Aristotle's Poetics

poetics and oedipus' catharsis

I do not completely understand why a character has to "accept fate" in order to have cathartic reversal. Why isn't mere self-recognition of events enough to achieve catharsis?

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Last updated by john t #56735
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Catharsis involves the act of accepting fate, so Oedipus cannot achieve cathartic reversal unless he does so. Also, just recognizing events is not enough in and of itself - you can recognize events but fail to accept them, which would not be cathartic.

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