Queer κάθαρσις: An Aristotelian inquiry on Wicked

Wicked: For Good trailer is out. Theoretical departure: Aristotelian catharsis (κάθαρσις), mimesis, aesthetic

In the amphitheaters of ancient Greece, audiences gathered to witness tragedy unfold. They sought what Aristotle termed "catharsis." Nearly two and a half millennia later, we still pursue this transformative emotional release. Our venues have changed. Our stories have evolved. Yet the fundamental human need remains.

The tale of Elphaba, the misunderstood green-skyesinned witch of Wicked, offers a compelling case study in emotional processing. What makes this narrative—spanning novel, Broadway musical, and film adaptation—such a potent vehicle for catharsis, particularly among queer audiences?

On Catharsis: Another intellectual feud from Aristotle to Plato and their mental gymnastics.

Plato believed that mimesis - imitation isn’t flattery—it’s deception. Artists and poets as such - are mimesis - just copycats spinning illusions that drag people further from the truth. Mimesis is twice removed from reality. He sees it as emotional manipulation wrapped in pretty—useless for the soul and dangerous for the mind.

Now, the real world? Plato believed that what we see, touch, and feel is basically the shallow end of existence. It’s the realm of change, decay, and confusion. The true reality lives in the World of Forms—unchanging, perfect, intelligible. Everything here is just a fading reflection of that higher, intellectual plane.

That’s where logic and reason come in. For Plato, reason is the tool to escape the fog of appearances. It’s what elevates the soul, guides us toward truth, and anchors knowledge in something stable. Logic isn’t just a method—it’s the lifeline out of ignorance.

Feelings? Distracting. Senses? Unreliable.

Rational thought? The only thing worthy of trust.

In short, Plato builds a whole worldview on this: reality is not what it seems, beauty and art are suspect, and reason is your only hope of accessing truth. He’s not here for chaos, vibes, or pretty lies—he wants order, clarity, and a soul that knows better. This obviously isn’t very Brat.

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As all great students are, Aristotle come up with these concepts to refute his teacher, Plato.

1. Catharsis (κάθαρσις): Aristotle's term for the purification or purgation of emotions through vicarious suffering.¹ This concept directly challenged his teacher Plato's view. Plato distrusted poetry and drama. He believed they aroused irrational emotions. He feared they would corrupt logical thinking. Aristotle disagreed. He saw emotional engagement as valuable. He believed aesthetic experiences could regulate feelings rather than inflame them.

2. Pity and Fear: The specific emotions Aristotle identified as central to tragic catharsis. ² Pity arises from witnessing undeserved suffering. Fear emerges from recognizing that similar misfortunes could befall ourselves.

3. Aesthetic Distance: Thomas Scheff's modern concept describing the balance between emotional engagement and cognitive awareness that enables effective catharsis.³ Too much distance prevents emotional involvement. Too little overwhelms the viewer.

4. Peripeteia: The reversal of fortune in Aristotelian dramatic structure.⁴

5. Anagnorisis: The moment of critical discovery or recognition.⁵

6. Hamartia: The tragic error or flaw that contributes to the protagonist's downfall.⁶

Narrative Architecture and Emotional Engineering

Wicked presents a sophisticated adaptation of Aristotelian tragic structure. Elphaba's green skin immediately establishes her as an outsider. The narrative positions audiences to experience pity through her undeserved marginalization. The opening number frames the central question: "Are people born wicked, or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?"⁷This directly engages the Aristotelian concern with determinism versus agency.

"Defying Gravity" functions as the peripeteia. Elphaba's discovery of the Wizard's deception represents her anagnorisis: "I can't believe you would sink so low... You lied to me!"⁸ This recognition transforms her understanding of her world. When she declares, "It's time to try defying gravity," she explicitly rejects societal constraints.

"No Good Deed" reveals Elphaba's hamartia—her inability to distinguish effective moral action from self-destructive rebellion. Her desperate lyrics reveal profound self-doubt: "Was I really seeking good, or just seeking attention?"⁹ This self-questioning brings audiences to the emotional precipice necessary for catharsis.

Queering Catharsis: Identity and Theological Dimensions

Wicked for good trailer.

The cathartic potential of Wicked manifests intensely among queer audiences. Stacy Wolf observes, "The metaphor of greenness works effectively as a stand-in for any kind of difference, but especially for sexuality, because it is simultaneously visible and invisible, both essential and constructed."¹⁰ This duality mirrors queer identity—intrinsic to self-understanding yet subjected to social interpretation.

Michelle Boyd argues that Wicked presents a narrative that echoes LGBTQ+ coming-out experiences.¹¹ For queer audience members, witnessing Elphaba's transformation offers a cathartic processing of similar emotional journeys.

This queer reception reveals theological dimensions of catharsis. The process functions as secular ritual providing spiritual healing. Wicked performs a quasi-theological function. It offers redemptive narratives to those excluded from traditional religious frameworks. The relationship between Elphaba and Glinda creates another site of identification. Wolf notes that their relationship "exceeds both heterosexual romance and conventional female friendship."¹² Their duet "For Good" creates recognition for relationships that transcend conventional categories.

Audience testimonials support these distinctive cathartic experiences. One respondent described "a full-body emotional release."¹³ Another noted that seeing Elphaba's transformation "felt like watching my own journey performed back to me."¹⁴ These embodied experiences connect directly to catharsis as spiritual cleansing.

Media transformations and communal dimensions

The cathartic experience extends beyond individual reception. It creates collective emotional processing across different media contexts. Theatrical viewings facilitate immediate collective catharsis through physical co-presence. Jill Dolan observes, "The communal aspect of theater-going intensifies emotional responses through shared attention and visible reactions."¹⁵ This communal dimension evokes Greek tragedy's original context. Those performances formed part of religious festivals. Catharsis functioned as collective spiritual experience. Today's "theater kids" represent a modern parallel to these ancient religious communities.

The cinematic adaptation alters but doesn't eliminate this communal dimension. Film screenings still feature collective viewing. Cinematic techniques provide distinctive cathartic opportunities. Close-ups create what Mary Ann Doane describes as "affective proximity" that potentially intensifies identification.¹⁶

Conclude

Wicked success demonstrates how aesthetic processing fulfills vital psychological, social, and quasi-spiritual functions. The narrative engages complex feelings within structured contexts. It makes difficult emotions manageable. It transforms social alienation into collective recognition. By examining how Wicked creates cathartic experiences specific to contemporary concerns while employing time-tested narrative structures, I do see how we can gain insight into both the persistence of fundamental human emotional needs and the evolving aesthetic forms through which those needs find expression in this highly post-religious/ spiritual world.

TLDR: Wicked is the new religion, and Plato would have hated it.

my dearest thanks to a theatre kid that help me noticing this huge chunk of queer culture (haters would said tism): https://www.instagram.com/swansong_dust

1. Aristotle, *Poetics*, trans. Malcolm Heath (London: Penguin Books, 1996), 10.

2. Aristotle, *Poetics*, 21.

3. Thomas J. Scheff, *Catharsis in Healing, Ritual, and Drama* (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979), 45.

4. Stephen Halliwell, *Aristotle's Poetics* (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986), 170.

5. Halliwell, *Aristotle's Poetics*, 171.

6. Elizabeth S. Belfiore, *Tragic Pleasures: Aristotle on Plot and Emotion* (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992), 176.

7. Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, *Wicked* (Musical Book), based on the novel by Gregory Maguire (New York: Hal Leonard, 2003), 5.

8. Schwartz and Holzman, *Wicked*, 65.

9. Schwartz and Holzman, *Wicked*, 98.

10. Stacy Wolf, "Defying Gravity: Queer Conventions in the Musical Wicked," *Theatre Journal* 60, no. 1 (2008): 5.

11. Michelle Boyd, "Alto on a Broomstick: Voicing the Witch in the Musical Wicked" (PhD diss., University of Michigan, 2010), 165.

12. Wolf, "Defying Gravity," 9.

13. Laura MacDonald and William A. Everett, eds., *The Cambridge Companion to the Musical* (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 323.

14. MacDonald and Everett, *The Cambridge Companion to the Musical*, 324.

15. Jill Dolan, *Utopia in Performance: Finding Hope at the Theater* (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2005), 87.

16. Mary Ann Doane, "The Close-Up: Scale and Detail in the Cinema," *Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies* 14, no. 3 (2003): 90.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​