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Paradox
Definition of Pathos
Pathos, along with logos and ethos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Pathos is an argument that appeals to... read full definition
Pathos, along with logos and ethos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Pathos is... read full definition
Pathos, along with logos and ethos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective... read full definition
Act 1, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Widowed Queens:
In the first scene of the play, three Queens come to Athens to plead with Theseus to avenge their husbands, three Kings who were slain by Creon, the King of Thebes. The First Queen employs pathos in her attempt to convince Theseus to go to war:
We are three queens whose sovereigns fell before
The wrath of cruel Creon; who endured
The beaks of ravens, talons of the kites,
And pecks of crows in the foul fields of Thebes.
He will not suffer us to burn their bones,
To urn their ashes, nor to take th’ offense
Of mortal loathsomeness from the blest eye
Of holy Phoebus, but infects the winds
With stench of our slain lords. O, pity, duke!
Act 3, Scene 6
Explanation and Analysis—For Heaven's Sake:
In her debate with Theseus regarding the fate of Palamon and Arcite, who have been arrested for violating Athenian law, Emilia responds to Theseus’s logical but merciless argument with an emotional plea. His attempt to win the argument by wielding logos, then, is countered by her effective use of pathos. Turning to Theseus and Hippolyta, Emilia states:
Unlock with LitCharts A+O, Duke Theseus,
The goodly mothers that have groaned for these,
And all the longing maids that ever loved,
If your vow stand, shall curse me and my beauty,
And in their funeral songs for these two cousins
Despise my cruelty, and cry woe worth me,
Till I am nothing but the scorn of women.
For heaven’s sake, save their lives, and banish ’em
Related Themes:
