SOURCE: Rotkin, Charlotte. “Oceanic Animals: Allegory in Death in Venice.” Papers on Language and Literature 23, no. 1 (winter 1987): 84-8.

In the following essay, Rotkin explores the allegorical significance of the sea creatures in Death in Venice.

One of the characteristic features of Death in Venice is its intricate fusion of symbolism, psychology, and myth. Mann's intention in this novella of dissolution is both concealed and revealed by his technique of intertwining mythology, allegory, and psychology into a form that gives universal scope to the actions of his protagonist. An ironic tone, superimposed on the structure, testifies to Mann's condemnation of spiritual malaise as the underlying leitmotif of the novella.¹

Critical commentary has focused on the archetypal symbolism of the sea in terms of its prototypical pattern of death and rebirth. However, scant attention has been accorded the allegorical significance of sea shells, sea horses, jellyfish, and sidewards-running crabs. The...