"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is a work that exemplifies Modernism. This was a literary and artistic movement that wanted to break with the past and create new forms of expression that better described the modern world.
One of the ways in which this modern world was perceived by authors was as isolated and alienating. This is what the poem demonstrates. The urban setting of the poem is intended to convey a melancholy mood, as modern life is seen as lonely, gloomy and unnatural.