Definition of Pathos
Key Examples in An Ideal Husband
In Act 4, Part 2, Lord Goring attempts to explain to Lady Chiltern why it would be morally wrong to ask Robert to resign from Parliament. His appeal is essentially an emotional one, and therefore relies on the device of pathos to elicit an emotional response from Lady Chiltern:
Lady Chiltern, allow me. […] Now is the moment when you really want my help, now is the time when you have got to trust me, to trust in my counsel and judgement. You love Robert. Do you want to kill his love for you? What sort of existence will he have if you rob him of the fruits of his ambition, if you take him from the splendour of a great political career, if you close the doors of public life against him, if you condemn him to sterile failure, he who was made for triumph and success?