Preview

Discuss Thomas Mann's major thematic concerns in Death in venice

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3719 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Discuss Thomas Mann's major thematic concerns in Death in venice
Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice
Death in Venice (1912) is a novella by Thomas Mann. It is the story of Gustave von Aschenbach, a successful German writer, who has lived a life of personal discipline and dedication to his art. He is a renowned novelist, who has devoted intense effort toward having a successful career as a writer. He lives a solitary life. His wife is dead, his daughter is married.
One day, Aschenbach takes a walk from his home in Munich to a park that leads to a cemetery. As he is waiting for a streetcar to take him back home, he becomes aware of a tall stranger who is watching him from the chapel in the cemetery. The stranger seems to be staring at him, and has an expression of hostility.
Aschenbach feels a desire to leave the cold spring climate of Munich, and to travel to the warmer climate of the south. He takes a train to Trieste, where he stays for only a day, and then continues his journey. He travels to an island resort in the Adriatic, where he stays for ten days, before leaving on a ship for Venice.
On the ship, the passengers include a group of young clerks, among whom is an old man wearing a wig and false teeth, who is dressed in the clothes of a dandy. The old man is making a ridiculous and ghastly attempt to appear as a younger man. As the ship arrives in Venice, the young-old man says a drunken farewell to Aschenbach, who ignores him.
Aschenbach boards a gondola, but discovers that the gondolier is taking him out to sea, instead of toward the city. The gondolier, in fact, resembles the stranger at the cemetery in Munich, and the gondola resembles a black coffin, and thus the voyage in the gondola becomes symbolic of the journey of life toward death.
The gondolier explains to Aschenbach that a vaporetto will not carry luggage from the steamboat landing, so the gondolier instead takes him to another landing. Aschenbach’s luggage is unloaded from the gondola at the landing, but the gondolier leaves suddenly, because he does not have



Bibliography: Mann, Thomas, Der Tod in Wenedig, 1912; trans, H. T. Lowe-Porter, Death in Venice, Penguin, 1928.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Meyer, Michael. "Killings." The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. Ninth ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin 's, 2012. 96-108. Print.…

    • 1137 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout Mann’s novella, Death in Venice, it is apparent that Aschenbach is an unusual man. From the beginning, we see an unhealthy obsession form as Ashenbach begins to desire a young boy while vacationing. This situation, made worse by what he believes to be the boys reciprocation, Aschenbach’s behavior becomes more and more reckless and comes closer to giving over to his desire. This woeful tale reveals an interesting interpretation of Freud’s theory on the psyche as Aschenbach struggles with his id, ego, and superego.…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The plot begins with two men, one of which is Mr. Utterson, the narrator. They begin to discuss an appalling story of an unsightly man who had trampled over a young child, leaving the child mangled and frightened. The man “wasn’t like a man; it was…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Death in Venice” starts with the author, Thomas Mann, introducing Aschenbach, an honorable, rational and well thought out older man who lives in Germany. All Aschenbach wants to do is become successful in his field of work, writing. As a young child, Aschenbach was raised to be a successful, fundamental and polite person, creating apollonian like qualities within him. But as the book goes on, Aschenbach’s apollonian like qualities seem to dissipate, leading this careful, fundamental person to a sudden death.…

    • 371 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The overall theme of this story is the acceptance of aging and the passing of time. The passage of time throughout the story has a relentless hold on White, he struggles throughout as reality becomes harder and harder for him to grasp. The author incorporates many literary devices which add to his overall vivid descriptions and comparisons, a few which include: imagery, tone, and symbolism. By these techniques the narrator is able to set the reader’s imagination on fire! Throughout this literary work detailed comparisons are blended in as he remembers his own vacation to the lake as a young boy. These comparisons make it hard for him to face the fact that he has aged very much since that time. The feelings and emotions these reincarnated memories create bring about sensations of a “dual existence” (25) in White.…

    • 1092 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Nun of a Different Cloth

    • 1584 Words
    • 7 Pages

    References: Baym, N., Franklin, W., Gura, P., Klinkowitz, J., Krupat, A., Levine, R., et al. (2008). The norton anthology of american literature. New York: W.M. Norton & Company, Inc.…

    • 1584 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Literature 1865-1912

    • 1225 Words
    • 5 Pages

    References: Reesman, J., & Krupat, A. (2008). The norton anthology: American literature . (7th ed., Vol. 2 p.…

    • 1225 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Cited: McMurtry, Larry. “In a Narrow Grave.” New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc. 2006. Kindle…

    • 1815 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Malin, Irwing. Books Abroad. Vol. 39. No.2. Spring 1965. Rpt. In Twentieth Century Literary Criticism. Vol. 34. Detroit: Gale, 1988. Print.…

    • 1759 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Thirty Years War

    • 1656 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The thirty year old war which began in 1618 because of deep religious divide that was in Germany and other parts of Western Europe came to abrupt end at the Peace of Westphalia, signed in 1648. The three main reasons of war are: Protestants and Catholics rivalry within the Roman Empire, the Bourbon–Habsburg conflict for European supremacy and disputes between France and Habsburg. The thirty year war is considered as the ugliest war of Europe which had a huge human cost impacted Germany in a big way. The after effect of the long drawn war included extermination of productive German population, crops were damaged and communicable diseases swelled in the continent and German economy went down under.…

    • 1656 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Cited: Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature Eighth Edition. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martins, 2008. Print.…

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the play The Merchant of Venice Shylock, a rich Jewish moneylender in Venice agrees to loan Bassanio three thousand ducats on Antonio’s guarantee. Shylock is made to be the villain in the Merchant of Venice because of some of the things he does. But even though he may not have been the only one in the wrong, he is still guilty of the deadly sins of, avarice, envy, and wrath.…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    All communities run successfully with qualities of fairness and equality. The well-being of the citizens depends on the support and guidance they receive from those with power and influence in their society. When the people become corrupt and start having intentions that do not contribute back to the community, the society will fall apart and be unable to maintain balance and stability. In William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible the reader sees examples of injustice inflicted on the victims within the plays through the people with power within the community. The Christians in The Merchant of Venice mock Shylock the Jew countless times while the high court in The Crucible believe citizens are practicing witchcraft without a proper testimony. In both situations, the Christians and the court see themselves doing the right thing and believe they are contributing to the society when in reality, they break apart the community by persecuting those that are different. The victims in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible suffer from injustice as power being placed in the wrong hands leads to the formation of biased decision, the limited free will of citizens and severe punishments.…

    • 1684 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    [6] Alan Farmer (2002), An introduction to Modern European History, 1890 – 1990 p.212, Hodder education…

    • 1851 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    [10] Catherwood, Christofer. The Flawed Genius of World War II. London: The Barkley Publishing Group, 2009, 83…

    • 2259 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Best Essays

Related Topics