Catharsis in as You Like It
Catharsis in As You Like It
Literature is meant to teach. Its purpose is to shed light upon the soul and offer up the best and worst of humanity. All the stories we read, all the characters we relate to and begin to understand, they all have a tale to tell and a lesson to be learned. This is precisely what makes literature so vital to the human spirit. It is here that we enter the world of William Shakespeare's As You Like It , a story set in a fantastical forest. As we follow the true love of Orlando and Rosalind and the brotherly betrayal by Oliver and Duke Frederick, readers begin to have a spiritual renewal, a cleansing of their spirit, while observing the conflicts that take place. As You Like It is a play where characters seek out truth and simplicity in the Forest of Arden, a mystical place that offers a chance for time to stop and the mind to mend. We come to believe, through the text, that there is an element of evil, but that it only exists in the court and society outside the forest. William Shakespeare involves “his characters in issues and events which force decisions literally touching the emotional strings of tragedy” (Champion 447) but without the death, destruction, and despair typical of that genre. The characters are safe to experience a new type of living while in the confines and safety of the wood and hopefully restore a balance they all so dearly strive for.
The concept of catharsis was first discussed by Aristotle in his treatise Poetics , which was primarily a work on the aesthetics of poetry. He believed that “the poet's aim is to produce pleasure in the spectator by eliciting from the representation the emotions of pity (for others) and fear (for oneself)” (“oetics”). He was in firm disagreement with his teacher Plato on the validity of catharsis, believing that the purging of emotions is beneficial. Although most readers associate catharsis with tragedy, especially works like Macbeth and King Lear , it is easily found in Shakespeare's
Literature is meant to teach. Its purpose is to shed light upon the soul and offer up the best and worst of humanity. All the stories we read, all the characters we relate to and begin to understand, they all have a tale to tell and a lesson to be learned. This is precisely what makes literature so vital to the human spirit. It is here that we enter the world of William Shakespeare's As You Like It , a story set in a fantastical forest. As we follow the true love of Orlando and Rosalind and the brotherly betrayal by Oliver and Duke Frederick, readers begin to have a spiritual renewal, a cleansing of their spirit, while observing the conflicts that take place. As You Like It is a play where characters seek out truth and simplicity in the Forest of Arden, a mystical place that offers a chance for time to stop and the mind to mend. We come to believe, through the text, that there is an element of evil, but that it only exists in the court and society outside the forest. William Shakespeare involves “his characters in issues and events which force decisions literally touching the emotional strings of tragedy” (Champion 447) but without the death, destruction, and despair typical of that genre. The characters are safe to experience a new type of living while in the confines and safety of the wood and hopefully restore a balance they all so dearly strive for.
The concept of catharsis was first discussed by Aristotle in his treatise Poetics , which was primarily a work on the aesthetics of poetry. He believed that “the poet's aim is to produce pleasure in the spectator by eliciting from the representation the emotions of pity (for others) and fear (for oneself)” (“oetics”). He was in firm disagreement with his teacher Plato on the validity of catharsis, believing that the purging of emotions is beneficial. Although most readers associate catharsis with tragedy, especially works like Macbeth and King Lear , it is easily found in Shakespeare's