The Art of Decadence in “Death in Venice” by Thomas Mann Essay

Aschenbach and the Setting of Decadence

Death in Venice by Thomas Mann is a novella about the protagonist Gustav von Aschenbach, a prolific author who journeys to Venice to escape the stresses of his job and personal life. Mann depicts the notion of decadence in the novel through the character of Aschenbach, which is a phrase used to denote a condition of moral or cultural decay typified by extreme self-indulgence and pleasure-seeking.

The Pivotal Encounter and the Initial Stirrings of Obsession

The scene in chapter 3 where the protagonist, Gustav von Aschenbach, encounters the little Polish boy, Tadzio, who eventually becomes the object of his obsessive longing, is remarkable in this essay since it illustrates the art of moral decay in society.

The story delves into the conflict between the longing for elegance and the perils of extreme self-indulgence. As Aschenbach encounters a young boy, Tadzio, he reveres his attractiveness; he demonstrates his moral decay:

“With astonishment, Aschenbach noted that the boy was absolutely beautiful. His face, pale and reserved, framed with honey-coloured hair, the straight sloping nose, the lovely mouth, the expression of sweet and godlike seriousness, recalled Greek sculpture of the noblest period; and the complete purity of the forms was accompanied by such a rare personal charm that, as he watched, he felt that he had never met with anything equally felicitous in nature or the plastic arts.” (Mann chapter III).

Aschenbach’s Established Character and the Contrast With His Emerging Desires

Prior to meeting Tadzio, Gustav von Aschenbach was not the kind of artist to be inspired by sensual beauty. Instead, he is motivated by his audience’s desire to be liked and admired. He maintains a stern, logical distance from his subjects, choosing not to be swept away by sensual beauty or passion. He has attained literary recognition and is regarded as a prominent genius. “His talents were so constituted as to gain both the confidence of the general public and the stable admiration and sympathy of the critical” (Mann Par. 3, chapter II).

His peers hold him in great regard and see him as an example of discipline and commitment. Aschenbach is unsatisfied with the life he is living and believes he now has no originality despite his achievements. To rediscover his creativity, he chooses to take an adventure to Venice; however, while on this journey, he gets infatuated with Tadzio, which undermines his image and shows a deeper, more complicated element of his personality.

Aschenbach develops feelings for Tadzio, a 14-year-old boy in Venice. He is passive and believes something is missing from his life, which triggers this love. Due to this love, he can discover himself and his wants, which allows him to view himself from many angles and eventually learn to discover the stranger within himself. His goals make him appear to be a bourgeoisie societal norm breaker, yet he only violates the standards in principle and not completely by his behavior.

Most crucially, Aschenbach is in charge since he solely utilizes his eyesight to adore Tadzio. This allows him to see Tadzio as a flawless example of beauty rather than a living being (Ganguly 4). Aschenbach enjoys the idea of Tadzio and himself dying because he is exerting control over Tadzio.

Aschenbach’s Obsession, Internal Conflict, and the Significance of Venice

Considering his tendencies and aspirations, Aschenbach adores Tadzio from a distance since Tadzio can only theoretically violate societal standards, and because the separation between them allows him to ideally exert control over the situation. The audience can comprehend Aschenbach and his society owing to his love.

Aschenbach’s desire for Tadzio is fueled by his realization that he lacks youth and attractiveness. “He stayed there for some time in front of the mirror, looking at his grey hair, his tired sharp features” (Mann par. 15, chapter III). He utilizes his success to combat his sense of scarcity, but over time, he loses the capacity to decisively manage his impulses, which is a key component of his success. He gets passive when he cannot comfort himself and take charge of the relationship.

Since he has the strange sensation of losing the power of his desires, he feels exposed. Aschenbach experiences unpleasant longing, guilt, and anxiety whenever he visits Venice. Underneath the magnificence and splendor of the city, the threat to Aschenbach is shown in the image of decay and putrefaction that is being highlighted even more clearly (Ganguly 5).

He gains new insights into himself due to the journey, and his love for Tadzio makes it possible for him to embrace these new viewpoints. His residence in Munich constrains Aschenbach’s ability to view himself from many perspectives. Since he adheres to rigid patterns and societal norms, he cannot venture out of his comfort zone and examine himself. As a result, he is unable to perceive himself from many perspectives.

He discovers that he is not the person he believes he is, which causes him to feel awkward. He learns more and more about the weirder side of himself as he learns more about himself. In reality, the journey reveals the aspect of him that he has constantly been hiding and denying his whole life.

Ultimately, his yearning for Tadzio leads him to embrace himself and take on actions he has never taken. He ends up being the “young old guy” with cosmetics as a result (Mann par. 32, chapter 5). Like cholera, Aschenbach’s love for Tadzio renders him docile and defenseless, allowing him to express a side of himself that has long been repressed.

Aschenbach feels uneasy when his desire causes him to face the stranger within himself because it challenges his beliefs regarding himself and society. Western culture generates a large number of standards and norms. Aschenbach is someone who consistently adheres to the bourgeoisie culture’s values. He maintains a rigid routine throughout his life and is accustomed to living in a culture where social conventions govern what is good and wrong. The laws and societal standards govern him, force him to adopt a controlled or standard attitude toward good or bad, and continually suppress his desire. He becomes uneasy when encountering someone who does not conform to social norms.

Self-Discovery and the Erosion of Societal Norms

Death in Venice aims to defy societal conventions in 20th-century Europe. Many people in the book breach the law, but Aschenbach does not. Aschenbach’s determination to breach the law is represented by those who defy convention and the law. Aschenbach, even though he never completely acts on his inclinations, becomes someone who subtly violates societal conventions due to his yearning for Tadzio. Desire is destructive, like cholera, eventually taking Aschenbach’s life (Min).

Aschenbach deviates from social conventions because he yearns for Tadzio. His adoration for the little child makes the audience feel quite uneasy, especially his pursuit of him. Aschenbach’s yearning for the young boy is not against the law since the law cannot interpret his mind and declare him guilty.

Laws in modern European culture can only control how people behave; as modernist society has emerged, social norms have lost their ability to control how people think. The regimented bourgeoisie culture of Europe is beginning to change as individuals begin to think freely and see themselves from new perspectives.

Thematic Resonance and the Novel’s Commentary on Art, Society, and Human Nature

Around the time the book was written and published, European culture likewise embodied the concept of remaining the same despite changes. Greek culture is completely at odds with the 20th-century European bourgeoisie culture; social standards, languages, and religious practices are distinct. The Greeks and Romans left behind a civilization still present in European society.

Greek culture is the source of the controlled social structure and the exaggerated aesthetic that characterize European bourgeoisie fashion. The more individuals believe that society has evolved, the more it stays the same. People’s quest for purity and completeness is an unattainable desire. The urge to be and remain flawless is synonymous with the drive to transcend, which is why Aschenbach avoids Tadzio and even relishes dying from cholera.

Aschenbach views Tadzio as a character who should be faultless and god-like, and is always compared to the god of beauty. “His face, pale and reserved, framed with honey-coloured hair, the straight sloping nose, the lovely mouth, the expression of sweet and godlike seriousness” (Mann par. 26, chapter 3). Tadzio represents the ideal of elegance and youth that Aschenbach aspires to have but can never fully realize.

Mann examines the conflict between reason and urges for elegance and decadence, and the person and society through the lens of Aschenbach. With its focus on aestheticism as well as the moral decay of European civilization on the verge of World War I, the narrative also serves as a mirror image of the historical and cultural setting of its time.

One can gain a deeper understanding of how Mann used language and metaphor to produce a complex and potent piece of literature by carefully examining the scene in chapter 3 where Aschenbach first encounters Tadzio. The audience never anticipated that Aschenbach to change from the character he was in the beginning entirely; instead, the author has succeeded in producing an unanticipated turn of events.

Works Cited

‌Ganguly, Sampuja. “Venice: Objective Correlative of Aschanbach’s Repressed Self in Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice.” International Journal of All Research Writings, vol. 1. no. 4, 2018, pp. 1-5.

Mann, Thomas. Death in Venice: Thomas Mann. Vol. 76. The Dial Publishing Company, 1924.

Min, Yu. “Eros, Existence, and Art in the Pandemic: Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice.” Interface – Journal of European Languages and Literatures, vol. 18, no. 1, 2022. Web.