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Literary Criticism and Theories

Notes provided that that knowledge is associated, as Aristotle said it should be, with the hero's
'reversal of fortune' (Greek: peripeteia). A reversal is a change of a situation to its opposite.
Consider Oedipus at the beginning and end of Oedipus the King. Also consider in that play
how a man comes to free Oedipus of his fear about his mother, but actually does the opposite.
Recognitions are also supposed to be clearly connected with all the rest of the action of the plot.
3. Suffering (some fatal or painful action) is also to be included in a tragic plot which, preferably,
should end unhappily.
4. The pity and fear which a tragedy evokes, should come from the events, the action, not from
the mere sight of something on stage.
5. Catharsis ('purification' or 'purgation') of pity and fear was a part of Aristotle's definition of
tragedy. The meaning of this phrase is extremely debatable. Among the many interpretations
possible, consider how well the following apply to our plays:
(i) Purification of the audience's feelings of pity and fear so that in real life we understand
better whether we should feel them.
(ii) Purgation of our pity and fear so that we can face life with less of these emotions or more
control over them.
(iii) Purification of the events of the plot, so that the central character's errors or transgressions
become 'cleansed' by his or her recognitions and suffering.
3.2 Aristotle's Theory of Catharsis

As discussed in the explanation of the definition of tragedy (1.5.2), theory of Catharsis emerges as
the function of tragedy. The last line of the definition -'through pity and fear effecting the proper
purgation of these and similar emotions'- substantiates the theory of Catharsis. His theory of
Catharsis consists in the purgation or purification of the excessive emotions of pity and fear.
Witnessing the tragedy and suffering of the protagonist on the stage, such emotions and feelings
of the audience is purged. The purgation of such emotions and feelings make them relieved and
they emerge better human beings than they were. Thus, Aristotle's theory of Catharsis has moral
and ennobling function.
But for the exact meaning and concept of catharsis, there has been a lot of controversy among
scholars and critics down the centuries. The critics on catharsis by prolonged debated has succeeded
only in creating confusion, not in clarifying the concept. Yet since Aristotle is vague in the usage
of this word, critics have to interpret it on his behalf. Certain broad understanding of the term is
necessary, though the attempts at deriving the doctrines regarding the functions of the tragedy
from this are absurd and ridiculous.
In the Poetics, while defining tragedy, Aristotle writes that the function of tragedy is to arouse the
emotions of pity and fear, and in this way to affect the Katharsis of these (or such like) emotions.
Aristotle has used the term Katharsis only once, but many and strange are the interpretations of the
word that have been given ever since the Renaissance. No phrase, probably, in ancient or modern
literature has been handled so frequently by commentators and critics, and by poets, and by men
who know Greek, and by men who know no Greek. Most varied and ingenuous explanations
have been given. This confusion arises from the fact that Aristotle himself has not explained what
exactly he meant by the word, nor do we get any direct aid from the Poetics in interpreting the
Greek phrase. For this reason, help and guidance has to be taken from his other works, more
specially from his Politics and his second Ethics. Further, the Greek word Katharsis has three
meanings. It means, “purgation”, “purification”, and “clarification”, and each critic has used the
word in one or the other of these varied senses, and has reached accordingly a different conclusion
regarding the function and emotional effects of tragedy. All agree that Tragedy arouses fear and
pity, but there are sharp differences as to the process, the way, by which the rousing of these
emotions gives pleasure. We would first examine the different interpretations of the word Catharsis,
and then give the interpretation which seems most appealing and convincing.

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