terms (68-97) -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)
"Prufrock envisions his own severed head, made ludicrous by its balding state, exposed to public scrutiny and earnest endeavors amounting to 'no great matter.'"

Before reading this section of Hamilton's text, I was not aware of the extent to which Eliot used allusion in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. When I first read the poem, I caught the allusion to Shakespeare's Hamlet; it was a more obvious reference. However, I was not aware of the allusion to John the Baptist and Prufrock's own severed head. I just found that interesting.