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| Aristotle's Concept of Catharsis |
Aristotle's … Concept of Catharsis
Aristotle
describes that the purpose of tragedy is to arouse the emotions of pity and
fear and to affect the Catharsis of these emotions. Aristotle has used the term
Catharsis only once, but no expression has been touched so often by critics,
and poets. Aristotle has not explained what exactly he meant by the word, nor
do we get any help from Poetics. For this reason, help and direction have to be
taken from his other works. Moreover, Catharsis has three meanings.Aristotle's Concept of Catharsis
- Purgation
- Purification
- Clarification
All
critics are agreeing that Tragedy arouses fear and pity, but there are sharp
differences as to the process and the way by which the rousing of these
emotions gives pleasure. Catharsis has been taken as a medical symbol,
‘purgation’, signifying an extreme effect on the soul similar to the effect of
the medicine on the body. This view is borne out by a passage in Politics where
Aristotle refers to religious anger being preserved by certain tunes which
stimulate religious anger. In Tragedy
“pity
and fear artificially stirred the latent pity and fear which we bring with us
from real life.”
The moral
clarification is that the tragic process is a kind of lustration of depth, an
inner light resulting in a more balanced attitude to life and its suffering.
Thus, John Gassner says that a clear understanding of what was involved in the
struggle, of cause and effect, a judgment on what we have witnessed, can result
in a state of mental equilibrium and rest, and can ensure complete aesthetic
pleasure. Tragedy makes us grasp that divine law functions in the universe,
shaping everything for the best.
During
the Renaissance, another set of critics suggested that Tragedy helped to
reinforce or ‘temper’ emotions. Audiences are cynical about the wretched and
dreadful actions of life by observing them in disasters.
The basic
defect of the ‘purgation’ theory and ‘purification’ theory is that they are
very much engaged with the mind of the audience. Aristotle was writing a
discourse, not on thinking but on the art of poetry. He tells ‘Catharsis’ not
to the sentiments of the audiences but to the occasions which form the design
of the tragedy. And the result is the “clarification” concept.
Moreover,
Aristotle tells us that we should not seek every pleasure from tragedy, “but
only the pleasure proper to it”. ‘Catharsis’ refers to the tragic variety of
pleasure. The Catharsis clause is thus a definition of the function of tragedy,
and not of its emotional effects on the audience.
Imitation
does not produce pleasure in general, but only the pleasure that comes from
learning, and so also the peculiar pleasure of tragedy. Gaining comes from
finding the connection between the activity and the general components typified
in it. The artist could take his material from history or custom; however, he
chooses and arranges it regarding the likelihood and need, and represents what,
“might be”. He rises from the particular to the general and so is more
universal and more philosophical. The events are presented free of chance and
chances which unclear their real meaning. Misfortune improves understanding and
leaves the onlooker ‘face to face with the universal law’.
So,
according to this interpretation, ‘Catharsis’ means clarification of the
essential and universal significance of the incidents depicted, leading to an
enhanced understanding of the universal law which governs human life and
destiny, and such an understating lead to pleasure of tragedy. In this view,
Catharsis is neither a healing, nor a spiritual or moral term, but an
intellectual term. The term refers to the incidents depicted in the tragedy and
how the poet reveals their universal significance.
According
to Aristotle the basic tragic feelings are pity and fear and are agonizing. If
tragedy is to give pleasure, pity and fear must somehow be removed. Fear is
aroused when we see someone suffering and think that a similar fate might
happen to us. Feel sorry for is a sensation of torment brought about by seeing
the gratuitous enduring of others. The observer sees that it is the grievous
mistake or Hamartia of the legend which brings about anguish thus he gets the
hang of something about the general connection between character and purpose.
Conclusion:
To
conclude, Aristotle's conception of Catharsis is mostly logical. It is neither
moral nor theoretic; however, it may have a residual theological element.
Aristotle's Catharsis is not a moral doctrine requiring the tragic poet to show
those bad men come to bad ends, nor a kind of theological relief arising from
the discovery that God’s laws operate invisibly to make all things work out for
the best.
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#Catharsis
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