The pathetic fallacy is a literary term for attributing human emotions to non-human elements of nature, essentially a form of personification. John Ruskin coined the phrase in his work "Modern Painters."
The pathetic fallacy is a literary device that attributes human emotions and behaviors to inanimate objects or abstract concepts in nature. Coined by John Ruskin, it is a form of personification commonly found in poetry.
| Front | Pathetic Fallacy |
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| Back | The phrase pathetic fallacy is a literary term for the attribution of human emotion and conduct to things found in nature that are not human. It is a kind of personification that occurs in poetic descriptions, when, for example, clouds seem sullen, when leaves dance, or when rocks seem indifferent. The British cultural critic John Ruskin coined the term in his book, Modern Painters (1843–60). |
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