CINXE.COM

Bathos - Wikipedia

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-sticky-header-enabled vector-toc-available" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>Bathos - Wikipedia</title> <script>(function(){var className="client-js vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-sticky-header-enabled vector-toc-available";var cookie=document.cookie.match(/(?:^|; )enwikimwclientpreferences=([^;]+)/);if(cookie){cookie[1].split('%2C').forEach(function(pref){className=className.replace(new RegExp('(^| )'+pref.replace(/-clientpref-\w+$|[^\w-]+/g,'')+'-clientpref-\\w+( |$)'),'$1'+pref+'$2');});}document.documentElement.className=className;}());RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":false,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy","wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"1353ede1-9770-43aa-9c90-f1ed0c2cdc75","wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":false,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Bathos","wgTitle":"Bathos","wgCurRevisionId":1274262379,"wgRevisionId":1274262379,"wgArticleId":359443,"wgIsArticle":true,"wgIsRedirect":false,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Articles with short description","Short description is different from Wikidata","Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text","Articles needing additional references from October 2022","All articles needing additional references","1720s neologisms","Humour","Literary terminology","Poetics","Rhetoric","Rhetorical techniques","Satire"],"wgPageViewLanguage":"en","wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Bathos","wgRelevantArticleId":359443,"wgIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgNoticeProject":"wikipedia","wgCiteReferencePreviewsActive":false,"wgFlaggedRevsParams":{"tags":{"status":{"levels":1}}},"wgMediaViewerOnClick":true,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":true,"wgPopupsFlags":0,"wgVisualEditor":{"pageLanguageCode":"en","pageLanguageDir":"ltr","pageVariantFallbacks":"en"},"wgMFDisplayWikibaseDescriptions":{"search":true,"watchlist":true,"tagline":false,"nearby":true},"wgWMESchemaEditAttemptStepOversample":false,"wgWMEPageLength":10000,"wgEditSubmitButtonLabelPublish":true,"wgULSPosition":"interlanguage","wgULSisCompactLinksEnabled":false,"wgVector2022LanguageInHeader":true,"wgULSisLanguageSelectorEmpty":false,"wgWikibaseItemId":"Q810799","wgCheckUserClientHintsHeadersJsApi":["brands","architecture","bitness","fullVersionList","mobile","model","platform","platformVersion"],"GEHomepageSuggestedEditsEnableTopics":true,"wgGETopicsMatchModeEnabled":false,"wgGEStructuredTaskRejectionReasonTextInputEnabled":false,"wgGELevelingUpEnabledForUser":false}; RLSTATE={"ext.globalCssJs.user.styles":"ready","site.styles":"ready","user.styles":"ready","ext.globalCssJs.user":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.cite.styles":"ready","skins.vector.search.codex.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles":"ready","skins.vector.icons":"ready","jquery.makeCollapsible.styles":"ready","ext.wikimediamessages.styles":"ready","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript":"ready","ext.uls.interlanguage":"ready","wikibase.client.init":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.cite.ux-enhancements","mediawiki.page.media","site","mediawiki.page.ready","jquery.makeCollapsible","mediawiki.toc","skins.vector.js","ext.centralNotice.geoIP","ext.centralNotice.startUp","ext.gadget.ReferenceTooltips","ext.gadget.switcher","ext.urlShortener.toolbar","ext.centralauth.centralautologin","mmv.bootstrap","ext.popups","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.init","ext.visualEditor.targetLoader","ext.echo.centralauth","ext.eventLogging","ext.wikimediaEvents","ext.navigationTiming","ext.uls.interface","ext.cx.eventlogging.campaigns","ext.cx.uls.quick.actions","wikibase.client.vector-2022","ext.checkUser.clientHints","ext.growthExperiments.SuggestedEditSession"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.impl(function(){return["user.options@12s5i",function($,jQuery,require,module){mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); }];});});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&amp;modules=ext.cite.styles%7Cext.uls.interlanguage%7Cext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript%7Cext.wikimediamessages.styles%7Cjquery.makeCollapsible.styles%7Cskins.vector.icons%2Cstyles%7Cskins.vector.search.codex.styles%7Cwikibase.client.init&amp;only=styles&amp;skin=vector-2022"> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&amp;modules=startup&amp;only=scripts&amp;raw=1&amp;skin=vector-2022"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&amp;modules=site.styles&amp;only=styles&amp;skin=vector-2022"> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.44.0-wmf.19"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin-when-cross-origin"> <meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:standard"> <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=1120"> <meta property="og:title" content="Bathos - Wikipedia"> <meta property="og:type" content="website"> <link rel="preconnect" href="//upload.wikimedia.org"> <link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)" href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathos"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit this page" href="/w/index.php?title=Bathos&amp;action=edit"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/static/apple-touch/wikipedia.png"> <link rel="icon" href="/static/favicon/wikipedia.ico"> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/rest.php/v1/search" title="Wikipedia (en)"> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="//en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathos"> <link rel="license" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="Wikipedia Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&amp;feed=atom"> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//meta.wikimedia.org" /> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="login.wikimedia.org"> </head> <body class="skin--responsive skin-vector skin-vector-search-vue mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Bathos rootpage-Bathos skin-vector-2022 action-view"><a class="mw-jump-link" href="#bodyContent">Jump to content</a> <div class="vector-header-container"> <header class="vector-header mw-header"> <div class="vector-header-start"> <nav class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-main-menu-dropdown vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" title="Main menu" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Main menu" > <label id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-label" for="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-menu mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-menu"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Main menu</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-main-menu" class="vector-main-menu vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-main-menu-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="main-menu-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-main-menu" data-pinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Main menu</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-navigation" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-navigation" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Navigation </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-mainpage-description" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Visit the main page [z]" accesskey="z"><span>Main page</span></a></li><li id="n-contents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Contents" title="Guides to browsing Wikipedia"><span>Contents</span></a></li><li id="n-currentevents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Portal:Current_events" title="Articles related to current events"><span>Current events</span></a></li><li id="n-randompage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:Random" title="Visit a randomly selected article [x]" accesskey="x"><span>Random article</span></a></li><li id="n-aboutsite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About" title="Learn about Wikipedia and how it works"><span>About Wikipedia</span></a></li><li id="n-contactpage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us" title="How to contact Wikipedia"><span>Contact us</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-interaction" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-interaction" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Contribute </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-help" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Contents" title="Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia"><span>Help</span></a></li><li id="n-introduction" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" title="Learn how to edit Wikipedia"><span>Learn to edit</span></a></li><li id="n-portal" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_portal" title="The hub for editors"><span>Community portal</span></a></li><li id="n-recentchanges" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChanges" title="A list of recent changes to Wikipedia [r]" accesskey="r"><span>Recent changes</span></a></li><li id="n-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_upload_wizard" title="Add images or other media for use on Wikipedia"><span>Upload file</span></a></li><li id="n-specialpages" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:SpecialPages"><span>Special pages</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <a href="/wiki/Main_Page" class="mw-logo"> <img class="mw-logo-icon" src="/static/images/icons/wikipedia.png" alt="" aria-hidden="true" height="50" width="50"> <span class="mw-logo-container skin-invert"> <img class="mw-logo-wordmark" alt="Wikipedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-wordmark-en.svg" style="width: 7.5em; height: 1.125em;"> <img class="mw-logo-tagline" alt="The Free Encyclopedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-tagline-en.svg" width="117" height="13" style="width: 7.3125em; height: 0.8125em;"> </span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-header-end"> <div id="p-search" role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-collapses vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box-auto-expand-width vector-search-box"> <a href="/wiki/Special:Search" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only search-toggle" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </a> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail cdx-typeahead-search--auto-expand-width"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div id="simpleSearch" class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Wikipedia" aria-label="Search Wikipedia" autocapitalize="sentences" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f" id="searchInput" > <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-user-links vector-user-links-wide" aria-label="Personal tools"> <div class="vector-user-links-main"> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-preferences" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-userpage" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown " title="Change the appearance of the page&#039;s font size, width, and color" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Appearance" > <label id="vector-appearance-dropdown-label" for="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-appearance mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-appearance"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Appearance</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-notifications" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-overflow" class="vector-menu mw-portlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/?wmf_source=donate&amp;wmf_medium=sidebar&amp;wmf_campaign=en.wikipedia.org&amp;uselang=en" class=""><span>Donate</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-createaccount-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&amp;returnto=Bathos" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory" class=""><span>Create account</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-login-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&amp;returnto=Bathos" title="You&#039;re encouraged to log in; however, it&#039;s not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o" class=""><span>Log in</span></a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div id="vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-user-menu vector-button-flush-right vector-user-menu-logged-out" title="Log in and more options" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Personal tools" > <label id="vector-user-links-dropdown-label" for="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-ellipsis mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-ellipsis"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Personal tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-personal" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-personal user-links-collapsible-item" title="User menu" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/?wmf_source=donate&amp;wmf_medium=sidebar&amp;wmf_campaign=en.wikipedia.org&amp;uselang=en"><span>Donate</span></a></li><li id="pt-createaccount" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&amp;returnto=Bathos" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-userAdd mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-userAdd"></span> <span>Create account</span></a></li><li id="pt-login" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&amp;returnto=Bathos" title="You&#039;re encouraged to log in; however, it&#039;s not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-logIn mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-logIn"></span> <span>Log in</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-user-menu-anon-editor" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-user-menu-anon-editor" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Pages for logged out editors <a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" aria-label="Learn more about editing"><span>learn more</span></a> </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-anoncontribs" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyContributions" title="A list of edits made from this IP address [y]" accesskey="y"><span>Contributions</span></a></li><li id="pt-anontalk" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyTalk" title="Discussion about edits from this IP address [n]" accesskey="n"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </header> </div> <div class="mw-page-container"> <div class="mw-page-container-inner"> <div class="vector-sitenotice-container"> <div id="siteNotice"><!-- CentralNotice --></div> </div> <div class="vector-column-start"> <div class="vector-main-menu-container"> <div id="mw-navigation"> <nav id="mw-panel" class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav id="mw-panel-toc" aria-label="Contents" data-event-name="ui.sidebar-toc" class="mw-table-of-contents-container vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-toc-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-toc" class="vector-toc vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-toc-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="toc-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-toc" > <h2 class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Contents</h2> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.unpin">hide</button> </div> <ul class="vector-toc-contents" id="mw-panel-toc-list"> <li id="toc-mw-content-text" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a href="#" class="vector-toc-link"> <div class="vector-toc-text">(Top)</div> </a> </li> <li id="toc-Alexander_Pope&#039;s_definition" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Alexander_Pope&#039;s_definition"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1</span> <span>Alexander Pope's definition</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Alexander_Pope&#039;s_definition-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Alexander Pope's definition subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Alexander_Pope&#039;s_definition-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-The_Art_of_Sinking_in_Poetry" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#The_Art_of_Sinking_in_Poetry"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.1</span> <span><i>The Art of Sinking in Poetry</i></span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-The_Art_of_Sinking_in_Poetry-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Subsequent_evolution" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Subsequent_evolution"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.2</span> <span>Subsequent evolution</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Subsequent_evolution-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-17th_and_18th_centuries" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#17th_and_18th_centuries"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.3</span> <span>17th and 18th centuries</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-17th_and_18th_centuries-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Bibliography" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Bibliography"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Bibliography</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Bibliography-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" title="Table of Contents" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Bathos</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 7 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-7" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">7 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathos" title="Bathos – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Bathos" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathos" title="Bathos – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Bathos" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathos" title="Bathos – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Bathos" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nl mw-list-item"><a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathos" title="Bathos – Dutch" lang="nl" hreflang="nl" data-title="Bathos" data-language-autonym="Nederlands" data-language-local-name="Dutch" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Nederlands</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%99%E3%82%A4%E3%82%BD%E3%82%B9" title="ベイソス – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="ベイソス" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>日本語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%B0%D1%84%D0%BE%D1%81" title="Бафос – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Бафос" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-yue mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%AA%81%E9%99%8D%E6%B3%95" title="突降法 – Cantonese" lang="yue" hreflang="yue" data-title="突降法" data-language-autonym="粵語" data-language-local-name="Cantonese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>粵語</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q810799#sitelinks-wikipedia" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Bathos" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c"><span>Article</span></a></li><li id="ca-talk" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Talk:Bathos" rel="discussion" title="Discuss improvements to the content page [t]" accesskey="t"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown emptyPortlet" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Change language variant" > <label id="vector-variants-dropdown-label" for="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">English</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-variants" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-variants emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation" class="vector-collapsible"> <nav aria-label="Views"> <div id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-views" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-view" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Bathos"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-edit" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bathos&amp;action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-history" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bathos&amp;action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-tools-dropdown" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Tools" > <label id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-label" for="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-page-tools" class="vector-page-tools vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-page-tools-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="page-tools-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-page-tools" data-pinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Tools</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-cactions emptyPortlet vector-has-collapsible-items" title="More options" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Actions </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-more-view" class="selected vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Bathos"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-edit" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bathos&amp;action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-history" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bathos&amp;action=history"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-tb" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-tb" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> General </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-whatlinkshere" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Bathos" title="List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [j]" accesskey="j"><span>What links here</span></a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Bathos" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k"><span>Related changes</span></a></li><li id="t-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard" title="Upload files [u]" accesskey="u"><span>Upload file</span></a></li><li id="t-permalink" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bathos&amp;oldid=1274262379" title="Permanent link to this revision of this page"><span>Permanent link</span></a></li><li id="t-info" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bathos&amp;action=info" title="More information about this page"><span>Page information</span></a></li><li id="t-cite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CiteThisPage&amp;page=Bathos&amp;id=1274262379&amp;wpFormIdentifier=titleform" title="Information on how to cite this page"><span>Cite this page</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UrlShortener&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FBathos"><span>Get shortened URL</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener-qrcode" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:QrCode&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FBathos"><span>Download QR code</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-coll-print_export" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-coll-print_export" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Print/export </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="coll-download-as-rl" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:DownloadAsPdf&amp;page=Bathos&amp;action=show-download-screen" title="Download this page as a PDF file"><span>Download as PDF</span></a></li><li id="t-print" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bathos&amp;printable=yes" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p"><span>Printable version</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-wikibase-otherprojects" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-wikibase-otherprojects" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> In other projects </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-wikibase" class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikibase-dataitem mw-list-item"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q810799" title="Structured data on this page hosted by Wikidata [g]" accesskey="g"><span>Wikidata item</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-column-end"> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-appearance" class="vector-appearance vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-appearance-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="appearance-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-appearance" data-pinned-container-id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Appearance</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.unpin">hide</button> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Term of literary criticism or of rhetorical technique</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">For other uses, see <a href="/wiki/Bathos_(disambiguation)" class="mw-disambig" title="Bathos (disambiguation)">Bathos (disambiguation)</a>.</div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951" /><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Not to be confused with <a href="/wiki/Pathos" title="Pathos">pathos</a>, a successful arousal of sympathy and pity.</div> <p><b>Bathos</b> (<span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1177148991">.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}</style><span class="IPA-label IPA-label-small"><a href="/wiki/British_English" title="British English">UK</a>: </span><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span title="/ˈ/: primary stress follows">ˈ</span><span title="&#39;b&#39; in &#39;buy&#39;">b</span><span title="/eɪ/: &#39;a&#39; in &#39;face&#39;">eɪ</span><span title="/θ/: &#39;th&#39; in &#39;thigh&#39;">θ</span><span title="/ɒ/: &#39;o&#39; in &#39;body&#39;">ɒ</span><span title="&#39;s&#39; in &#39;sigh&#39;">s</span></span>/</a></span></span> <a href="/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key" title="Help:Pronunciation respelling key"><i title="English pronunciation respelling"><span style="font-size:90%">BAY</span>-thoss</i></a>;<sup id="cite_ref-oed_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-oed-1"><span class="cite-bracket">&#91;</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">&#93;</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Greek_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Ancient Greek language">Ancient Greek</a>: <span lang="grc"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B2%CE%AC%CE%B8%CE%BF%CF%82" class="extiw" title="wikt:βάθος">βάθος</a></span>, <small><abbr title="literally">lit.</abbr></small>&#160;"depth") is a <a href="/wiki/Literary_terms" class="mw-redirect" title="Literary terms">literary term</a>, first used in this sense in <a href="/wiki/Alexander_Pope" title="Alexander Pope">Alexander Pope</a>'s 1727 essay "<a href="/wiki/Peri_Bathous,_Or_the_Art_of_Sinking_in_Poetry" title="Peri Bathous, Or the Art of Sinking in Poetry">Peri Bathous</a>",<sup id="cite_ref-oed_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-oed-1"><span class="cite-bracket">&#91;</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">&#93;</span></a></sup> to describe an amusingly failed attempt at presenting <a href="/wiki/Sublimity" class="mw-redirect" title="Sublimity">artistic greatness</a>. <i>Bathos</i> has come to refer to <a href="/wiki/Anticlimax_(rhetoric)" class="mw-redirect" title="Anticlimax (rhetoric)">rhetorical anticlimax</a>, an abrupt transition from a lofty style or grand topic to a common or vulgar one, occurring either accidentally (through artistic ineptitude) or intentionally (for comic effect).<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">&#91;</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">&#93;</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">&#91;</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">&#93;</span></a></sup> Intentional bathos appear in <a href="/wiki/Satire" title="Satire">satirical</a> genres such as <a href="/wiki/Burlesque_(literature)" class="mw-redirect" title="Burlesque (literature)">burlesque</a> and <a href="/wiki/Mock_epic" class="mw-redirect" title="Mock epic">mock epic</a>. "Bathos" or "bathetic" is also used for similar effects in other branches of <a href="/wiki/The_arts" title="The arts">the arts</a>, such as musical passages marked <i><a href="/wiki/Ridicolosamente" class="mw-redirect" title="Ridicolosamente">ridicolosamente</a></i>. In <a href="/wiki/Film" title="Film">film</a>, bathos may appear in a <a href="/wiki/Contrast_cut" class="mw-redirect" title="Contrast cut">contrast cut</a> intended for <a href="/wiki/Comic_relief" title="Comic relief">comic relief</a> or be produced by an accidental <a href="/wiki/Jump_cut" title="Jump cut">jump cut</a>. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Alexander_Pope's_definition"><span id="Alexander_Pope.27s_definition"></span>Alexander Pope's definition</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bathos&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1" title="Edit section: Alexander Pope&#39;s definition"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_Art_of_Sinking_in_Poetry"><i>The Art of Sinking in Poetry</i></h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bathos&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2" title="Edit section: The Art of Sinking in Poetry"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951" /><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Peri_Bathous,_Or_the_Art_of_Sinking_in_Poetry" title="Peri Bathous, Or the Art of Sinking in Poetry">Peri Bathous, Or the Art of Sinking in Poetry</a></div> <p>As a term for the combination of the very high with the very low, <i>bathos</i> was introduced by <a href="/wiki/Alexander_Pope" title="Alexander Pope">Alexander Pope</a> in his essay <i><a href="/wiki/Peri_Bathous,_Or_the_Art_of_Sinking_in_Poetry" title="Peri Bathous, Or the Art of Sinking in Poetry">Peri Bathous, Or the Art of Sinking in Poetry</a></i> (1727). On the one hand, Pope's work is a <a href="/wiki/Parody" title="Parody">parody</a> in prose of <a href="/wiki/Longinus_(literature)" class="mw-redirect" title="Longinus (literature)">Longinus</a>'s <i>Peri Hupsous</i> (<i><a href="/wiki/On_the_Sublime" title="On the Sublime">On the Sublime</a></i>), in that he imitates Longinus's system for the purpose of ridiculing contemporary poets, but, on the other, it is a blow Pope struck in an ongoing struggle against the "dunces." </p><p>The nearest model for Pope's essay is the <i>Treatise of the Sublime</i> by <a href="/wiki/Nicolas_Boileau-Despr%C3%A9aux" title="Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux">Boileau</a> of 1712. Pope admired Boileau, but one of Pope's literary adversaries, <a href="/wiki/Leonard_Welsted" title="Leonard Welsted">Leonard Welsted</a>, had issued a "translation" of Longinus in 1726 that was merely a translation of Boileau. Because Welsted and Pope's other foes were championing this "sublime", Pope commented upon and countered their system with his <i>Peri Bathos</i> in the <a href="/wiki/Jonathan_Swift" title="Jonathan Swift">Swift</a>-<a href="/wiki/Alexander_Pope" title="Alexander Pope">Pope</a>-<a href="/wiki/John_Gay" title="John Gay">Gay</a>-<a href="/wiki/John_Arbuthnot" title="John Arbuthnot">Arbuthnot</a> <i>Miscellanies.</i> Whereas Boileau had offered a detailed discussion of all the ways in which poetry could ascend or be "awe-inspiring", Pope offers a lengthy schematic of the ways in which authors might "sink" in poetry, <a href="/wiki/Satire" title="Satire">satirizing</a> the very men who were allied with <a href="/wiki/Ambrose_Philips" title="Ambrose Philips">Ambrose Philips</a>. Pope and Philips had been adversaries since the publication of Pope's <i>Odes,</i> and the rivalry broke down along political lines. According to Pope, bathos can be most readily applicable to love making after two years of marriage which is clearly in binary opposition to the sublime but is no less political. <a href="/wiki/Edmund_Burke" title="Edmund Burke">Edmund Burke</a> was believed to be particularly charmed by Pope's articulation of love after marriage, inspiring Burke's essay <i><a href="/wiki/A_Philosophical_Enquiry_into_the_Origin_of_Our_Ideas_of_the_Sublime_and_Beautiful" title="A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful">A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful</a></i> (1756). </p><p>One example of Pope's style and satire is in his description of sinking in painting. In the commonplace Academic hierarchic ranking of pictorial <a href="/wiki/Genre" title="Genre">genres</a>, <a href="/wiki/Still_life" title="Still life">still life</a> ranked the lowest. However, Pope describes how it might fall and, with the single word "stiffen", evokes the unnatural deadness that is a mark of failure even in this <a href="/wiki/Hierarchy_of_genres" title="Hierarchy of genres">"low" genre</a>: </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1244412712">.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 32px}.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;margin-top:0}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{padding-left:1.6em}}</style><blockquote class="templatequote"><p><i>Many Painters who could never hit a Nose or an Eye, have with Felicity copied a Small-Pox, or been admirable at a Toad or a Red-Herring. And seldom are we without Genius's for Still Life, which they can work up and stiffen with incredible Accuracy</i>. ("Peri Bathous" vi).</p></blockquote> <p>In chapters X and XI, Pope explains the comic use of the <a href="/wiki/Trope_(literature)" title="Trope (literature)">tropes</a> and <a href="/wiki/Figures_of_speech" class="mw-redirect" title="Figures of speech">figures of speech</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">&#91;</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">&#93;</span></a></sup> </p><p>Although Pope's manual of bad verse offers numerous methods for writing poorly, of all these ways to "sink", the method that is most remembered now is the act of combining very serious matters with very trivial ones. The radical juxtaposition of the serious with the frivolous does two things. First, it violates <i><a href="/wiki/Decorum" title="Decorum">decorum</a></i>, or the fittingness of the subject, and, second, it creates humor with an unexpected and improper juxtaposition. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Subsequent_evolution">Subsequent evolution</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bathos&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3" title="Edit section: Subsequent evolution"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Since Pope's day, the term "bathos", perhaps because of confusion with "<a href="/wiki/Pathos" title="Pathos">pathos</a>", has been used for art forms, and sometimes events, where something is so <i>pathetic</i> as to be humorous. </p><p>When artists consciously mix the very serious with the very trivial, the effect is of <a href="/wiki/Surreal_humour" title="Surreal humour">surreal humour</a> and <a href="/wiki/Absurdity" title="Absurdity">the absurd</a>. However, when an artist is unconscious of the juxtaposition (e.g., when a film maker means for <a href="/wiki/Robot_Monster" title="Robot Monster">a man in a gorilla suit with a diving helmet</a> to be frightening), the result is bathos. </p><p>Arguably, some forms of <a href="/wiki/Kitsch" title="Kitsch">kitsch</a> (notably the replication of serious or sublime subjects in a trivial context, like tea-towels with prints of <a href="/wiki/DaVinci" class="mw-redirect" title="DaVinci">DaVinci</a>'s <i>Last Supper</i> on them or hand guns that are actually cigarette lighters) express bathos in the concrete arts. </p><p>A tolerant but detached enjoyment of the aesthetic characteristics that are inherent in naïve, unconscious and honest bathos is an element of the <a href="/wiki/Camp_(style)" title="Camp (style)">camp sensibility</a>, as first analyzed by <a href="/wiki/Susan_Sontag" title="Susan Sontag">Susan Sontag</a>, in a 1964 essay "Notes on camp".<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">&#91;</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">&#93;</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="17th_and_18th_centuries">17th and 18th centuries</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bathos&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4" title="Edit section: 17th and 18th centuries"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1251242444">.mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ambox-delete{border-left:10px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ambox-content{border-left:10px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ambox-style{border-left:10px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ambox-move{border-left:10px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ambox-protection{border-left:10px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .ambox{display:none!important}}</style><table class="box-Unreferenced_section plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Unreferenced" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="39" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/75px-Question_book-new.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/100px-Question_book-new.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="399" /></a></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This section <b>does not <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources">cite</a> any <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">sources</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Please help <a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Bathos" title="Special:EditPage/Bathos">improve this section</a> by <a href="/wiki/Help:Referencing_for_beginners" title="Help:Referencing for beginners">adding citations to reliable sources</a>. Unsourced material may be challenged and <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Burden_of_evidence" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">removed</a>.</span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">October 2022</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:William_Hogarth_-_The_Bathos.png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/William_Hogarth_-_The_Bathos.png/330px-William_Hogarth_-_The_Bathos.png" decoding="async" width="330" height="320" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/William_Hogarth_-_The_Bathos.png/495px-William_Hogarth_-_The_Bathos.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/William_Hogarth_-_The_Bathos.png/660px-William_Hogarth_-_The_Bathos.png 2x" data-file-width="2094" data-file-height="2028" /></a><figcaption>Hogarth's <i>The Bathos</i></figcaption></figure> <p>Bathos as Pope described it may be found in a grandly rising thought that punctures itself: Pope offers one "Master of a Show in Smithfield, who wrote in large Letters, over the Picture of his Elephant: </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712" /><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>"This is the greatest Elephant in the World, except Himself."</p></blockquote> <p>Several decades before Pope coined the term, <a href="/wiki/John_Dryden" title="John Dryden">John Dryden</a> had described one of the breath-taking and magically extravagant settings for his <a href="/wiki/Restoration_spectacular" title="Restoration spectacular">Restoration spectacular</a>, <i><a href="/wiki/Albion_and_Albanius" title="Albion and Albanius">Albion and Albanius</a></i> (1684–85): </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712" /><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>"The cave of <a href="/wiki/Proteus" title="Proteus">Proteus</a> rises out of the sea, it consists of several arches of rock work, adorned with mother of pearl, coral, and abundance of shells of various kinds. Through the arches is seen the sea, and parts of <a href="/wiki/Dover" title="Dover">Dover pier</a>."</p></blockquote> <p>Pope himself employed this type of figure intentionally for humor in his mock-heroic <i><a href="/wiki/Rape_of_the_Lock" class="mw-redirect" title="Rape of the Lock">Rape of the Lock</a></i>, where a lady would be upset at the death of a lover "or lapdog". <a href="/wiki/S%C3%B8ren_Kierkegaard" title="Søren Kierkegaard">Søren Kierkegaard</a>, in <i>The Sickness Unto Death</i>, did the same thing, when he suggested that the "self" is easy to lose and that the loss of "an arm, a leg, a dog, or a wife" would be more grievous. When intended, this is a form of satire or the literary figure of <i>undercutting.</i> When the context demands a lofty, serious, or grand interpretation, however, the effect is bathos. </p><p>In 1764, <a href="/wiki/William_Hogarth" title="William Hogarth">William Hogarth</a> published his last engraving, <i>The Bathos, or the Manner of Sinking in Sublime Paintings inscribed to Dealers in Dark Pictures</i>, depicting <a href="/wiki/Father_Time" title="Father Time">Father Time</a> lying exhausted in a scene of destruction, <a href="/wiki/Parody" title="Parody">parodying</a> the fashion at that time for "<a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sublime" class="extiw" title="wikt:sublime">sublime</a>" works of art, and <a href="/wiki/Satire" title="Satire">satirising</a> criticisms made of Hogarth's own works. It may also be seen as a <i><a href="/wiki/Vanitas" title="Vanitas">vanitas</a></i> or <i><a href="/wiki/Memento_mori" title="Memento mori">memento mori</a></i>, foreshadowing Hogarth's death six months later. Headed <i>Tail Piece</i>, was intended as the <a href="/wiki/Tailpiece" title="Tailpiece">tailpiece</a> for a bound edition of Hogarth's engravings. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bathos&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Climax_(rhetoric)#Anticlimax" title="Climax (rhetoric)">Anti-climax</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Black_comedy" title="Black comedy">Black comedy (gallows humor)</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bathos&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-columns references-column-width" style="column-width: 30em;"> <ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-oed-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-oed_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-oed_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Oxford English Dictionary</i>, 1st&#160;ed. "bathos, <i>n.</i> Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1885.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFFiske2011" class="citation book cs1">Fiske, Robert Hartwell (1 November 2011). <span class="id-lock-registration" title="Free registration required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/roberthartwellfi0000fisk"><i>Robert Hartwell Fiske's Dictionary of Unendurable English: A Compendium of Mistakes in Grammar, Usage, and Spelling with commentary on lexicographers and linguists</i></a></span>. Scribner. p.&#160;<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/roberthartwellfi0000fisk/page/71">71</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a>&#160;<a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4516-5134-8" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-4516-5134-8"><bdi>978-1-4516-5134-8</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&amp;rft.genre=book&amp;rft.btitle=Robert+Hartwell+Fiske%27s+Dictionary+of+Unendurable+English%3A+A+Compendium+of+Mistakes+in+Grammar%2C+Usage%2C+and+Spelling+with+commentary+on+lexicographers+and+linguists&amp;rft.pages=71&amp;rft.pub=Scribner&amp;rft.date=2011-11-01&amp;rft.isbn=978-1-4516-5134-8&amp;rft.aulast=Fiske&amp;rft.aufirst=Robert+Hartwell&amp;rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Froberthartwellfi0000fisk&amp;rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABathos" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFAbramsHarpham2009" class="citation book cs1">Abrams, Meyer Howard; Harpham, Geoffrey Galt (2009). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=o9VkYJuVn9YC&amp;pg=PA24"><i>A Glossary of Literary Terms</i></a>. Cengage Learning. p.&#160;24. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a>&#160;<a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4130-3390-8" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-4130-3390-8"><bdi>978-1-4130-3390-8</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&amp;rft.genre=book&amp;rft.btitle=A+Glossary+of+Literary+Terms&amp;rft.pages=24&amp;rft.pub=Cengage+Learning&amp;rft.date=2009&amp;rft.isbn=978-1-4130-3390-8&amp;rft.aulast=Abrams&amp;rft.aufirst=Meyer+Howard&amp;rft.au=Harpham%2C+Geoffrey+Galt&amp;rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3Do9VkYJuVn9YC%26pg%3DPA24&amp;rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABathos" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFWimsatt1989" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/William_Kurtz_Wimsatt_Jr." class="mw-redirect" title="William Kurtz Wimsatt Jr.">Wimsatt, William Kurtz</a> (1989) [1954]. <i>The Verbal Icon: Studies in the Meaning of Poetry</i>. Lexington, Kentucky: <a href="/wiki/University_Press_of_Kentucky" title="University Press of Kentucky">University Press of Kentucky</a>. p.&#160;<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=KmrUKcU2JUoC&amp;pg=PA176">176</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a>&#160;<a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8131-0111-8" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-8131-0111-8"><bdi>978-0-8131-0111-8</bdi></a>. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a>&#160;<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/19554431">19554431</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&amp;rft.genre=book&amp;rft.btitle=The+Verbal+Icon%3A+Studies+in+the+Meaning+of+Poetry&amp;rft.place=Lexington%2C+Kentucky&amp;rft.pages=176&amp;rft.pub=University+Press+of+Kentucky&amp;rft.date=1989&amp;rft_id=info%3Aoclcnum%2F19554431&amp;rft.isbn=978-0-8131-0111-8&amp;rft.aulast=Wimsatt&amp;rft.aufirst=William+Kurtz&amp;rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABathos" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060129173110/http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/theory/Sontag-NotesOnCamp-1964.html">"Notes on Camp"</a>. <i>georgetown.edu</i>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/theory/Sontag-NotesOnCamp-1964.html">the original</a> on 2006-01-29.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.genre=unknown&amp;rft.jtitle=georgetown.edu&amp;rft.atitle=Notes+on+Camp&amp;rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.georgetown.edu%2Ffaculty%2Firvinem%2Ftheory%2FSontag-NotesOnCamp-1964.html&amp;rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABathos" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Bibliography">Bibliography</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bathos&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7" title="Edit section: Bibliography"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFPope2006" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Alexander_Pope" title="Alexander Pope">Pope, Alexander</a> (2006) [1727]. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=30n3O8NgDBIC&amp;pg=PA195">"Peri Bathous"</a>. In Pat Rogers (ed.). <i>The Major Works</i>. Oxford: <a href="/wiki/Oxford_University_Press" title="Oxford University Press">Oxford University Press</a>. pp.&#160;<span class="nowrap">195–</span>238. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a>&#160;<a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-920361-1" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-19-920361-1"><bdi>978-0-19-920361-1</bdi></a>. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a>&#160;<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/317742832">317742832</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&amp;rft.genre=bookitem&amp;rft.atitle=Peri+Bathous&amp;rft.btitle=The+Major+Works&amp;rft.place=Oxford&amp;rft.pages=%3Cspan+class%3D%22nowrap%22%3E195-%3C%2Fspan%3E238&amp;rft.pub=Oxford+University+Press&amp;rft.date=2006&amp;rft_id=info%3Aoclcnum%2F317742832&amp;rft.isbn=978-0-19-920361-1&amp;rft.aulast=Pope&amp;rft.aufirst=Alexander&amp;rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3D30n3O8NgDBIC%26pg%3DPA195&amp;rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABathos" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ul{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist .mw-empty-li{display:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dt::after{content:": "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li::after{content:" · ";font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li:last-child::after{content:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:first-child::before{content:" (";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:last-child::after{content:")";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol{counter-reset:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li{counter-increment:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li::before{content:" "counter(listitem)"\a0 "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li ol>li:first-child::before{content:" ("counter(listitem)"\a0 "}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbox{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox-styles+.navbox{margin-top:-1px}.mw-parser-output .navbox-inner,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{width:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-title,.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow{padding:0.25em 1em;line-height:1.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group{white-space:nowrap;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{background-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list{line-height:1.5em;border-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list-with-group{text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid}.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-group,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-image,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-list{border-top:2px solid #fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title{background-color:#ccf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-title{background-color:#ddf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow{background-color:#e6e6ff}.mw-parser-output .navbox-even{background-color:#f7f7f7}.mw-parser-output .navbox-odd{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ul,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ul{padding:0.125em 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbar{display:block;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title .navbar{float:left;text-align:left;margin-right:0.5em}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .navbox-image img{max-width:none!important}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .navbox{display:none!important}}</style></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Narrative321" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible mw-collapsed navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374" /><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Narrative" title="Template:Narrative"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Narrative" title="Template talk:Narrative"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Narrative" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Narrative"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Narrative321" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Narrative" title="Narrative">Narrative</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Character_(arts)" title="Character (arts)">Character</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Antagonist" title="Antagonist">Antagonist</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Archenemy" title="Archenemy">Archenemy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Character_arc" title="Character arc">Character arc</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Character_flaw" title="Character flaw">Character flaw</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Characterization" title="Characterization">Characterization</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Confidant" title="Confidant">Confidant</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Deuteragonist" title="Deuteragonist">Deuteragonist</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/False_protagonist" title="False protagonist">False protagonist</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Focal_character" title="Focal character">Focal character</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Foil_(narrative)" title="Foil (narrative)">Foil</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gothic_double" title="Gothic double">Gothic double</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Hamartia" title="Hamartia">Hamartia</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hero" title="Hero">Hero</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Antihero" title="Antihero">Anti</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Byronic_hero" title="Byronic hero">Byronic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tragic_hero" title="Tragic hero">Tragic</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Narration" title="Narration">Narrator</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Protagonist" title="Protagonist">Protagonist</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stock_character" title="Stock character">Stock character</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Straight_man" title="Straight man">Straight man</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Supporting_character" title="Supporting character">Supporting character</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Title_character" title="Title character">Title character</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tritagonist" title="Tritagonist">Tritagonist</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Villain" title="Villain">Villain</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Plot_(narrative)" title="Plot (narrative)">Plot</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Ab_ovo" title="Ab ovo">Ab ovo</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Action_(narrative)" title="Action (narrative)">Action</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Backstory" title="Backstory">Backstory</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Origin_story" title="Origin story">Origin story</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chekhov%27s_gun" title="Chekhov&#39;s gun">Chekhov's gun</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Clich%C3%A9" title="Cliché">Cliché</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cliffhanger" title="Cliffhanger">Cliffhanger</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Conflict_(narrative)" title="Conflict (narrative)">Conflict</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Deus_ex_machina" title="Deus ex machina">Deus ex machina</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dialogue_in_writing" title="Dialogue in writing">Dialogue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dramatic_structure" class="mw-redirect" title="Dramatic structure">Dramatic structure</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eucatastrophe" title="Eucatastrophe">Eucatastrophe</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Foreshadowing" title="Foreshadowing">Foreshadowing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Flashback_(narrative)" title="Flashback (narrative)">Flashback</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Flashforward" title="Flashforward">Flashforward</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Frame_story" title="Frame story">Frame story</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/In_medias_res" title="In medias res">In medias res</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Kish%C5%8Dtenketsu" title="Kishōtenketsu">Kishōtenketsu</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/MacGuffin" title="MacGuffin">MacGuffin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pace_(narrative)" title="Pace (narrative)">Pace</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Plot_device" title="Plot device">Plot device</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Plot_twist" title="Plot twist">Plot twist</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Poetic_justice" title="Poetic justice">Poetic justice</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Red_herring" title="Red herring">Red herring</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reveal_(narrative)" title="Reveal (narrative)">Reveal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Self-insertion" title="Self-insertion">Self-insertion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shaggy_dog_story" title="Shaggy dog story">Shaggy dog story</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stereotype" title="Stereotype">Stereotype</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Story_arc" title="Story arc">Story arc</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Story_within_a_story" title="Story within a story">Story within a story</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Subplot" title="Subplot">Subplot</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Suspense" title="Suspense">Suspense</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trope_(literature)" title="Trope (literature)">Trope</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Setting_(narrative)" title="Setting (narrative)">Setting</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Alternate_history" title="Alternate history">Alternate history</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Backstory" title="Backstory">Backstory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Crossover_(fiction)" title="Crossover (fiction)">Crossover</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dream_world_(plot_device)" title="Dream world (plot device)">Dreamworld</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dystopia" title="Dystopia">Dystopia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fictional_location" title="Fictional location">Fictional location</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Fictional_city" class="mw-redirect" title="Fictional city">city</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fictional_country" title="Fictional country">country</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fictional_universe" title="Fictional universe">universe</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Parallel_universes_in_fiction" title="Parallel universes in fiction">parallel</a></li></ul></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Utopia" title="Utopia">Utopia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Worldbuilding" title="Worldbuilding">Worldbuilding</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Theme_(narrative)" title="Theme (narrative)">Theme</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Irony" title="Irony">Irony</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Leitmotif" title="Leitmotif">Leitmotif</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Metaphor" title="Metaphor">Metaphor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Moral" title="Moral">Moral</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Moral_development" title="Moral development">Moral development</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Motif_(narrative)" title="Motif (narrative)">Motif</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Deal_with_the_Devil" title="Deal with the Devil">Deal with the Devil</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Good_and_evil" title="Good and evil">Conflict between good and evil</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Self-fulfilling_prophecy" title="Self-fulfilling prophecy">Self-fulfilling prophecy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Time_travel" title="Time travel">Time travel</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Writing_style" title="Writing style">Style</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Allegory" title="Allegory">Allegory</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Bathos</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Comic_relief" title="Comic relief">Comic relief</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Diction" title="Diction">Diction</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Figure_of_speech" title="Figure of speech">Figure of speech</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Imagery" title="Imagery">Imagery</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mode_(literature)" title="Mode (literature)">Mode</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mood_(literature)" title="Mood (literature)">Mood</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Narration" title="Narration">Narration</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_narrative_techniques" title="List of narrative techniques">Narrative techniques</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Narrative_hook" title="Narrative hook">Hook</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Show,_don%27t_tell" title="Show, don&#39;t tell">Show, don't tell</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stylistic_device" title="Stylistic device">Stylistic device</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Suspension_of_disbelief" title="Suspension of disbelief">Suspension of disbelief</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Symbolism_(arts)" class="mw-redirect" title="Symbolism (arts)">Symbolism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tone_(literature)" title="Tone (literature)">Tone</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Dramatic_structure" class="mw-redirect" title="Dramatic structure">Structure</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Act_(drama)" title="Act (drama)">Act</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Dramatic_structure" class="mw-redirect" title="Dramatic structure">Act structure</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Three-act_structure" title="Three-act structure">Three-act structure</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Freytag%27s_Pyramid" class="mw-redirect" title="Freytag&#39;s Pyramid">Freytag's Pyramid</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Exposition_(narrative)" title="Exposition (narrative)">Exposition</a>/<a href="/wiki/Protasis" title="Protasis">Protasis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Epitasis" title="Epitasis">Rising action/Epitasis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Climax_(narrative)" title="Climax (narrative)">Climax</a>/<a href="/wiki/Peripeteia" title="Peripeteia">Peripeteia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Catastasis" title="Catastasis">Falling action/Catastasis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Catastrophe_(drama)" title="Catastrophe (drama)">Denouement/Catastrophe</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Narrative_structure" class="mw-redirect" title="Narrative structure">Linear narrative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nonlinear_narrative" title="Nonlinear narrative">Nonlinear narrative</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_nonlinear_narrative_films" title="List of nonlinear narrative films">films</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_nonlinear_narrative_television_series" title="List of nonlinear narrative television series">television series</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Premise_(narrative)" title="Premise (narrative)">Premise</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Types_of_fiction_with_multiple_endings" title="Types of fiction with multiple endings">Types of fiction with multiple endings</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/List_of_narrative_forms" title="List of narrative forms">Form</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Drama" title="Drama">Drama</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Fabliau" title="Fabliau">Fabliau</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Flash_fiction" title="Flash fiction">Flash fiction</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Folklore" title="Folklore">Folklore</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Fable" title="Fable">Fable</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fairy_tale" title="Fairy tale">Fairy tale</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Legend" title="Legend">Legend</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Myth" title="Myth">Myth</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tall_tale" title="Tall tale">Tall tale</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gamebook" title="Gamebook">Gamebook</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Narrative_art" title="Narrative art">Narrative art</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Narrative_poetry" title="Narrative poetry">Narrative poetry</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Epic_poetry" title="Epic poetry">Epic poetry</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Novel" title="Novel">Novel</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Novella" title="Novella">Novella</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Parable" title="Parable">Parable</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Short_story" title="Short story">Short story</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vignette_(literature)" title="Vignette (literature)">Vignette</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Literary_genre" title="Literary genre">Genre</a><br />(<a href="/wiki/List_of_writing_genres" title="List of writing genres">List</a>)</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Fiction" title="Fiction">Fiction</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Action_fiction" title="Action fiction">Action fiction</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Adventure_fiction" title="Adventure fiction">Adventure</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Comic_novel" title="Comic novel">Comic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Crime_fiction" title="Crime fiction">Crime</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Docufiction" title="Docufiction">Docu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Epistolary_novel" title="Epistolary novel">Epistolary</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ergodic_literature" title="Ergodic literature">Ergodic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Erotic_literature" title="Erotic literature">Erotic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Historical_fiction" title="Historical fiction">Historical</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Western_fiction" title="Western fiction">Western</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mystery_fiction" title="Mystery fiction">Mystery</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nautical_fiction" title="Nautical fiction">Nautical</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paranoid_fiction" title="Paranoid fiction">Paranoid</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Philosophical_fiction" title="Philosophical fiction">Philosophical</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Picaresque_novel" title="Picaresque novel">Picaresque</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Political_fiction" title="Political fiction">Political</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pop_culture_fiction" title="Pop culture fiction">Pop culture</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Psychological_fiction" title="Psychological fiction">Psychological</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inspirational_fiction" title="Inspirational fiction">Religious</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rogue_literature" title="Rogue literature">Rogue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Romance_novel" title="Romance novel">Romance</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Chivalric_romance" title="Chivalric romance">Chivalric</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Romance_(prose_fiction)" title="Romance (prose fiction)">Prose</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Saga" title="Saga">Saga</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Satire" title="Satire">Satire</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Speculative_fiction" title="Speculative fiction">Speculative fiction</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Fantasy" title="Fantasy">Fantasy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gothic_fiction" title="Gothic fiction">Gothic</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Southern_Gothic" title="Southern Gothic">Southern</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Horror_fiction" title="Horror fiction">Horror</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Magic_realism" class="mw-redirect" title="Magic realism">Magic realism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Science_fiction" title="Science fiction">Science</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Hard_science_fiction" title="Hard science fiction">Hard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Utopian_and_dystopian_fiction" title="Utopian and dystopian fiction">Utopian and dystopian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_underwater_science_fiction_works" title="List of underwater science fiction works">Underwater</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Superhero_fiction" title="Superhero fiction">Superhero</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Theological_fiction" title="Theological fiction">Theological</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thriller_(genre)" title="Thriller (genre)">Thriller</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Urban_fiction" title="Urban fiction">Urban</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nonfiction" class="mw-redirect" title="Nonfiction">Nonfiction</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Autobiography" title="Autobiography">Autobiography</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Biography" title="Biography">Biography</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Non-fiction_novel" title="Non-fiction novel">Novel</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Creative_nonfiction" title="Creative nonfiction">Creative</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Narration" title="Narration">Narration</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Diegesis" title="Diegesis">Diegesis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/First-person_narrative" title="First-person narrative">First-person</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Second-person_narrative" class="mw-redirect" title="Second-person narrative">Second-person</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Third-person_narrative" class="mw-redirect" title="Third-person narrative">Third-person</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Third-person_omniscient_narrative" class="mw-redirect" title="Third-person omniscient narrative">Third-person omniscient narrative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Narration#Subjective_or_objective" title="Narration">Subjectivity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Unreliable_narrator" title="Unreliable narrator">Unreliable narrator</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Multiperspectivity" title="Multiperspectivity">Multiple narrators</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stream_of_consciousness" title="Stream of consciousness">Stream of consciousness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stream_of_unconsciousness" title="Stream of unconsciousness">Stream of unconsciousness</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Grammatical_tense" title="Grammatical tense">Tense</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Past_tense" title="Past tense">Past</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Present_tense" title="Present tense">Present</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Future_tense" title="Future tense">Future</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Related</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Dominant_narrative" title="Dominant narrative">Dominant narrative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fiction_writing" title="Fiction writing">Fiction writing</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Continuity_(fiction)" title="Continuity (fiction)">Continuity</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Canon_(fiction)" title="Canon (fiction)">Canon</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reboot_(fiction)" title="Reboot (fiction)">Reboot</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Retroactive_continuity" title="Retroactive continuity">Retcon</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Parallel_novel" title="Parallel novel">Parallel novel</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Prequel" title="Prequel">Prequel</a> / <a href="/wiki/Sequel" title="Sequel">Sequel</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Genre" title="Genre">Genre</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_genres" title="List of genres">List</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Literary_criticism" title="Literary criticism">Literary science</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Literary_theory" title="Literary theory">Literary theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Narrative_identity" title="Narrative identity">Narrative identity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Narrative_paradigm" title="Narrative paradigm">Narrative paradigm</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Narrative_therapy" title="Narrative therapy">Narrative therapy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Narratology" title="Narratology">Narratology</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Metafiction" title="Metafiction">Metafiction</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Political_narrative" title="Political narrative">Political narrative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rhetoric" title="Rhetoric">Rhetoric</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Glossary_of_rhetorical_terms" title="Glossary of rhetorical terms">Glossary</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Screenwriting" title="Screenwriting">Screenwriting</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Template:Works_series" title="Template:Works series">Series of works</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Storytelling" title="Storytelling">Storytelling</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tellability" title="Tellability">Tellability</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Verisimilitude_(fiction)" title="Verisimilitude (fiction)">Verisimilitude</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374" /><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235" /></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox authority-control" aria-labelledby="Authority_control_databases_frameless&amp;#124;text-top&amp;#124;10px&amp;#124;alt=Edit_this_at_Wikidata&amp;#124;link=https&amp;#58;//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q810799#identifiers&amp;#124;class=noprint&amp;#124;Edit_this_at_Wikidata939" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><div id="Authority_control_databases_frameless&amp;#124;text-top&amp;#124;10px&amp;#124;alt=Edit_this_at_Wikidata&amp;#124;link=https&amp;#58;//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q810799#identifiers&amp;#124;class=noprint&amp;#124;Edit_this_at_Wikidata939" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Help:Authority_control" title="Help:Authority control">Authority control databases</a> <span class="mw-valign-text-top noprint" typeof="mw:File/Frameless"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q810799#identifiers" title="Edit this at Wikidata"><img alt="Edit this at Wikidata" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/10px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png" decoding="async" width="10" height="10" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/15px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/20px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="20" data-file-height="20" /></a></span></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">International</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"><ul><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://id.worldcat.org/fast/828716/">FAST</a></span></li></ul></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">National</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"><ul><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://d-nb.info/gnd/7715162-8">Germany</a></span></li><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://id.loc.gov/authorities/sh85012332">United States</a></span></li><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb177023161">France</a></span></li><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://data.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb177023161">BnF data</a></span></li><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nli.org.il/en/authorities/987007284634805171">Israel</a></span></li></ul></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"><ul><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.idref.fr/223495573">IdRef</a></span></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <!-- NewPP limit report Parsed by mw‐web.codfw.main‐5954cc5cd5‐9fvlg Cached time: 20250305221623 Cache expiry: 2592000 Reduced expiry: false Complications: [vary‐revision‐sha1, show‐toc] CPU time usage: 0.535 seconds Real time usage: 0.725 seconds Preprocessor visited node count: 1195/1000000 Post‐expand include size: 53273/2097152 bytes Template argument size: 1582/2097152 bytes Highest expansion depth: 12/100 Expensive parser function count: 4/500 Unstrip recursion depth: 1/20 Unstrip post‐expand size: 35103/5000000 bytes Lua time usage: 0.361/10.000 seconds Lua memory usage: 15222474/52428800 bytes Number of Wikibase entities loaded: 1/400 --> <!-- Transclusion expansion time report (%,ms,calls,template) 100.00% 640.889 1 -total 19.59% 125.533 1 Template:Langx 17.91% 114.787 1 Template:Reflist 15.28% 97.921 4 Template:Cite_book 14.87% 95.280 1 Template:Narrative_modes 13.35% 85.571 1 Template:Navbox 12.36% 79.244 1 Template:Short_description 8.19% 52.520 1 Template:Unreferenced_section 8.16% 52.275 1 Template:IPAc-en 7.20% 46.160 1 Template:Unreferenced --> <!-- Saved in parser cache with key enwiki:pcache:359443:|#|:idhash:canonical and timestamp 20250305221623 and revision id 1274262379. Rendering was triggered because: page-view --> </div><!--esi <esi:include src="/esitest-fa8a495983347898/content" /> --><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?useformat=desktop&amp;type=1x1&amp;usesul3=0" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bathos&amp;oldid=1274262379">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bathos&amp;oldid=1274262379</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:1720s_neologisms" title="Category:1720s neologisms">1720s neologisms</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Humour" title="Category:Humour">Humour</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Literary_terminology" title="Category:Literary terminology">Literary terminology</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Poetics" title="Category:Poetics">Poetics</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Rhetoric" title="Category:Rhetoric">Rhetoric</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Rhetorical_techniques" title="Category:Rhetorical techniques">Rhetorical techniques</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Satire" title="Category:Satire">Satire</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden categories: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_short_description" title="Category:Articles with short description">Articles with short description</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Short_description_is_different_from_Wikidata" title="Category:Short description is different from Wikidata">Short description is different from Wikidata</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_containing_Ancient_Greek_(to_1453)-language_text" title="Category:Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text">Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_needing_additional_references_from_October_2022" title="Category:Articles needing additional references from October 2022">Articles needing additional references from October 2022</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:All_articles_needing_additional_references" title="Category:All articles needing additional references">All articles needing additional references</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 6 February 2025, at 10:42<span class="anonymous-show">&#160;(UTC)</span>.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_4.0_International_License" title="Wikipedia:Text of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License</a>; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms_of_Use" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms of Use">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy policy">Privacy Policy</a>. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/">Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.</a>, a non-profit organization.</li> </ul> <ul id="footer-places"> <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About">About Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimers"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-contact"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us">Contact Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-wm-codeofconduct"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal_Code_of_Conduct">Code of Conduct</a></li> <li id="footer-places-developers"><a href="https://developer.wikimedia.org">Developers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-statslink"><a href="https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/en.wikipedia.org">Statistics</a></li> <li id="footer-places-cookiestatement"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Cookie_statement">Cookie statement</a></li> <li id="footer-places-mobileview"><a href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bathos&amp;mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile" class="noprint stopMobileRedirectToggle">Mobile view</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><picture><source media="(min-width: 500px)" srcset="/static/images/footer/wikimedia-button.svg" width="84" height="29"><img src="/static/images/footer/wikimedia.svg" width="25" height="25" alt="Wikimedia Foundation" lang="en" loading="lazy"></picture></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><picture><source media="(min-width: 500px)" srcset="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki.svg" width="88" height="31"><img src="/w/resources/assets/mediawiki_compact.svg" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" lang="en" width="25" height="25" loading="lazy"></picture></a></li> </ul> </footer> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-header-container vector-sticky-header-container"> <div id="vector-sticky-header" class="vector-sticky-header"> <div class="vector-sticky-header-start"> <div class="vector-sticky-header-icon-start vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" aria-hidden="true"> <button class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-sticky-header-search-toggle" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ui.vector-sticky-search-form.icon"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </button> </div> <div role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box"> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="vector-sticky-search-form" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Wikipedia"> <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-context-bar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-sticky-header-toc" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-sticky-header-toc vector-sticky-header-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-sticky-header-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-sticky-header-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-sticky-header-toc-label" for="vector-sticky-header-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-sticky-header-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div class="vector-sticky-header-context-bar-primary" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="mw-page-title-main">Bathos</span></div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-end" aria-hidden="true"> <div class="vector-sticky-header-icons"> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-talk-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="talk-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-speechBubbles mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-speechBubbles"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-subject-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="subject-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-article mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-article"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-history-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="history-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-history mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-history"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only mw-watchlink" id="ca-watchstar-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="watch-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-star mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-star"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-edit-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="wikitext-edit-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikiText mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-wikiText"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-ve-edit-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ve-edit-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-edit mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-edit"></span> <span></span> </a> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only" id="ca-viewsource-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ve-edit-protected-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-editLock mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-editLock"></span> <span></span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-buttons"> <button class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet mw-interlanguage-selector" id="p-lang-btn-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-wikimedia-language"></span> <span>7 languages</span> </button> <a href="#" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive" id="ca-addsection-sticky-header" tabindex="-1" data-event-name="addsection-sticky-header"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-speechBubbleAdd-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-speechBubbleAdd-progressive"></span> <span>Add topic</span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-header-icon-end"> <div class="vector-user-links"> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="mw-portlet mw-portlet-dock-bottom emptyPortlet" id="p-dock-bottom"> <ul> </ul> </div> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgHostname":"mw-web.codfw.next-5974465d9c-mtwl9","wgBackendResponseTime":153,"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.535","walltime":"0.725","ppvisitednodes":{"value":1195,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":53273,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":1582,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":12,"limit":100},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":4,"limit":500},"unstrip-depth":{"value":1,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":35103,"limit":5000000},"entityaccesscount":{"value":1,"limit":400},"timingprofile":["100.00% 640.889 1 -total"," 19.59% 125.533 1 Template:Langx"," 17.91% 114.787 1 Template:Reflist"," 15.28% 97.921 4 Template:Cite_book"," 14.87% 95.280 1 Template:Narrative_modes"," 13.35% 85.571 1 Template:Navbox"," 12.36% 79.244 1 Template:Short_description"," 8.19% 52.520 1 Template:Unreferenced_section"," 8.16% 52.275 1 Template:IPAc-en"," 7.20% 46.160 1 Template:Unreferenced"]},"scribunto":{"limitreport-timeusage":{"value":"0.361","limit":"10.000"},"limitreport-memusage":{"value":15222474,"limit":52428800}},"cachereport":{"origin":"mw-web.codfw.main-5954cc5cd5-9fvlg","timestamp":"20250305221623","ttl":2592000,"transientcontent":false}}});});</script> <script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","name":"Bathos","url":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bathos","sameAs":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q810799","mainEntity":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q810799","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Contributors to Wikimedia projects"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.wikimedia.org\/static\/images\/wmf-hor-googpub.png"}},"datePublished":"2003-11-07T18:58:17Z","dateModified":"2025-02-06T10:42:42Z","headline":"literary term for anticlimax of amusing failed attempts at sublimity, or pathos"}</script> </body> </html>

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10