Stephen Gill Pens Poetry for Personal Therapy

Abstract

About 300 years before Christ, Aristotle describes catharsis  in his Poetics to show the impact of true tragedy on the audience. In the nineteenth century, Josef Breuer, the companion of Sigmund Freud, was the first to use Aristotelian concept in the realm of psychology. One template of catharsis is the use of a musical instrument for a tired person to feel relaxed. In literature, one example is Oedipus Rex in which Oedipus unknowingly marries his biological mother. Another example is Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It is often said that reading any work about murder or to see it on the television can be a healing therapy.