what is pathetic fallacy

Pathetic fallacy is a literary term that refers to the attribution of human emotion and conduct to things found in nature that are not human, such as inanimate objects, animals, or natural elements. It is a kind of personification that occurs in poetic descriptions, where the writer uses human emotions to describe non-human things to evoke a specific effect. For example, if a writer describes the weather with human emotions to reflect the mood of a character or create an atmosphere, it is an example of pathetic fallacy. The term was coined by John Ruskin, a Victorian literary critic, to define the sentimentality that was common to the poetry of the late 18th century. However, the term has evolved since then, and the word "pathetic" in this context is not used in its usual negative sense; instead, it relates to the word "pathos," meaning emotion. Similarly, the word "fallacy" here means falseness and not flawed reasoning. Pathetic fallacy is often used in novels, poetry, and music to set the tone of a scene, suggest the emotional state of a character, or create a vivid image of an environment.