Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- In what ways can we read Death in Venice as an allegory for the difficulties of writing literature?
- How do you understand what Death in Venice calls "the sympathy for the abyss" (5.50), which Aschenbach has initially renounced and to which he ultimately succumbs? In what ways does Death in Venice suggest a relationship between modern art, writing, and the "abyss"?
- What are the literary techniques of irony used in Death in Venice, and what is the purpose of this irony for Mann's understanding of the modern artist?
- Is the figure of the "Other" an absolute category in Death in Venice, i.e. something located in a specific place and time, or is the "Other" just a reflection of Aschenbach's self? How does the text lead us to pose this question?
- How are allusions to classical Greek culture and philosophy used in Death in Venice, and what is the relationship between these classical allusions and the novella's ironic tone?
- How does Aschenbach's stranger god dream help us to interpret him further? What is the connection between dream analysis and Mann's psychology of character?