Introduction
In his essay, we shall analyze two novellas: “Death in Venice” by Thomas Mann and “Therese Raquin” by Emile Zola. Both these novels tackle unconventional and controversial topics, “Death in Venice” hints at homosexuality while “Therese Raquin” deals with adultery and murder. Although these novels were written in different periods and have different settings and tackle different subjects, both of them have a dark, gloomy, and morbid background which eventually leads to death.
Analysis Death in Venice
Death in Venice tells the story of the obsessive infatuation of an old, successful writer, Gustav von Aschenbach, for a young Polish boy. In the beginning, Aschenbach is seen as an old, disciplined person who has lived a severe life and exercised great restraint even in his youth. Suffering from writer’s block, he decides to go on vacation after seeing a red-haired foreigner outside a cemetery. While in Venice, he sees a young Polish boy and is struck by his perfect beauty. As the story progresses, he becomes more and more obsessed with this young boy, named Tadzio and it results in the quick decline of his morals. As he descends into the depths of passion for Tadzio, we see the decay setting in, until it results in his death.
The theme of death and decay is constant throughout the story and the reader is reminded of it at every stage of Aschenbach’s journey to his ultimate death. In the very opening scene, Aschenbach is standing in front of a mortuary chapel that has “inscriptions concerning the afterlife”. In the second chapter, which deals with Aschenbach’s biography and outlines his character, we learn that he has suffered from ill-health all his life and it is his sheer willpower and discipline which has helped him be so productive.
As the story progresses, Aschenbach goes on a holiday, first to an Adriatic island, where “heavy rain and an oppressive atmosphere” distresses him enough to start looking for an alternative destination and finally decides to go to the “romantically different” Venice. The thematic decay of the story returns as Aschenbach steps on the Italian ship going to Venice. The ship was “stricken with years, outmoded, serene, and somber”. The man who ushers him into the ship is a “humpbacked and dirty sailor”. The man who writes his ticket uses “blue sand” to blot the ink, suggesting that it has been used and reused some times. Also, the ship is not doing much business since “there was nobody else around who needed a ticket”. All these references to an old and dying ship which is perhaps in its last few years of service before being decommissioned add to the theme of death and decay. On the ship, he observes an old man masquerading as a young boy and is disgusted. We realize the importance of this encounter later but just like the ship, this old man is also perhaps trying to forget his age and hide from certain death. Thomas Mann adds to this somber atmosphere by referring to the grey sky and the “barren sea” and the “empty, measureless space”.
Aschenbach’s first glimpse of Venice is another sign of a dark story that is about to unfold since ‘the sky and sea remained cloudy and laden” and the ship comes to rest “in full view of poor and gaudy houses. This is in striking contrast to his previous visits when the “city had always received him with splendor”. Mann’s description of the gondola as “so strangle black as normally only coffins are” and it being “reminiscent of death itself, the bier, the drab funeral, and the final, wordless ride”, symbolizes death and furthers the death theme of the novella.
At this point it is important to examine Venice as the setting of the novella. The city is built on a lagoon and each year it sinks a little into its swampy origins. Despite its outward glory, the city is rotting from within. Also, in literature, Venice is often shown as a city of moral corruption and decay. This, in a way, is a pointer to Aschenbach’s own moral decay and descent into passionate moral corruption as the story progresses. Venice also in some ways signifies Aschenbach himself since like Aschenbach, Venice too exists “by sheer will over forces of nature” (Sparknote).
As the story proceeds, Aschenbach becomes aware of other guests at his hotel, especially a Polish family and a fourteen year old “perfectly beautiful” boy, Tadzio. His interest in Tadzio at first is only passing since he is “taken by surprise… even frightened by the godlike beauty of that human child” and he thought that Tadzio had “the head of Eros.” However, despite his perfect beauty, Tadzio is not very healthy but frail and sickly and Aschenbach feels that he will not live very long. It is important to note that at this stage Aschenbach seems to feel satisfied and calm believing that Tadzio may die soon. Aschenbach is aware of his own advancing age and certain death and so the though that even this young beautiful boy was not immune to death, perhaps makes him feel better about himself. But even this does not take away from the fact that he is indeed old and fragile because a while later, while walking through the streets of Venice, “He began to sweat unpleasantly. The eyes ceased to function, his chest felt tight, he was febrile, his pulse was pounding in his head.” Also, throughout this time the sky remains overcast and grey.
From here on in the story, Aschenbach’s obsession for Tadzio continues to grow. He routinely observes Tadzio and studies every detail of his physique and movement. From a mere interest, he starts seeing Tadzio as an inspiration for writing and finally he turns into an “aging lover” fanaticizing about him all the time. He soon stops keeping track of the time and lets go of the strict discipline he had always imposed upon himself.
Around this time we also learn of a “malady” afflicting Venice, which, it turns out, is Indian cholera. The Englishman, who tells him about the epidemic, also advices him to leave the city immediately. However, Aschenbach by now is s completely obsessed with Tadzio and the depths of immorality he has descended to, that the “thought of returning home, of prudence, of austerity, hardship and mastery seemed so repulsive to him that his face took on a grimace of bodily nauseousness.” He continues to stay in Venice so that he can be near the object of his obsession despite having been warned.
Sometime during his stay in Venice, Aschenbach had lost his soul and his body now continued to thrive from day to day on its obsession with Tadzio. He even starts fanaticizing about everyone dying and leaving him alone with Tadzio. His obsession with the young boy also made him aware of his own advancing age and his “worn-out body disgusted him”. So he got his hair died and wore makeup to get a younger appearance, very similar to that of the old man in the ship, who had disgusted him earlier. However, it did not stop him from aging, and abandoning the discipline he had adhered to all life made him sick, probably from Cholera. And when he learns that Polish family is leaving, he goes out to watch Tadzio for one last time. As he watches Tadzio tussle with his friend, he feels he sees Tadzio as Hermes, who is beckoning him and he follows. Aschenbach death ends the story which had started with a reference to death in the form of a mortuary.
Thus throughout the story, Mann uses oblique references to death, as he builds up to the climax where an old man, having given up all morality, finally dies. A death which he could have avoided if he had stuck to his discipline. But his obsession with Tadzio prevented him from doing what was right, resulting in his death. Aschenbach had initially seen Tadzio as an inspiration for art. But Mann implies that art corrupts and can debase human morality to such an extent that he ceases to care about everyone, including himself, resulting in his death.
Analysis of Therese Raquin
The death theme is even more predominant in “Therese Raquin” than it is in “Death in Venice,” especially considering the fact that novel includes a murder and a suicide. Just as in “Death in Venice”, the dark and gloomy background pervades throughout the novel. The very setting of the novel is in a poor and old neighbourhood where shopkeepers have left on the streets “goods forgotten for twenty years” and “tradesmen observe with an air of alarm, the passers-by who by a miracle stop before their windows.”
The first time Therese is introduced to the readers, she is mentioned as “the young woman with grave profile” while Camille is a “sickly, spoilt child” who is “always trembling with fever”. Zola goes on to discuss in great details the various maladies Camille had suffered from throughout his childhood and how his mother had repeatedly shielded him from death.
Therese is brought up in the same room as her cousin Camille and as such has learnt to remain quiet to avoid disturbing a “dying child” even though within her she is full of the passion. Madame Raquin married Therese to Camille because she thought Therese would b Camille’s “guardian angel”. This is ironical because it is Therese who later gets him killed by Laurent.
Therese had so far been living an extremely boring life but when the family moves to Paris and she saw the shop from where they were to do business, she felt that she was “descending into the clammy soil of a grave.” Her life in Paris is shown to be extremely boring with each day like the other and she soon starts feeling that she has nothing to live for.
The situation changes with the arrival of Laurent, with whom Therese ends up having an extremely passionate affair. Laurent is shown as a man with no morals who just wants “live and do nothing” and is actually waiting for his father to doe so he can inherit his estate. Here Zola has intentionally established Laurent’s character as someone who is hoping to benefit from his father’s death so he could live out his ambition of a life of sex and intoxication. To the reader it is obvious that such a life is not worth living, but for Laurent it is ideal he one day hopes to achieve.
The affair between Laurent and Therese was inevitable and we realize this when Laurent begins describing his nude models and Therese sits there transfixed. The affair gives Theresa a means to escape from her dull, boring and “deathlike life” and have something to look forward to. While for Laurent this is just a means to have free sex. As Laurent is contemplating having the affair, his conclusion that “it could be attended by no evil consequences” is another way that Zola brings out the irony of the situation.
As the passion and love between Laurent and Therese grows, they realize that only thing standing between them is Camille. Thus the plot to murder Camille is born. As Laurent contemplates the idea, we see him tossing and turning in bed, weighing all the pose and cons. Finally, when he has convinced himself that he is going to kill Camille, “he was at rest, breathing with serene regularity.” Once again Zola has brought a touch of irony to the situation. Wile the decision to murder Camille, brings peace to Laurent, after has actually murdered him, he knows no peace until he finally commits suicide.
However, even though they had decided to murder Camille, it was easier said than done. Then one Thursday evening, the family and the friends were playing a game of dominoes when they start discussing how many murderers never get caught. The incident perhaps further emboldens Laurent who now starts feeling that he can actually get away with murder. For in the very next chapter, Laurent drowns Camille while on a boating trip and makes it look like an accident. The entire chapter is devoted to the way the three young people spend their day out. By detailing each and everything that the three people do during the day, Zola sets the stage for the murder. Before he actually drowns Camille, Laurent had actually thought of crushing him to death with his shoes, but abandons the idea when he realizes that the law would immediately catch up with him and he would not be able to fulfil his reason for killing Camille, marrying Therese. At this point, the reader knows that murder is about to take place and when Laurent actually drowns Camille, it does not come as surprise.
Up until now, the death theme in the novel had been concerned with Camille’s illness and Theresa’s dull and boring life culminating in Camille’s murder. But at this point, the story changes track when Laurent and Theresa get married and fulfil the desire which had led them to commit murder. They now realize that Camille continues to come between them even after death.
When Laurent had planned to kill Camille, he was sure that he would not be affected by the murder and that it was the only prudent thing to do. However, he had not thought that he would need to go to the morgue every day for two weeks before they would finally find his body. And when he finally sees Camille’s body, badly decayed after two weeks in water, he is overwhelmed.
The murder has a devastating affect on Theresa and Laurent’s relation. With Camille out of the way, they are now free to continue with their affair and even get married. But neither of them now felt inclined to even kiss each other. Camille’s death had had a deeper impact on their psyche than they thought, although they did not realize it yet. Here Zola seems to abandon the death them as Therese feels exhilarated at having gotten rid of Camille. While her passion for Laurent had led to Camille’s death, she no longer thinks of Laurent in the same way and actually gets infatuated with a school boy. We realize that things are not the way they seem when Theresa feels that the compared to the school boy, Laurent is “very coarse and heavy”.
On the other hand, Laurent seems to be besieged with guilt as he blames Theresa for “intoxicating me with caresses” loses his will to live as he becomes fat and flabby. Just like Theresa, Laurent too is no longer preoccupied with her lover, barely thinking of her on most days. Guilt seems to be eating Laurent and, in a way, he too is dying from inside.
Laurent had murdered Camille so he could get Theresa, however, he no longer felt any desire for Theresa and on the wedding night, they are constantly troubled by the images of Camille. Besides the scar on Laurent’s neck is reminder to both of their crime.
Laurent and Theresa are no longer able to trust each other and their relationship grows violent. The tension between them reveals to Madame Raquin that they are responsible for the murder, which scares them even more. Laurent’s guilt is seen when he starts seeing Camille in all his paintings, while Theresa’s when she actually encourages Laurent to beat her.
Theresa once again feels imprisoned by the situation and her need to escape results in her having an affair. Ironically, Laurent thinks that she is planning to kill him and is relieved when he finds out that she is having an affair. By now, their life together has become so intolerable that they plot to kill each other. However, in the climax they finally breakdown and realizing that there is no escape for them they commit suicide.
Thus Zola keeps the death theme running throughout the novel. Initially it is in the form of Camille’s deathly countenance and Theresa’s dull and deathly life. As she tries to escape from this life, it leads to Camille’s murder. And finally the guilt of Camille’s murder leads to the couple committing suicide.
Reference
Death in Venice. Sparknotes. 2009. Web.
Mann, T. Death in Venice.
Zola, E. Therese Raquin.