Final Paper on Catharsis
There are many angles to look at the word Catharsis (from greek κάθαρσις=purification, cleansing) and
many possible ways to elaborate on it. Aristotle describes it as when literature provides strong
emotional experiences that ultimately result in a sense of purification. Catharsis predominantly found
its use in the genre of Tragedy (from greek ones to shakespearean). Indeed from an audience
perspective, the cleansing takes place when witnessing a profoundly sad event by choice (of attending
the play), the latter gives birth to an emotional respond in the moment while also strangely makes one
feel more peaceful at the end, as if a burden was lifted. This statement remains relevant today for
different art forms of entertainment since, for instance, some movie-goers enjoy (and are willing to pay
for) watching heartbreaking or emotionally-charged films which will likely make them cry.
Nevertheless they gain satisfaction and relief out of them after watching those films for they are still
being massively made with that same purpose of reaction within the viewer. Catharsis is now a key
element to a huge variety of art forms (such as dance, sculpture, video, performance art, music...etc)
and involves all type of emotions which are meant to be used in art pieces to generate a purification
within the spectator or a participant in the work. Furthermore on the creative side it has been used to
elevate the fears, obsessions and feelings of the artist to the status of artistic content creating pieces
which take their inspirations from sources such as dreams, past-traumas or anxiety. Following a
historical unfolding of the word which highlights its application in play writing, I will explore the fact
that experiencing catharsis is always the destination that one keeps in mind when interested in an art
work or in the making of one.
Catharsis has focused mainly on the emotions of pity and fear primarily through Greek
Literature. It...