Personification

Constance and Fortitude in Vienna

Personification is an ontological metaphor in which a thing or abstraction is represented as a person.^[1]

The term "personification" may apply to:

1. A description of an inanimate object as being a living person or animal as in: "The sun shone brightly down on me as if she were shining for me alone". In this example the sun is depicted as if capable of intent, and is referenced with the pronoun "she" rather than "it."
2. The act of personifying.
3. A certain quality or idea; an embodiment or exemplification: "He's invisible, a walking personification of the Negative" (Ralph Ellison).
4. An artistic representation of an abstract quality or idea as a person, for example the four cardinal virtues or nine Muses.

See also

• Description
• National personification
• Anthropomorphism
• Calumny of Apelles (Botticelli)
• Father Time
• Mascot
• Heraldry
• Metaphor
• Grim Reaper

External sources

• Unknown, . "Personification". Poetry As We See It. 1 June 2003. ThinkQuest. 30 May 2008.

References

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