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Death in Venice, Thomas Mann: Context and Critical Questions

This document provides context and critical questions about Thomas Mann's novella "Death in Venice". It discusses Mann being influenced by Nietzsche and focusing on themes of decadence and decline. It analyzes interpretations of the story from Freudian and Nietzschean perspectives. It outlines Aschenbach's transformation and deterioration in Venice in psychoanalytic terms. Finally, it compares Mann, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche's views on beauty, the ideal, and the Apollonian and Dionysian.

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91 views12 pages

Death in Venice, Thomas Mann: Context and Critical Questions

This document provides context and critical questions about Thomas Mann's novella "Death in Venice". It discusses Mann being influenced by Nietzsche and focusing on themes of decadence and decline. It analyzes interpretations of the story from Freudian and Nietzschean perspectives. It outlines Aschenbach's transformation and deterioration in Venice in psychoanalytic terms. Finally, it compares Mann, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche's views on beauty, the ideal, and the Apollonian and Dionysian.

Uploaded by

mahlo
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Death in Venice,

Thomas Mann
Context and Critical Questions

HU400: Great Works of the Modern Era, Professor Paul Pelan, Spring 2018
Introduction
Is Aschenbach moral or immoral? Why/why not?
Do you think Mann wants you to pity or revile Aschenbach?
• In contrast to naturalist writers, Mann's precision is psychological,
rather than physical.
• Mann influenced by philosophy of Nietzsche, who claimed to be a
great authority on the subject of decadence a topic Mann's works
focus almost exclusively on this topic, along with degeneracy and the
decline of greatness.
Interpretations of Mann’s Death in Venice

Freudian Psychoanalytic Theory and Schopenhauer/Nietzschean

• Freudian: will tend to see the beautiful boy in the novella,


Tadzio, as an object for repressed homosexual desires in the
protagonist, Aschenbach.

• Schopenhauer/Nietzschean: will tend to see Tadzio as a figure


symbolizing aesthetic beauty as an abstract ideal.
Transformation of Gustov von Aschenback
Stages in Aschenbach’s Psychoanalytical explanation Environment
self-destruction

Distinguished, reserved, Super-ego-control of self Munich


cerebral, hard-working,
Relaxation from duties; Relaxation of super-ego-control of self Venice: Seductive and beautiful
enjoys leisure time
Secret and distant Introduction of prohibited desires; replacement of Venice: Oppressive heat
appreciation Tadzio ego-instincts with object-instincts; Idealization of
Tadzio

Obsession with the Invasion of prohibited desires; desire of Idealized Venice: Putrid, rotting, stinking
beauty of Tadzio Object; breakdown of super-ego-control of self and infected (Cholera)

Artificial attempt to regain Pathological identification with Idealized Object. Venice: Artificial attempt to
youth; cosmetic make- Unrestrained reveling in prohibited desires. conceal Cholera; cosmetic make-
over, de-masculinization Breakdown of reality-principle. Disregard of over (soaking the streets in
external dangers. Breakdown of ego control of self disinfectants)
replaced by ID control of self.
Obsession with the Ideal
Contemplation of Male Beauty in
Classical Western Art
Apollo Belvedere Michelangelo’s David
Tadzio as a Symbol of Ideal Beauty
SCHOPENHAUER NIETZSCHE MANN
Objectification of the Will in the There is not an ideal; no Platonic Idea of Tadzio: the Objectification of the
timeless and disinterested Idea. Beauty as such. Correlatively, there is no Schopenhauerian will in the timeless
Produces the disinterested subject: pure disinterested subject. Idea; represents perfect human form
and will-less, contemplating essences and timeless beauty. The aesthetic
object par excellence.

Objectification of the will in concerns of Apollo: the form-giving power in Art; Aschenbach-the-artist: striving to
everyday life: self-preservation, desires, the structural and intellectual principle. attain the Ideal, the timeless beauty of
and vanities. Produces the interested State of mind: Vision dream, and Tadzio. However, Tadzio as intrinsically
subject, engaged in futile mundane imagery. perfect is contrasted to
projects. Dionysus: the life giving power in Art; Aschenbach’s purely intellectual,
the material and inspirational principle.  Apollonian art, cumbersomely
State of mind: Excess, intoxication, and constructed, without any element
debauchery. Music as medium of Dionysian excess.

Aschenbach-the degenerate: drawback
by his primitive cravings; abandons
himself to Dionysian excesses, without
any element of  Apollonian restraint.

The Will; blind impulse; inaccessible as No will; no thing-in-itself


thing-in-itself
Discussion Questions
1. What was your initial perception of Aschenbach -- both as a writer and as a man -- and did that perception change as the
story progressed?
2. In what ways does Aschenbach embody both his father's "sober, conscientious nature" and the "darker, more fiery
impulses" (pg 12) of his mother?
3.
Other than physical beauty, what is it about Tadzio that attracts the interest of Aschenbach? Is the attraction merely
sexual in nature, or does Tadzio represent something more to Aschenbach?
4.
Is it possible to have a relationship with someone by sight only, as Aschenbach believes in regard to himself and Tadzio
(with whom he never speaks directly)? Does Aschenbach imagine Tadzio's returned interest?
5.
How does Aschenbach's fervent interest in learning the truth about the cholera outbreak mirror his obsession with
Tadzio?
6.
Why does Aschenbach decide to stay in Venice despite the risk of contracting cholera, a disease that is often fatal?
7.
How do you interpret the story's ending?
8.
What, in your opinion, is the message Mann is conveying in Death in Venice?

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