Explain the role of catharsis in a tragedy?Explain why catharsis is important in a tragedy.

Catharsis refers to a purging of emotions, purification
and sometimes a renewal resulting from pity, sorrow, sympathy or even laughter.
Catharsis applies to the experience of a character or the experience of the
audience.

The term catharsis comes from Aristotle’s
Poetics. He said that a catharsis was a purgation of pent up
emotion. Plato believed poetry was emotional and irrational. But Aristotle saw poetry as
an outlet for emotion; thus, a purgation.

This is usually
when a character undergoes a mental or physical change, often because of suffering, and
must experience an emotional overflow. The audience may identify and empathize with the
character because suffering is universal. The experience of catharsis is meant to use
this overflow of emotion as an outlet in order to return to a state of balance and
harmony. For example, in It’s a Wonderful Life, George Bailey loses
his temper, contemplates suicide and questions the purpose of his own existence. It is
through this emotional and philosophical introspection and purging that he is able to
put things into perspective and return to a harmonious
life.

The most cited example is the tragedy of
Oedipus Rex. Oedipus is a tragic figure. Some theorists have
supposed that audiences get a cathartic relief when watching tragedies because they
appreciate not being in the protagonist’s position. Oedipus blinding himself is the
height of his cathartic experience: a total overflow of emotion. Aristotle said
catharsis was the aesthetic function of a tragedy. That function is to bring the
audience to an emotional height and then resolve the story, bringing them back down
again.