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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
Chapter 15 – Number 34 and Number 17
Explanation and Analysis—The Power of the Storm:
In Chapter 15, Dantès reflects on his former life that he enjoyed before being stripped of his humanity and heartlessly imprisoned by Villefort's machinations against him. He uses a potent combination of personification, simile, and metaphor as he ruminates on his seafaring days as a young sailor:
‘Sometimes,’ he thought at such moments, ‘in my distant voyages, when I was still a man—and when that man, free and powerful, gave orders to others that they carried out—I used to see the sky open, the sea tremble and groan, a storm brewing in some part of the sky and thrashing the horizon with its wings like a giant eagle; then I would feel that my vessel was nothing but a useless refuge, itself shaking and shuddering, as light as a feather in the hand of a giant.'
Related Themes:
Chapter 82 – Breaking and Entering
Explanation and Analysis—The Breath of the Wind:
In Chapter 82, the Count—as Abbe Busoni—lies in wait in his house for the burglary he has been informed will occur that evening. As the reader waits in suspense, Dumas stokes the tension with a bit of personification:
Unlock with LitCharts A+A quarter to twelve rang on the Invalides clock, the west wind carrying the dreary resonance of the three blows on its moist breath. As the last one faded, the count thought he could hear a faint noise from the dressing-room.
