Death In Venice Symbolism

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In “Death in Venice”, there are several figures who work as triggers that seduced Aschenbach out from his self-restrained appreciation of beauty, and pushed him gradually into the realm of desire and unrestrained impulsions, which ultimately leaded him to his death. These figures are contextual symbols in this novella, and to Aschenbach, the encountering with each figure represented a new change to his path, and pushes him forward in his journey. The plot of this novella, which is Aschenbach’s journal, intensifies alone with the strengthening of the effect of each encountering, where it finally brings Aschenbach to the end of his journal: his death. The three most influential symbols are the foreigner in front of the mortuary chapel, the …show more content…

3 composed in 1909. The section I will focus on here is the first chapter: I. Allegro ma non tanto. with ossia cadenza. Although the three chapters of this concerto work as an entity, the first chapter itself is a completed description of its own structure: a huge crescendo to the climax with struggling and irresolution, which is similar to the structure of “Death in Venice”: Aschenbach gradually moving to his climax on his journal to …show more content…

However, although he was living under such self-restrained way of life, he still had impulses to leave this stern lifestyle: “this yearning for new and distant scenes, this craving for freedom, release, forgetfulness were an impulse…an impulse toward flight away…” (Mann, 6) But at that time, he was able to hold himself back with his self-control and his wish to finish his work: “…the new impulse … was speedily made to conform to the pattern of self discipline he had followed from his youth up.” (6). In addition, Aschenbach was restraining himself from his impulses “from his youth up”, so he was filled with urges and emotions, which the only stopper was his will to work and to