Create a 5 pages page paper that discusses tragedy purges the emotions of pity and fear. Tragedy addresses one serious and dominant issue of great significance and follows it up to the end and the events presented should provoke the audience to feel sorry for the tragic hero and to be afraid as the hero advances to their tragic end. In that respect, as the tragedy goes on, the events should lead to a build-up of emotions of pity and fear, leading to catharsis, the purging or cleansing of these emotions.

Aristotle’s claim that tragedy purges the emotions of pity and fear is perhaps one of the most controversial concepts, probably due to the progressive shift in the meaning of the term “catharsis” as in the contemporary sense of the word, as opposed to Aristotle’s initial meaning and usage of the term. Many people have generally understood “catharsis” as the “purification or refinement of people. while witnessing a tragedy, people’s emotions of pity and fear are purified as they become disinterested or emotionally disconnected from the action on stage. Individuals are able to suspend disbelief and to experience tragedy impartially or without any sort of bias without necessarily being overly sentimental or afraid. whereas it is okay for audiences to pity Oedipus or Othello and to fear for Hamlet, they do so without getting selfishly emotional.

Nonetheless, all evidence indicates that Aristotle did not recommend catharsis as purification but as purgation, in the older, wider sense of usage. initially, the term purgation has origins in medicine, but its meaning has changed rapidly in view of the shifting medical thought. Critics have argued that it would be more appropriate to refer to catharsis in terms of moderating or tempering of passions, in the true sense of the Aristotelian view, to account for the initial meaning intended by Aristotle. In that respect, catharsis as a form of moderation entails balancing off the excessive emotions of pity and fear that may otherwise result in an unstable state of the mind. therefore, moderation is essential in keeping the mind in a healthy state of balance.