Death in Venice
In Thomas Mann's novella Death in Venice, a writer goes to the title city in order to find inspiration and to ease his writer's block. During his time there, he discovers and then becomes obsessed with a young boy who he sees as incomparably beautiful. Instead of physically expressing his emotions for the boy, he forces the emotions to remain internal, something which eventually leads to his destruction. Although Gustov von Aschenbach, the protagonist of the novella, actually dies of cholera which is widespread in the area, it can be seen that it is actually the internal struggle to possess and also repulse the youth that is really the reason for his death. In this conflict, Gustov represents the perspective of duality theorized by Nietzsche wherein people possess antagonistic characteristics which force the individual to be constantly at war with him or herself. The gods of Greek myth…...

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Works Cited

Mann, Thomas, Thomas S. Hansen, and Abby J. Hansen. Death in Venice. Boston: Lido Editions, 2012. Print.

Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm. The Birth of Tragedy. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000. Print.

This depiction of Aschenbach's state of mind can be interpreted as being one way in which Mann suggests his character's definite detachment from the real world. Psychology studies can easily motivate the role a state of crisis plays in taking abrupt and drastic decisions. It most often leads the individual to engage in desperate gestures and irrational actions. Similarly, Aschenbach can no longer control his urges to see Tadzio and to be around him, even if there would be no actual contact.

The double side of his nature, that which had been denied for so long under the pressures of his German social environment cannot be repressed and the sight of an imminent death makes his actions to be even more uncalculated. Thus, "his head and his heart were drunk, and his steps followed the dictates of that dark god whose pleasure it is to trample man's reason and dignity underfoot."…...

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Bibliography

Mann, Thomas. Death in Venice and Seven other Stories. New York: Vintage, 1954.

Thomas Mann- Death in Venice
Thomas Mann's Death in Venice is often regard as the first major Gay novel but to categorize this fascinating story in such a manner significantly limits its merits. The novel may contain homosexual love affair but it is certainly a lot larger than that. It explores the psychological influences of a magical city on a person who is running away from himself-of how forbidden love can transform the entire personality and soul and how despite being wise and sensible, we deliberately become a victim of false enticement.

Death in Venice was originally written in German but it has been widely translated into different languages, which says a great deal about the popularity of this work. It is only wise then to study the deeper messages of this novel and not label it as a gay work. Homosexuality may be one of the elements but it is certainly…...

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References

Doob, Penelope Reed. The Idea of the Labyrinth from Classical Antiquity through the Middle Ages. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1990.

Bell, Millicent. "On Venice." Raritan 13.4 (1994): 124-45.

Tanner, Tony. Venice Desired. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1992.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Italian Journey. Ed. Thomas P. Saine and Jeffrey C. Sammons. Trans. Robert Heitner. New York: Suhrkamp, 1989.

Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice is an easy subject for psychoanalytic criticism. Given that Freud’s theory of unheimlich (the uncanny) has been construed as a “latter-day theory of the sublime, of the imagination overwhelmed in a moment of bafflement but also exhilaration,” Aschenbach’s various obsessions make more sense (Sandner, 2004, p. 74). Of course, other aspects of Freudian discourse can be used as lenses through which to read Death in Venice, but unheimlich offers the broadest insight into Aschenbach’s overall character. The entire novella unfolds as a series of cascading coincidences, and if it were not set in the dreamy world of the Venetian archipelago, Mann’s novella would be less believable and even more surreal than it already is. Yet Venice offers the perfect landscape within which to explore the resurfacing of unconscious thoughts, dreams, desires, and fears that occupy the unconscious mind. The reader becomes trapped inside of Aschenbach’s…...

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References

Freud, S. (1919). The ‘uncanny.’”

Mann, T. (1912). Death in Venice. https://archive.org/stream/DeathInVenice/DeathInVenice-ThomasMann_djvu.txt

Sandner, D. (2004). Fantastic Literature: A Critical Reader. Greenwood Publishing.

http://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/freud1.pdf

The Carnevale and Sensa festivals were outlawed and the Book of Gold, which had recorded the names of patrician families of Venice for more than four centuries, was burned.
Before leaving Venice Napoleon instructed his men to take twenty paintings along with five hundred manuscripts of rarity including the 'Wedding Feast at Cana' by Veronese. Napoleon additionally took the four bronze horses of San Marco to be taken from the facade of the building. As well, the ancient winged lion that was atop the column in the Piazetta was removed. The Aresenale is reported to have been "systematically stripped down to the bare walls. A regiment of French soldiers took axes to the lavish busintoro…" (Madden, 2012, p.449) in addition, "dozens of priceless works of medieval art, including Golden oses bestowed o Venice for centuries of faithful service to popes were broken apart for their diamonds, pearls, and precious metals."…...

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References

Madden, Thomas (2012) Venice: A New History. Penguin Group, U.S.. Oct. 2012.

The naked man causes Ludwig to feel odd and in his desperation, pleads to the heavens to help him signifying his other rebellion, his dormant homosexuality. The wedding follows and Elisabeth steals the show with Sophie falling to the background. What happens later is a failed rendezvous with a prostitute and other failed attempts of Ludwig to behave like a heterosexual. His desires to be around Wagner vs. Sophie and the subsequent scene with the valet demonstrate more and more Ludwig increasing desire to seek the company of men. This leads then to a deteriorating condition in which a bandage is over his eyes. He is fooling around in a Bavarian inn implying he yet again gives in to his homosexual tendencies much like the SA revelry in the previous movie, The Damned. The film ends with the government planning to depose him much like what happened in reality…...

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References

Bacon, H. (1998). Visconti: explorations of beauty and decay. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Blunt, W. (1970). The Dream King, Ludwig II of Bavaria. New York: Viking Press.

Cardullo, B. (2009). After neorealism: Italian filmmakers and their films: essays and interviews. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.

Landy, M. (2000). Italian film. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Benjamin Britten
Today, Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) is best known for his instrumental, choral, and operatic compositions as well as being the co-founder of the English Opera Group and the Aldeburgh Festival (Radloff 426). Although Britten's music is likely familiar to many modern observers, his name is probably unfamiliar to most and facts about his early life even less well-known. To determine these facts and the impact of his work, this paper provides a review of the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature concerning the composer, Benjamin Britten, including an in-depth analysis of one of his compositions. A summary of the research and important findings concerning Britten and his work are provided in the conclusion.

Review and Discussion

On November 22, 1913 (St. Cecilia's Day), Edward Benjamin Britten was born in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England (Craggs 3). Benjamin was the youngest child of five sons and two daughters (Brann 2) born to Robert Victor Britten,…...

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Works Cited

Brann, Vincent. (2003). "(Edward) Benjamin Britten -- 22 November 1913-4 December 1976."

Stanford University College of Music. [online] available:  http://opera.stanford.edu/ 

Britten/bio.html.

Craggs, Stewart R. Benjamin Britten: A Bio-Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2002.

Death in Everyman
The concept of death is a very complicated and often morose subject when it is covered and analyzed through the interpretations and scenarios depicted in a play, let alone a play as prominent and chilling as Everyman. However, there is usually a point and moral to these sorts of plays and Everyman is no different. While the mood of the play is somber and perhaps instills or otherwise causes feelings that are uncomfortable to think about, Everyman drives home the point that no matter one's wealth, prestige and power upon death, about the only thing that can be taken with you to the other side are one's deeds, both good and bad.

Lack of importance of Five Wits

Lack of importance of physical traits

c. Lessons for believers and non-believers

Moral of the play

Conclusion

Death in Everyman

Death and leading a "good life" are two subjects that everyone debates internally and with others. What…...

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References

Allen, J. (2002). Plato: The Morality and Immorality of Art. Arts Education Policy

Review, 104(2), 19-24.

Gervais, W.M., Shariff, A.F., & Norenzayan, A. (2011). Do you believe in atheists?

Distrust is central to anti-atheist prejudice. Journal Of Personality And Social

All along, Miller's salesman was creating a tableau vivant, in his work and in his family. If you put the right characters on stage, you create the right image.
In illy Loman's mind, Dave Singleman, that "single" salesman, no doubt created the proper image. Even Singleman's death was that of a salesman, "hen he died -- and by the way he died the death of a salesman, in his green velvet slippers in the smoker of the New York, New Haven and Hartford, going into Boston -- when he died, hundreds of salesmen and buyers were at his funeral." A traveling salesman should die on the road, as Dave Singleman obviously did. hat greater tribute to a way of life than to die in the course of one's duty? Appropriately, as well, Loman's hero received the adulation of his peers - the ultimate complement in the eyes of a man…...

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Works Cited

 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=28520584 

Boehm, Christopher. Hierarchy in the Forest: The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999.

From the Tour: Titian and the Late Renaissance in Venice." The Collection, National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 2006. URL:  http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg23/gg23-1226.0.html .

)
"Sonnet 130" by Shakespeare and "Sonnet 23" by Louis Labe both talk about love, as so many sonnets do. Their respective techniques however, differentiate them from each other. Shakespeare uses a rhyme scheme that became known as Shakespearean rhyme scheme or English rhyme. He writes about love in a sarcastic manner though. He is mocking the traditional love poems and the usual expressive manner in which women are often compared to. It is ironic in a way because Shakespeare himself also uses the very techniques in his previous writing when he is writing from a man's point-of-view and describing a woman. But in this sonnet he uses the technique of mocking this exaggerated comparison. Usually women are compared to having skin as white as snow, however, in reality, Shakespeare points out, women don't really fit this description, "If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun."

Louis Labe however, does…...

The parallels between these situations and Frye's basic assessment of the plot of New Comedies are not, perhaps, immediately apparent, but they have the same effect by the end of the play, where "the audience witnesses the birth of a renewed sense of social integration" (Frye 94). The parent/child relationships have been largely done away with in favor of te romantic ties that seem to be favored by the play. It is disingenuous, however, to dismiss the issue of class in this play outright. In many ways, the relationships between the various fathers and their children can be een to be indicative of class lines. Launcelot's position and its possible implications in his treatment of his father have already been discussed, but both his and Jessica's treatment of Shylock still deserved comment. Jessica is somewhat exonerated for her actions towards her father (again, the degree depends on the particular choices…...

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Works Cited

Frye, Northrop. "The Argument of Comedy." Shakespeare, Russ McDonald, ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2004.

Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. New York: Folger, 1997.

They will go to far to hire a mercenary like Iago to pursue their goal for them. There are Othellos today as there was a shining one in Shakespeare's fiction or time. Military heroes like him have secret vulnerabilities, which reveal themselves in unguarded or trying moments. As a self-claimed victim of a foreign culture, Othello's cry of discrimination resounds in contemporary society despite his accomplishments.
Contentment in life is everyone's universal pursuit. That pursuit takes on what the present culture makes available and is most suitable at the moment. Othello perceives that his contentment goes beyond acclaim and military power. It includes having a dutiful and beautiful wife in Desdemona. He pours his weakest on him and on a scheming subordinate, Iago. Othello's credulousness is not confined to Shakespeare's time. Credulousness is universal. People living and thriving in a country with a different culture must invest in trust or…...

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Bibliography

Sparknotes Editors. Othello by Shakespeare (1622) Paperback. No Fear Shakespeare.

Sparknotes, July 3, 2004

It recounts the travails of Antigone, daughter of Oedipus the former king of Thebes, who disobeys King Creon in burying the body of her slain brother. She knows that she faces death for doing this, but insists that she does not care, saying "For whoso lives, as I, in many woes,
/ How can it be but death shall bring him gain? / And so for me to bear this doom of thine / Has nothing painful" (Arrowsmith, lines 508-12). Antigone does not see meaninglessness in death, but rather is willing to face death for the symbolic gesture of burying her brother. This illustrates her own tragic quest for truth; like Gilgamesh (and Creon), she is frustrated by the rules and order imposed by a mortal government, and feels that it pales in comparison to the divine moral laws such as those regarding the treatment of the dead and the…...

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Works Cited

Arrowsmith, William. Antigone. New York: San Val, 1999.

Mason, Herbert. Gilgamesh. New York: Mariner, 2003.

Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. Washington D.C.: Folgers, 1997.

The interaction between father and son takes place in Act II, Scene ii, with a teasing display of affection where Lancelot fools his father into thinking he is dead, and then asks for his help in leaving Shylock's employment. His father, an old blind servant, supports his son and urges Bassanio to hire his son. The unconditional love between father and son is quite clear in this funny yet touching scene. This is in direct contrast to the relationship between Jessica and Shylock. Jessica despises living in her father's house and hopes to elope with her love, Lorenzo. She finds her father stingy and live in her home is "hell." She despairs when Lancelot leaves, and determines to leave as well. Both she and Lancelot chafe at Shylock's ways, but her relationship with her father is strained at best. The healthy relationship between Lancelot and his father only serves…...

Balzac and Kafka: From Realism to Magical Realism
French author Honore de Balzac defined the genre of realism in the early 19th century with his novel Old Man Goriot, which served as a cornerstone for his more ambitious project, The Human Comedy. Old Man Goriot also served as a prototype for realistic novels, with its setting of narrative parameters which included plot, structure, characterization, and point-of-view. The 20th century, however, digressed considerably from the genre of realism. Franz Kafka, for example, has been considered as one of the forerunners of the genre known as Magical Realism. endy B. Faris defines the genre of Magical Realism as the combination of "realism and the fantastic so that the marvelous seems to grow organically within the ordinary, blurring the distinction between them… [including] different cultural traditions" (1). Faris finds magical realism to exist at the crossroads of modernism and post-modernism, as a kind of…...

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Works Cited

Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment. New York, NY: Vintage, 2010. Print.

Faris, Wendy B. Ordinary Enchantments: Magical Realism and the Remystification of Narrative. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press, 2004. Print.

Nabokov, Vladimir. "The Metamorphosis." Victorian. Web. 8 May 2012. <

 http://victorian.fortunecity.com/vermeer/287/nabokov_s_metamorphosis.htm >