Pathos is a Greek word. Somewhere around the sixteenth century, the term found its way into English literature. Pathos describes emotional suffering, experience, or tragedy. In literature, the word describes how an author appeals to the audience by triggering an emotional response. The audience relates to the characters in the story when connected by emotion. It is a literary device that engages the audience by appealing to humans' shared experiences and feelings.
There are several modern examples of the use of pathos. If someone is trying to persuade another of something, they may use a pathos argument to convince them. Appealing to emotions is relatively common. A typical modern example of pathos is when advertisers try to persuade consumers to take action on an issue. For example, a public service announcement trying to convince the audience to donate funds uses parents to describe the care their child received while...
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a patient in the hospital. The thought of a critically ill child and the agony of the parent during treatment elicits a strong emotional response. The psychological appeal to a person's emotions persuades a person to make a financial contribution to the hospital.
Literature, plays, dramas, and poetry often use the literary device of pathos. Most Greek plays and tragedies contain elements of pathos. The foundation for many poems is an appeal to the emotions of readers. One example in English literature students are familiar with is Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. The joy of the love shared by Romeo and Juliet is an emotion most people can relate to. Forbidden to see each other because of a feud between the families, Romeo and Juliet tragically commit suicide. The play is an emotional roller coaster of love, hate, anger, sorrow, and tragedy.
What is pathos?
Pathos is a rhetorical appeal described by Aristotle as a type of persuasion in which the speaker places the audience into a particular frame of mind in order to argue a point or make a statement. Put simply, pathos relies on eliciting an emotional response from the audience. It forces the audience to think about the subject being discussed from an emotional standpoint, which aids in better understanding the speaker’s perspective.
Pathos is utilized in speeches, literature, essays, editorials, songs, and more. It is a valuable tool which relies on emotionally provocative language and imagery to appeal to the audience’s humanity.
One example of pathos is in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. After Caesar’s murder, Antony attempts to turn the people against the conspirators. He speaks of Brutus, Caesar’s friend, who stabbed him:
For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar’s angel:
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him!
This was the most unkindest cut of all;
For when the noble Caesar saw him stab,
Ingratitude, more strong than traitors’ arms,
Quite vanquish’d him: then burst his mighty heart.
Antony paints a human picture of Caesar as an innocent man who withstood all the conspirators’ attacks but could not bear to see his dear friend turn against him. It is only when Brutus attacked that Caesar’s heart gave out; Antony implies that Caesar died not from his wounds but from a broken heart. The speech does elicit a great emotional response from the crowd of people. Each person becomes morally outraged and vows revenge against the murderers. Each person is able to relate to Antony’s words of a friend who was betrayed and the pain of that realization.
Songwriters rely heavily on pathos to connect with their audience. People listen to a song and relate to its situation because of the words which reach into their hearts. For instance, in Aerosmith’s “What it Takes,” the speaker asks his former girlfriend how to heal from the pain of their breakup:
Tell me what it takes to let you go
Tell me how the pain’s supposed to go
Tell me how it is that you can sleep
In the night
Without thinking you lost everything that was good in your life to the toss of the dice?
The Beatles’ song “Yesterday” also explains the pain of a breakup:
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.
Now it looks as though they’re here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday.
Suddenly, I’m not half the man I used to be.
There’s a shadow hanging over me.
Both songs appeal to a listener’s emotions by coupling words and music. People either relate to the words because they’ve endured a similar situation or because they can imagine what the situation would feel like. Either way, the songs remain memorable partly because of their emotional appeal.