Death in Venice by Thomas Mann and The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich Nietzsche - Essay Example

Comparative Literature Death in Venice by Thomas Mann and The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich Nietzsche share similarities and differences based on their structures and themes. For instance, Death of Venice narrates about a suffering writer, who goes to Venice for a break from all the activities he has engage in. While in Venice, he gets liberated, uplifted and obsessed with a young boy and the whole scene makes him develop a passion for the boy. As a result of the passion, he succumbs to cholera plague and dies at the beach (Astrachan, 58-78). On the other hand, Birth of Tragedy is an account of the psychological motives that pushed the creation and modification of Greek drama (Inman 4-8). The Birth of Tragedy tried to understand the dynamic process of human creativity and realize what transpired the changes in the Greek society (Thomas 77). From the above short description of Death in Venice and The Birth of Tragedy, both works has the theme of suffering as the central focus. Therefore, the remaining part of the essay will discuss how the two works of literature has portrayed or discussed the theme of suffering. In The Birth of Tragedy, there is suffering among the Greeks. Nietzsche understand the Greeks from a personal level since he believed Greeks were sensitive people making them have troubles reconciling with suffering world (Thomas 77). The Greeks experienced too much suffering making them decide to create other gods such as Olympian gods as one of the ways to solve their problem of suffering. Greeks believed gods would help them overcome their daily suffering because they believed gods relieves people from their ordeals. They also found inspiration from the success stories of Apollonian since he has helped some meet and overcome their daily challenges such as those experienced by the Greeks. Despite the Greeks suffering and creating of gods to relieve them, they never found way out since Olympia gods did not bring rescue to them. Apollo also influenced and made them aware that dark forces controlled their destiny despite the beautiful surrounding with all manner of creations. (Bernard 99). The Olympian gods of the Greeks resembled Apollonian appearance but was not there to satisfy their soles making them resort to other means. The Birth of Tragedy also depicts suffering through Dionysus who offered a salvation through absorbing people onto a great community of the unconscious (Bernhard 99). Similarly, Nietzsche states that there are some places or points where people found deliverances from their fate. He believes suffering affects those who thinks they are alone and not to consider the existence (Thomas 77). This notion was evident when Dionysus removed the evil on men’s eyes and showed them dark chaos sitting in their hearts. From the description, those who don’t believe that others are there for them seem to undergo suffering as opposed to those who want to get help from others and tell people about their state. Dionysus helps relieve suffering on some men who has sought help from him. Because of such attempts that led to relive, Dionysus believed that those who accept others should not suffer because they get help and overcome their suffering unlike those who stay calm. Therefore, The Birth of Tragedy seeks to outline how suffering manifest itself upon individuals and how it can be overcome. On the other hand, Mann depicts suffering in Death of Venice in many occasions where gods exists. For instance, Aschenbach went to Apollo after denying the powers of Dionysus. Dionysus was depicted as the god of unreason and passion in The Birth of Tragedy (Bernhard 99). Aschenbach believes the gods followed him and they made him suffer as they also had the intention of destroying him. There was also a red-haired man who kept on crossing his path and portrayed different characters making him suffer. Aschenbach guesses the red-haired man is the figure of Silenus who also inflicted suffering in The Birth of Tragedy. Besides suffering in Death in Venice due to psychological disturbance of the protagonist, when he wanted to young boy he had met before, he also suffered due to the passion he had making him walk all over the city searching for the boy until he meets his death. In other instances, Death in Venice has showed many incidences when the narrator suffered in personal capacity as well as in the group. For instance, there are cases when Aschenbach lived in extreme ascetic life and dashed himself cold water to enable him wake up and continue with his work of writing. He did not enjoy all these duties he carried on but was forced the circumstance which made him suffer. Additionally, he did not have close relationship in terms of friends and other companions hence stayed lonely most of the time. When he was still young, he kept on sickening making him live and spend the rest of his life in this solitude resulting to continuous suffering. The narrator’s personal life in Death in Venice portrays an individual whose life is marked by suffering with little to enjoy. It all began when his wife died leaving him alone and marking a journey of subsequent suffering (Astrachan 58). In Death in Venice, the writer suffers from low self esteem. He does not believe in himself but instead admires the body of others and how they portray themselves. There are a number of cases when the writer has felt sorry for himself considering his life and body and comparing with the other person. For instance, the writer was influenced to take train to Trieste after spotting a strange tourist in Munich (Astrachan 78). After reaching Trieste, he boarded a boat to Adriatic where he went to stay in a resort. His journey was satisfactory only that he did not like the place making him change his mind and embark on another journey. Through his journey, it is evident that the writer was suffering since he was looking for happiness which he never finds. This makes him to develop low self esteem and loose the morale because he can’t find what is missing in life. While on his trip to Venice, he meets an older man wearing makeup in attempts to appear younger and play with youthful men; a scenario that disgust the narrator. The psychological suffering of the narrator did not end upon reaching Venice, it continued as he began a new chapter. While he was at the hotel that night, he notices a polish family of three girls and a beautiful boy. He was surprised and stacked in the boy’s beauty since it was what he has been admiring over the years. In the next morning, he saw the boy again playing with others in the beach making him to return to his hotel room and look at his wrinkled face and gray hair. From this description, it is evident that Aschenbach was suffering from psychologically torture since he believed he was not as good as others he saw and felt he was very old. Similarly, the oppressive humidity caused his suffering as feverish attacked him when he went to Venice on that afternoon. He then decides to leave Venice permanently by trying to catch up the next day’s train before misplacing his luggage. However, his plans never materialized when he went back to the hotel and saw the young boy, Tadzio, play in the beach. He became glued to this young boy since he could see him whenever he was in the hotel and it was the only scene that brought him happiness. The Death in Venice has used this episode to describe a situation which brought psychological suffering since the writer was stuck and pleased with allusion which was not there for him. He was ready to undergo all manner of suffering and loose his belonging for the sake of the young boy who he had not contacted. In the Death in Venice, the narration shows suffering when Aschenbach decides to stay out even after confirming a cholera outbreak and many visitors leaving the hotel (Astrachan 78). He was not remaining because he liked but because he wanted to stay next and where he can see the young boy. He agreed to undergo any form of suffering in the city just to have an opportunity of watching the boy. Because of his love for the young boy, he began trailing the boy and his family. He continued with the trail until the boy realized of this motive. However, the boy never informed his parents on realizing that Aschenbach was after them. He kept this for himself until the Aschenbach died of cholera when the world stunned to hear of his demise. From all these, it is clear that passion for love caused the death of Aschenbach. He was unshaken even after realizing the outbreak of cholera because he did not want to lose someone he had developed love for and whom he admired so much. He knew he would soon die and the young boy would follow him as they were like Socrates and Tadzio as Phaedrus in the Greek platonic ideal. The scenes of suffering does not end with the narration of Death in Venice, Birth of Tragedy also has cases of suffering. For instance, Nietzsche tells the story of King Midas who went to Silenus to inquire what is best for a man (Bernhard 99). This question is an indication on the extent in which many people are experiencing suffering and wants to relieve themselves hence attempting ways of overcoming through asking questions. Although the King questioned what is best for him as a man, Silenus did not expect such a question to come from him or did not want him to hear about the answer. Hence, the answer he gave is that one has to die in order to see the best. According to Silenus, the ancient world is a rough place full of war and with incurable illness as well as un-assured laws beyond the individual boundaries. Further, Silenus stated that there are forces which pushes individual to unknown direction making them succumb to suffering and all the ill in the world. Therefore, The Birth of Tragedy portrays how the Greeks feared and experienced suffering making them resort to different ways of knowing how to overcome their fears and suffering (Bernhard 99). Kings don’t always seek intervention to succumb suffering as portrayed in the narration but this seems to be beyond him making him resort to different ways of overcoming it. In The Birth of Tragedy, Greeks are portrayed as suffering people who resort to create Olympian gods to offer them redemption. Nietzsche believes that the creation of Olympian gods saved the Greeks from the suffering they were undergoing as it offered them relief (Inman 7). Besides, suffering that Greeks underwent made them resort and develop ways of overcoming the suffering as they came to be associated with it. Therefore, The Birth of Tragedy tries to tell how suffering pushed the Greeks to create gods such as the Olympians. In conclusion, suffering and death is the main theme in the birth of tragedy and Death in Venice. Both works have developed the theme by crating n environment characterized by suffering. In The Birth of Tragedy, the narrator has told how the Greeks suffered and how they overcame their sufferings. One of the ways was through creating Olympian gods to make them succumb the ordeal they experienced. Similarly, some Greeks went to Apollo after denying the powers of Dionysus since they believed he was more superior and relieved suffering of many. However, the gods believed that only those who isolated themselves were suffering and those who seek and shared their suffering found reprieve. On the other hand, Death in Venice has cases of suffering when the writer went to Venice and started undergoing mental torture in search of the young boy. His ultimate passion for the young boy made him suffer and die from cholera even after being warned of the epidemic. There are also other scenarios where suffering is portrayed in the Death in Venice and the author has used the main protagonist to develop the theme. Works Cited Andre Von Gronika. "Myth Plus Psychology: A Style Analysis of Death in Venice." In Death in Venice (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1994), 118. Astrachan, Gary. Dionysos in Thomas Mann Novella, ‘Death in Venice’. Journal of Analytical psychology. 35(1990), 59-78 Bernhard Frank. "Manns Death in Venice." The Explicator 64.2 (2006): 99. Inman, Timothy. The Birth of Tragedy by Nietzsche: Summary & Analysis.2003. Web. 2014. Thomas L. Jeffers. "God, Man, the Devil--and Thomas Mann." Commentary 120.4 (2005): 77 Read More