Like Venice

VeniceThomas Mann’s protagonist, Aschenbach, from his novel Death in Venice not only takes a physical journey from Germany to Venice, but also an emotional transition from a bridled and controlled man to a wildly passionate individual. The stories setting in Venice holds significance in that Venice embodies the seductive south which is in total opposition to Aschenbach’s harsh homeland of Germany. It can even be said that Venice is a representation of Aschenbach himself, and vise versa.

Venice stands out for its ability to reside over a lagoon, built and preserved by the mere will of man against the power of nature. Similar to Venice’s strength, Aschenbach believes that art is the victory of the determination over physical necessities and reverting to natural human instincts. Aschenbach explains that within both his life and his writing, powerful things are only able to be in existence if they defy hardship, fragility, distress,and fraudulence. For Aschenbach, art triumphs over all of these torments, just as Venice maintains itself over the wavering instability of nature below it. Aschenbach believes that he has achieved such successes with his writing.

On the contrary, despite its outer appearance of strength, Venice is sinking slowly into the murky marshes. One may also argue that the same is happening to Aschenbach as he falls prey to his sexual feelings toward Tadzio. As he tries to convince himself that his feelings toward Tadzio are purely intellectual, Aschenbach finally surrenders to his passion for the boy. Aschenbach releases all of his morals and his dignity, and gives in to desire.

The parallels of Venice and Aschenbach’s personality emphasize the transformation Aschenbach makes from being a clam and level headed being to giving in to natural impulses. Venice as the setting stresses this alteration and adds to the level of understanding the reader is able to pull from the similarities. Mann utilizes Venice as a tool to better demonstrate the nature of Aschenbach’s emotional journey from controlled to passionately unwound