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Pathos
Definition of Personification
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down on the wedding guests, indifferent... read full definition
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down... read full definition
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the... read full definition
Act 1, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Cheated of Feature:
In the first scene of the play, Richard delivers a soliloquy in which he hyperbolizes his own physical ugliness and personifies the abstract concepts of “nature” and “peace”:
I, that am curtailed of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
Deformed, unfinished, sent before my time
Into this breathing world scarce half made up,
[...] Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace,
Have no delight to pass away the time,
Unless to see my shadow in the sun
And descant on mine own deformity.
And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determinèd to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days
Related Themes:
Act 3, Scene 7
Explanation and Analysis—Endure the Load:
Near the beginning of Act 4, Richard feigns reluctance to the Duke of Buckingham in accepting the crown, personifying "fortune" as a being who deposits burdens on unwitting folk. It's a scene of dramatic and verbal irony because—while the audience knows Richard's true intentions—his apparent unwillingness makes him seem like an ideal candidate for kingship:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Since you will buckle fortune on my back,
To bear her burden, whe’er I will or no,
I must have patience to endure the load;
Related Themes:
Act 4, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Sullen Playfellow:
Elizabeth, the mother of the young princes imprisoned in the Tower of London, delivers a poignant plea to the tower itself. In this passage Shakespeare personifies the Tower, and Elizabeth speaks to it as if it were a person with agency over its actions:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Pity, you ancient stones, those tender babes
Whom envy hath immured within your walls—
Rough cradle for such little pretty ones.
Rude ragged nurse, old sullen playfellow
For tender princes, use my babies well.
Related Themes:
