Symbolism and Polarization in Death in Venice by Thomas Mann - Essay Example

? Number] Symbolism and Polarization in ‘Death in Venice’ by Thomas Mann Death in Venice seems to be a simple and straight-forward novel about Gustav von Aschenbach, who is the protagonist of the story. It was written by Thomas Mann about a century ago. It may seem hard to relate it to the society and culture of today; however, the most important thing about the story is its outline, which is centred on repression, obsession and passion. Though anyone who has not read the novel will think it is another story of homoeroticism, yet it has much more to it. It is known as one of the richest novels in terms of symbolism; it is hard to deny this is a masterpiece which will never be written again. The author has also described phases of old age, obsession and solemnity, which profoundly represent the wealth and class of the main character and how he rejects his own self because of his respectable and wealthy status. The main character of Gustav von Aschenbach is a prototype of a fussy, aged German writer who is a highly disciplined, respectable and dignified man. He is a complicated and complex person. He is a wealthy and honourable man in the society and is well known in his profession. He sets out to travel to Venice after his experience in the city’s famed English gardens. He experiences terror and horror when he encounters a ghostly appearing figure. He wishes to go to Venice, which is known as the city of beauty and romance, but surprisingly enough becomes a creepy and sinister place for the protagonist (Mann 35). The depiction of Venice is itself a representation of class and culture in the novel, which also relates to the Mann’s class of being an educational writer visiting countries for his personal satisfaction. The novel represents the class and wealth in many ways. The way the writer has created a great piece of literature with the discussion and explanation of some amazing scenes and expressions in the novel has made it one of the best novels of its time. There are many authors and professionals who have considered this book as a representation of their work. This novel would give many aspects to the reader to think about, starting with its extreme sustainability in the character’s personality to the representation of wealth, class and society. His fame and wealth lead him to live a life respectable and dignified until he falls into the biggest trap of his life. He fights with himself and just because of his respect he lets go on some of his own desires. He knew that as his respect falls in people’s eyes, his status and wealth will both go away from him and it will ruin all his life, and with it he could not afford to play. Many other great literature works were published during that time period; some managed to show the essence of age, for example, Heart of Darkness. The story was representing the ages of man and the art in their life, but it did not solely relate to the artistic purpose; in fact it represented the age, the wealth, the fame that came with age, and the life from three different points of view. Notes from Underground is another publication of that time which showed the culture and the revolution. It was a great piece of literature and was subjected to classicism just like the Death in Venice was written representing the classism of the culture and symbolism. It also included the elements of obsession, passion, art and a full retreat of the society (O’ Hehir 11). Though many literature works were published during that time, the masterpieces were those which represented wealth, class and culture. Thomas Mann and other writers wrote much about the class of great artists and gave their novels a very artistic approach to enable them to relate to the society in which there was fame, money and class. These books were usually written in fiction, and portrayed a great message for the readers to learn and open their minds. The work of Thomas Mann related very closely to his own life. His novel and his main character described what he was. He based his novel on homosexuality and the obsession of an old man with a young Polish boy. Aschenbach writes about his dream, his desires, his art, his obsession with the boy, and his admiration for the city of Venice. He represents the classicism through his art and the ways he describes his dreams and desires. However, the story revolves around the principle of his character and his personality. It revolves around his class and wealth, and his indubitable obsession about the young boy, which has led down to his loneliness. He knew he could not give up his wealth and respect for his unusual obsession, and thus led an extremely complicated and lonely life, running after his desires in the light of truth. The story of Thomas Mann was principally based on the problem of the artist’s dignity. Although these ideas can never be represented by a single thought, there are many other directions to this writing and these conclusions. However, the most appropriate suggesting remains the dignity and respectable personality of the artist that was on stake. The author has been considered to have been facing the homoerotic feelings throughout his life and had found many creative impulses in them even though he knew and thought them to be dangerous and destructive for his personality, image and dignity. Even after accepting them as his own, he could not live the life of his choice, since he was packed in the status that he had in the society. He knew that if it is destructive for his image, it will have an impact on his wealth. The Turn of the Screw was another writing published at that time. It related to the Death in Venice as it described the story of a mansion where ghosts exist. It has been one of the best ghost stories of its time. Thomas Mann also gave a representation of ghostly figures in the beginning of the novel. The Old Man and the Sea is another great story of that time that won a noble prize. It was written by Ernest Hemingway and was about an old man struggling and fighting for his desires. It may have not portrayed the old man to be wealthy and famous but it did show the struggle that was not affected by age. Though these stories were shorter than Death in Venice, they related to the society and portrayed the same kind of literature (Donaldson 13). The initial publications of the book consisted of three separate forms and had received over forty reviews in two years. Many authors of that time read the series and gave their remarks. These remarks have been categorized into many parts according to many different perspectives offered in the reviews; as said earlier, the story enables readers to form their own points of view in relation to the story. The first set of reviews was made on the literature of the novel, which resulted in attacks made on the hero or the author. This was because of the conflicting views they had in interpreting the story, which was meant to have its own perspective. These disputes were put forward by many authors of that time; the first dispute was put up by the Australian novelist Hermann Broch. He defended Thomas Mann against the charge of philistinism. Other such literary disputes were made by two of his relatives, Hedwig Dohm and Heinrich. The second set of reviews contained the opposition towards the concept of homoeroticism in relation to the class and the culture. They argued concerning the author’s use of words and explanation of the deep feeling that von Aschenbach had developed for the young Polish boy. This is where the novel was accused of representing the class and the culture of the character, when Thomas Mann actually did show a number of scenes where class was represented. The most important is the fact that the old writer did not choose the life he wanted to. These reviews were made by the most prominent critic Alfred Kerr. These aspects of the novel were also quoted to be highly symbolic and true depiction of the idealistic concepts of love, sex and Eros. The third party of author’s reviews well focused on the style and structure in which the story has been narrated. Albert Ehrenstein had reviewed the novel in the expressionist journal Der Strum. He referred to the novel as being more of a Platonic monologue, which was far from being just an autobiography of the writer’s own development. The fourth set of reviews contained the critics of the biological and aesthetic aspects that the author has used in order to portray the arts and the artists. Lastly, few of the reviews were regarding the other themes used and a combination of the ones that have been already mentioned above. These reviews surprised Mann and yet he responded to all the concerned. The depiction of arts shows the symbolism and the representation of class and culture in the novel. The author has written a beautiful account that can be related to the various concepts of symbolism and imaginations (Shookman 32). In the view of medical humanity, this novel has been greatly authorized as a representation of the relation of arts and science. The writer has already shown the class by the involvement of the description of Venice and the characteristics of the writer. The writer has represented the themes of death and disease in his work, specifically in describing the writer’s old age. And he represented the wealth as explaining the conditions of the writer as he fought with himself and his own obsession. He has combined the framework of the life of an artist and his creativity. He has represented the art and the creativity very closely in his novel. The medical humanities very closely relate to the aging factors to undercut the creation of art, the quest for writing and the bodily disease (English 56). Although the novel is not completely based upon the experiences of aging, it involves an artistic touch in the novel by the struggle of man with his own identity. The writer describes von Aschenbach as a successful writer who has fame, wealth and creativity to explore the entire world of arts and yet he has an obsession and is unfamiliar with the object of his obsession. The story lies in the attraction of the old writer to the beauty of a young boy that he saw and admired. The author allows the readers to think about the situation from their own perspective as to whether the obsession was to be taken too literally, whether it was just a product of his imagination and the deep subconscious mind that he had? This aspect related to the medical humanities showed the relation of the old writer to his old age, his struggle and his dignity. This theme is also related to the sociological aspect as it showed how the old writer respected his dignity even though he had homoerotic feelings all his life. Also, he could not understand his obsession for the young boy. The reader does not have a straightforward view of the principles whether the attraction was too literal or just psychological. Along with the sociological and psychological themes, the writer has portrayed the arts and the artistic purpose of the old man’s journey to Venice and attraction to the young boy (Pizer 78). Thomas Mann’s biography relates to the novel and he is functioned to be the old German writer. He writes in his biography that he was not as famous and wealthy as mentioned in the novel, but he is said to encode his own homosexuality through his novel. Through his biography it becomes clear how the writer did reject his homosexual feelings all his life, but believed that these feelings led him to be artistic and creative. He mentions that his art may be inspired by his homosexual feelings, yet he could never choose the homosexual identity as he knew how wrong it would be for the society, and how society views it to be; and, secondly, he did not adopt the homosexuality to keep up with his own status in the world of literature, arts and education, as he knew that taking up his real identity would mean to lose his respect, and, consequently, his wealth (Jones 65). According to many historic books, this novel has been listed as one of the best description of historic accounts set out. As the novel describes many of the severe expressions such as the obsession, disintegration and the isolation of the artist in the 20th century, it shows how a deep historic context has been used in order to display the truth of the society and the symbolism. The novel has used many of the historic accounts and contexts to be able to attract the reader to that society, culture and class from where the author had come up from. It shows many of the details that represent the class and the wealth of the writer as he travels around the world to explore his art and creativity, finds places with the help of his wealth to travel and follow with his passion, and yet he dies a lonely death. He has fame and wealth but his culture and society do not allow him to adopt characteristics of his own personality in front of the world. Many artists have painted many art works related to the novel Death in Venice. Kaplowitz Jane is one of the painters who painted the scene of Death in Venice. The painting consisted of a scene with an old man in the streets of Venice. The expression shows him to be struggling and tired of his life yet standing with dignity due to the respect of his character. The portrait has been drawn according to the theme of the story, which represents the class of the man and his complex nature and struggle with his own attributes (Kaplowitz). Many other painters had also contributed to the paintings and drawings for the novel including Antonio Zanchi. Among other visual mediums that have been used to portray the novel is the film by Luchino Visconti. He has made a film that perfectly depicted all the characters and the story as well as the expressions. The movie is a masterpiece and does not need any improvement. Once the reader is done with the book, he/she should definitely go for the film. The characters, the narration and the story have been presented in a way that has been loved by the fans. The film has used great screenplay, use of media and advertisements and cinema to represent the contexts in which the film has been written. It has been considered as a delight to all senses, but only if the novel has been read. However, all in all, the novel has been a great representation of many aspects, and no one can decide the central aspect. The old age, the obsession, the art and the touch of class have been among the main elements of the novel. Of these elements, the representation of wealth and class has been shown through the various scenes in which the old writer talks about his dignity and respect. Furthermore, it is clear that the author respects his wealth and does not want to give it away by accepting the truth of his personality in front of the world. The description of the writer’s life, fame, feelings, desires, dreams and journeys clearly represents the importance of wealth and class during that time. Many of the outside sources and the reviews show what the novel is like and how much it has gained as far as sociological, artistic, psychological and cultural viewpoints are concerned. All this is what has made it a masterpiece of its own time. Works Cited Mann, Thomas. Death in Venice. Germany: Dover Publications, 1995. Print. Donaldson, Scott. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. Oregon: Powell’s City of Books, 1998. Print. English, Davis. Understanding Aging: A Medical Humanities Approach to ‘Death in Venice’. California: Berkeley Undergraduate Journal, 2008. Print. Jones, James. Mann, Thomas. IL: New England Publishing Associates, 2002. Print. Kaplowitz, Jane. Death in Venice # 1. New Image Painting, 1996. Painting. O’ Hehir, Andrew. Just How Gay is Death in Venice. Oregon: Powell’s City of Books, 2004. Print. Pizer, John. From a Death in Venice to a Death in Rome: On Wolfgang Koeppen’s Critical Ironization of Thomas Mann. NY: Taylor & Francis, 2010. Print. Shookman, Ellis. Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice: A Novella and Its Critics. USA: Camden House, 2003. Print. Read More