Page 41 - DENG501_LITERARY_CRITICISM_AND_THEORIES

Unit 3: Aristotle: The Poetics-Catharsis and Hamartia

“Purgation” Theories Notes
1. Katharsis has been taken to be a medical metaphor, ‘purgation’, denoting a pathological effect on
the soul analogous to the effect of medicine on the body. By some the process has been likened
to homeopathic treatment with the like curing the like, and thus, it is said, the rousing of pity
and fear results in the ‘purgation’, of these emotion. This view is borne out by a passage in the
Poetics where Aristotle refers to religious frenzy being cured by certain tunes which excite
religious frenzy. It is this view that Milton also expresses in the Preface to Samson Agonistes,
when he says that tragedy by rousing pity and fear purges the mind of these or such like
emotions, that is, “tempers or reduces them to a just measure”. In Tragedy, “pity and fear,
artificially stirred, expel the latent pity and fear which we bring with us from real life.” Such
incidental emotions as anxiety, self-pity, etc., are also quieted. In our sympathy for the sufferer
on the stage, we forget our own troubles and worries. “In the pleasurable calm which follows
when the passion is spent, an emotional cure is wrought.” Used in the medical sense, Katharsis
implies relief following previous excitation of the tragic emotions. Important critics like Twining
and Barney (1957), are also of the view that Katharsis is a kind of homeopathic treatment. Freud
and other psychologists also support this interpretation, when they say that by helping patients
to recall painful childhood experiences, neurosis can be cured.
2. In the neo-classical era, Catharsis was taken to be an alopathic treatment with the unlike curing
unlike. In this respect, they followed the lead given by Giraldi Cinthio of 16th century Italy.
Thus the arousing of pity and fear was supposed to bring about the purgation or, ‘evacuation’,
of other emotions, like anger, pride, etc. (Instead of pity and fear, admiration and commiseration
were supposed to be the proper tragic emotions). The spectacle of suffering arouses our pity
and fear and we are ‘purged’ of the emotions that caused the suffering. If the suffering is
caused by emotions, like anger, hatred, or impiety towards the gods, we are ‘purged’ of such
undesirable emotions, because we realise their evil consequences. “ We learn from the terrible
fates of evil men to avoid the vices they manifest” Thomas Taylor in his introduction to the Poetics
(1ó18) also held this view
Psychological Interpretation

3. F.L. Lucas rejects the idea that Katharsis as used by Aristotle is medical metaphor, and says
that, “the theatre is not a hospital”. Both F.L. Lucas and Herbert Reed regard it as a kind of
safety valve. Pity and fear are aroused, we give free play to these emotions, which we cannot
do in real life, and this safe and free outlet of these emotions is followed by emotional relief. In
real life they are repressed, and in the theater the free indulgence in these emotions aroused by
the suffering of the hero, is safe and brings relief to our pent up souls.
4. I.A. Richards’ approach to the process is also psychological. Fear is the impulse to withdraw
and pity is the impulse to approach. Both these impulses are harmonised and blended in
tragedy, and this balance brings relief and repose.
Ethical and Theological Interpretations
5. The ethical interpretation is that the tragic process is a kind of lustration of the soul, an inner
illumination resulting in a more balanced attitude to life and its suffering. Thus John Gassner
says that, “only enlightenment, a clear comprehension of what was involved in the struggle, an
understanding 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 gratification. Tragedy
makes us realise that divine law operates in the universe, shaping everything for the best.
6. During the Renaissance, Robertello and Castelvetro suggested that Tragedy helped to harden
or ‘temper’ the emotions. “Just as soldiers overcome their fear of death after seeing it frequently
on the battlefield, so spectators become hardened to the pitiable and fearful events of life by
witnessing them in tragedies.”

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