MODERN VS. POSTMODERNISM: Death in Venice

This short novel called Death in Venice was written by Thomas Mann, and was published in 1912. The story is about the protagonist Gustav von Aschenbach who is a well-known writer. The writer has the urge to travel, because he thinks that he might find artistic inspiration from a life change. So, he decided to go to Venice, and it appears in signals the beginning of his decline.

When Aschenbach arrives at his hotel, he notices an extremely beautiful fourteen year old boy called Tadzio, who is with his mother and sisters. Firstly, the interest of Aschenbach was purely aesthetic, but soon falls deeply and obsessively in love with the boy, although not having direct contact. Our protagonist, Gustav von Aschenbach, spends days watching Tadzio playing on the beach, or following his family around the Venice's streets. When the cholera infects the city, and although Aschenbach knew the facts about the lethal epidemia, he cannot leave Venice because he is in love with Tadzio. But finally, he dies of cholera, devasted and being a slave to his passions and stipped of dignity.

The main topics that I could found in this novel are related with the decadence, the death, the Platonic ideal, the exoticism and sexuality. When I talk about decadencde, I mean that in the novel, the issue of decadence appears through the protagonist Aschenbach, with his feelings for theboy Tadzio, because he is decadent in how excessively ferent his feelings are, and how his obsession leads to his downfall. Moreover, when I speak about the topic of death, I think that is the main leitmotif of the novel, and it's represented through different representations, such as the death's head (a human skull), that appears in many situations. Furthermore, one of the most important topics that I want to explain is the Platonic ideal, that relies on the beliefs of Aschenbach that the boy exemplifies perfect beauty, which is relate to the Greek ideal of beauty. This Platonic ideal indicates that sexual love can exist as a precursor to a higher spiritual love that lacks physicality, but the protagonist never speaks to Tadzio. Finally, the major theme of sexuality, that leads us to interpret that Aschenbach's affection for Tadzio as a case of homosexual attraction. But also, we can find different situations that are not homosexual, because the protagonist thinks about the beautiful presence in Tadzio, in a innocent, admiring and non-sexual way.