"We were soon joined by Elizabeth. Time had altered her since I last beheld her; it had endowed her with loveliness surpassing the beauty of her childish years." - pg. 53
The literary technique so cleverly used above is a very interesting form of personification. I hesitate calling it anthropomorphism as that generally pertains to giving human like qualities to gods. Time in this sense is given the quality of altering and endowing. Time doesn't have hands or the brain to alter or endow. However, its perceived existence seems to result in people changing over time. It is a very clever way to explain the differences in people. I particularly like this use of personification. I find that it is very effective in explaining both her changed countenance and how long it had been since the characters had last seen each other. The funny thing though, is the human concept of time. Some people do treat it as a god because they feel like they are held under its grasp. But time itself is relative and the true God exists outside of time and its effects. The way Shelley uses it is the common way for humans to explain time.
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