I too was confused by the definition of pathetic fallacy - think I have got hold of the wrong end of the stick so now I need a new term....I'm pretty sure I remember, from high school English class, the teacher telling us that "pathetic fallacy" meant "nature appearing to act in accordance with human events" - an example would be the storm that brews on the night Macbeth slays Duncan.

Now I'm wondering if I've just misremembered, and the teacher might actually have used a different term for nature's appearing to be in accord with human tragedies and triumphs. Is there another expression for this? It's not quite the same as applying human attributes to nature....Maybe "sympathetic" something?