Aristotle’s Concepts of Catharsis and Tragic Pleasure, Essay Example

Aristotle indicates in the first passage that producing a cathartic effect is a crucial element when it comes to constructing a tragedy. In the second passage, it is evident that a cathartic impact leads to the experience of an appropriate pleasure. The experience of pleasure has a significant impact on the audience. Meanwhile, the third passage provides pieces of evidence that the production of pity and fear require the description of the relationship between friends and relatives. However, there is no specific method of catharsis by Aristotle. His remaining poetic creations reveal no use of catharsis or any attempts to do so. More research has been done on the topic of catharsis. There are three versions of tragic catharsis that include purgation, purification and cognitive summation.

The cathartic experience needs to be distinguished based on the type that the citizenry of the polis has and that which is restricted to other denizens. It is evident in Politics, where Aristotle alludes that the experience of catharsis is best experienced in an ideal city. The specific passages being referenced are passages 17 and 18; these passages need to be read in full to better understand the view of catharsis by Aristotle. The individuals who can best experience the phenomenon are those who are educated and naturally free. It is desirable in place of having a hedonistic frenzy or emotional excitation, which is characteristic of the uneducated folk. Since the citizens experience leisure activities, they are amenable to cathartic experiences as opposed to enslaved people and workers that lack both leisure and education. The distinction is necessary to depict the difference in cathartic experiences among the citizens and the non-citizens.