"Pathetic fallacy" is a term which was coined by John Ruskin in 1856, in Modern Painters III. This term was originally used to describe paintings, as Ruskin was an art critic. Ruskin felt that the pathetic fallacy was that of having people so emotional that they assigned feelings and emotions to inanimate objects. This device can show many feelings of a person in the work of the author. Pathetic fallacy, rather than being a problem or an annoyance as it was thought of by Ruskin, shows the audience a glimmer of a character’s life.
This literary device allows the author to convey a character’s emotion much more effectively than simply stating how the character is feeling. It is comparable to how someone would use an inflection or a specific tone of voice to show their impression of the happenings around them, or anything else which the writer would want to convey to her/his audience.
In connection to Macbeth, pathetic fallacy is sometimes used in the form of metaphors, such as the idea of having a violent sea to represent a feeling of betrayal, of being tossed out into the water without a life-saving device. One such example in this play is when we meet the three witches (1.1). The atmosphere is dark and moody, and the world around the witches is dark and gloomy. This is a good example of pathetic fallacy in that the rain, dark and gloom all represent the feeling in the scene, and form a good setting for our feelings of disgust and queasiness when we read about the witches burying a human hand.
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Dear Splatterings of Macbeth,
I recently read your blog on Pathetic Fallacy and wholeheartedly agree with your points. You stated that pathetic fallacy allows the author to convey a character’s emotion much more effectively than simply stating how the character is feeling. This is true and is used constantly as we move further on in Macbeth. We can see use of pathetic fallacy in Act II, where the weather often makes an effect on what a character's mood is and often foreshadows events that are going to occur. Our group focused on dramatic irony and this technique is also used throughout the play. Dramatic irony and pathetic fallacy are both used when Duncan's murder is being planned and just before his murder is discovered. Dramatic irony is used when Duncan states “this castle hath a pleasant seat, the air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself unto our gentle senses”. This is identified as dramatic irony because the audience has just found out that the Macbeth and his wife have planned his murder (1.6.1-3). Pathetic fallacy is also used in connection with the murder of Duncan in Act II, Scene III when Lennox states that, "the night has been unruly" (2.3.54). This refers to the weather as well as the events of Duncan's murder that have taken place in Macbeth's castle. Both devices are effectively used in connecting the murder of King Duncan and are used consistently throughout the play.
- Alysha M
(MacLordz)
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