Catharsis – What Exactly Is A Catharsis? (Answers)

Answers To The Question: What Is A Catharsis?

CATHARSIS – In this article, we will learn more about this literary device, its functions, and some examples.

Catharsis - What Exactly Is A Catharsis? (Answers)
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Catharsis is defined as an emotional discharge that leads to moral or spiritual renewal. It is also a Greek word that means “cleansing”.

When it comes to literature, this device is used to have characters cleanse their emotions. It could also be any radical change that causes an emotional rejuvenation of a person.

According to an article from Literary Devices, it was originally used as a metaphor in Poetics by Aristotle. He used them to explain the effects of tragedy on an audience.

Aristotle believed that this was the ultimate end of a tragic artistic work. Here are some examples of catharsis.

In the film Marley and Me, the catharsis would be when the family dog, Marley, dies. Following this, the audience has an emotional response to a tragedy many people can relate to, the death of a family pet.

In the film Titanic, catharsis occurs with Rose’s love, Jack, dies in the ocean after the unsinkable ship crashes into an iceberg.

In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the catharsis occurs when the young lovers’ commit suicide. The audience has watched the intense love story of the two, and when their tragic flaw of impulse takes control, the viewers feel pity and shock towards the rash decision.

In dramatic art, Catharsis serves as a medium to explain the impacts of tragedy, comedy, or any form of art on the audience. However, the most common interpretations of the term are called intellectual clarifications.

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