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Nurture versus nature essays
Nurture versus nature essays
Plato's impact on human nature
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The purpose of this essay is to examine the conflict between rationality and irrationality in Death in Venice and to assess how this conflict is developed and possibly resolved. This conflict is fought and described throughout the short story with reference to ancient Greek gods, predominately Apollo and Dionysus and through the philosopher and philosophy of Plato. Through contemporary influences such as Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, Mann further reflects on these ancient sources through a modern prism and this he does in this tale of life and death of the protagonist Aschenbach.
In order to answer the above question I shall therefore firstly have to examine the character of Aschenbach and the development/changes that occur within this character throughout the story. I shall do this by referencing Ashenbach's character development from the Apolline to the Dionysian. After tracing this development we shall then have a clear starting point for examining the ideas played out through the protagonist and we shall be able to examine these ideas closely. This shall involve an assessment of Aschenbach's belief in and final refutation of Platonic form and acceptance of irrational thought in form of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. I shall then conclude the essay with an examination of the rational/irrational narratorial influences that hold together the essence of Aschenbach's character changes, although these influences are naturally without the character. These will include the use of myth and the use of strangers. It is my hypothesis that Death in Venice is the tragedy of the inevitable destruction of any Apolline artist in a culture that rewards a repressed state of being. By the end of this essay I will have therefore hopeful...
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...logy been used to show the internal struggle about to be unleashed in Aschenbach.
I believe I have now outlined with reference to the text the disintegration of Aschenbach, the inevitability of his death, assessed the major philosophical conflicts of rationalism and irrationalism and provided examples of narrative comment that underline the conflict. This conflict is inevitable once the initial scene setting is constructed and there is no return for Aschenbach back from this destiny.
Bibligraphy
Plato, Phaedrus
Hackett, 1995
Plato, Republic
Oxford University Press, 1998
Mann, T Death in Venice & other stories
Vintage, 1998
Mann, T Mario the Magician & other stories
Vintage, 1998
Nietzsche F Thus spake Zarathustra:
Henry, 1896
Nietzsche F, The birth of tragedy out of the Spirit of Music
Oxford University Press, 2000
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Shakespeare’s Hamlet is widely regarded as one of the greatest tragedies in English literature. Written near the turn of the 17th century, there were new branches of Christianity appearing and the traditional Roman Catholic hold on power was waning, throwing the whole of Europe was in religious chaos. Nonetheless, the existence of a supreme being known as God was recognized in any branches, and strict adherence to religion was necessary for all the people of that age. It is important to examine the historical setting to fully understand some of the play’s subtler connotations. The protagonist of the play, Hamlet, is one of the most famous tragic heroes in existence, but the character’s fatal flaw is that he does not believe in God sufficiently.
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Death in Venice by Thomas Mann, is a story that deals with mortality on many different levels. There is the obvious physical death by cholera, and the cyclical death in nature: in the beginning it is spring and in the end, autumn. We see a kind of death of the ego in Gustav Aschenbach's dreams. Venice itself is a personification of death, and death is seen as the leitmotif in musical terms. It is also reflected in the idea of the traveler coming to the end of a long fatiguing journey.
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As the play’s tragic hero, Hamlet exhibits a combination of good and bad traits. A complex character, he displays a variety of characteristics throughout the play’s development. When he is first introduced in Act I- Scene 2, one sees Hamlet as a sensitive young prince who is mourning the death of his father, the King. In addition, his mother’s immediate marriage to his uncle has left him in even greater despair. Mixed in with this immense sense of grief, are obvious feelings of anger and frustration. The combination of these emotions leaves one feeling sympathetic to Hamlet; he becomes a very “human” character. One sees from the very beginning that he is a very complex and conflicted man, and that his tragedy has already begun.
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