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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—Griefs Unspeakable:
In his speech to the Duke, Aegeon emphasizes the emotional toll of telling his sad tale, attempting (with mixed success) to use pathos to receive leniency from the Duke and possibly save his own life:
A heavier task could not have been imposed
Than I to speak my griefs unspeakable;
Yet, that the world may witness that my end
Was wrought by nature, not by vile offense,
I’ll utter what my sorrow gives me leave.
Aegeon stands before the Duke, leader of Ephesus, to answer to the charge of entering the city illegally. He is commanded to explain himself, and as the punishment he faces is death, the stakes are very high. In his speech, Aegeon appeals to the Duke’s emotions, especially his feelings of pity. He speaks not only of the sorrowful nature of his tale but of the extreme sorrow he feels even in recounting it. To reflect upon the sad events of his life is, paradoxically, to “speak griefs unspeakable.” His grief, then, surpasses that which he is able to express in words, leaving him able only to “utter what [his] sorrow gives [him] leave” to say.
Aegeon’s use of pathos is effective in provoking pity in the Duke, though ultimately this isn't quite enough to secure his safety. Though he confesses that he feels touched by Aegeon’s tale, the Duke believes that it would violate the oath he has taken as leader of the city to bend its laws. He offers Aegeon instead a minor concession: Aegeon can have a single day to raise the money necessary to pay off his own ransom.
Act 5, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Tears and Prayers:
When Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse seek refuge in an abbey, the local Abbess defends their right to sanctuary and refuses to turn them out to the assembled crowd. In her desperate plan to petition the Duke to force the Abbess to release her husband from the priory, Adriana employs pathos strategically in order to garner sympathy.
Come, go. I will fall prostrate at his feet
And never rise until my tears and prayers
Have won his grace to come in person hither
And take perforce my husband from the Abbess.
Adriana knows that the Abbess has a right to enforce the sanctuary of the monastery. As a result, she attempts to manipulate the Duke’s feelings rather than his sense of reason, making a great show of her misery and desperation. Her plan is to throw herself before his feet, crying and praying endlessly until inevitably his sympathies are won over. Adriana assumes that the sight of a married woman begging on her knees to be reunited with her husband will prove impossible to deny. Rather than making an argument, then, or claiming legal rights, Adriana instead appeals exclusively to the Duke’s sense of pity in a bold use of pathos.
Related Themes:
