A-Z: General definitions: Pathetic Fallacy

Definition

The treatment of inanimate objects, such as trees and houses, as if they had or understood human feelings, thought, or sensations. The term was invented by critic John Ruskin in 1856 when he wrote that the aim of the pathetic fallacy was ‘to signify any description of inanimate natural objects that ascribes to them human capabilities, sensations, and emotions.’

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