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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!
Her language in this speech emphasizes the pain and anguish she has suffered as a result of her husband’s murder. She states that she and her two companions have “endured / The beaks of ravens, talons of the kites, / And pecks of crows” in their attempts to recover the bodies of their husbands from “the foul fields of Thebes.” Despite their desperate attempts, however, Creon has not permitted them to bury their husbands in accordance with Greek beliefs, but has left the bodies to rot in the sun. The revolting image she conjures of a battleground suffused with the “stench of our slain lords” has a strong effect on Theseus, Hippolyta, and Emilia, who vow their support.
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:
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
In highly emotional language, she first describes the “goodly mothers” of Arcite and Palamon, who once “groaned” in the labors of childbirth and would mourn their sons’ deaths. Next, Emilia imagines “all the longing maids” who have fallen in love with the handsome and gallant young men, who, she argues, would “curse” her in song for leading “these two cousins” to their deaths. Emilia argues that she will be the “scorn of women” everywhere for failing to intercede on Arcite and Palamon’s behalf, begging Theseus to “save their lives.” Throughout the play, the logical stance of Theseus is countered by the female characters in court, who influence his decisions with pathos-filled, emotional pleas.
Related Themes:
