The Role of Eros in The Kreutzer Sonata and Death in Venice
Alanna Rodrick
LITR 202-A1
G. Sotis
17th April, 2014
The Role of Eros in The Kreutzer Sonata and Death in Venice The interplay of love and sexuality within humanity has been explored for thousands of years. This theme has shaped and continues to shape mankind on a daily basis, so it is not surprising that this topic can be found in literature of every era dating from the present to ancient times. Specifically within European literature of the 18th and 19th century, Leo Tolstoy’s The Kreutzer Sonata and Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice concentrate heavily on these two aspects. This relationship between love and sexual desire can be referred to as the Eros, named after the patron Roman God of the two subjects. The role of Eros in human relations can cover a wide variety of topics. In Tolstoy’s The Kreutzer Sonata, Eros is explored primarily within marriage, focusing on the roles love and lust play in a marriage, the part society plays in Eros, and Eros as motivation for murder. Mann’s Death in Venice portrays the concept of Eros in a very different way, using the theme instead to touch on the balance of passion versus control in the main character’s life and writing, and how this balance leads to the character’s ultimate death. These two novels represent the theme of Eros in dissimilar ways, however, Eros plays a large role in both of their plots and underlying messages to their audiences. The Kreutzer Sonata tells the story of a man named Pozdnyshev who is recounting the tale of his wife’s murder to the narrator of the story. Pozdnyshev decides to share his life story with the narrator, from the time of his youth to present day, to allow the narrator to fully understand the circumstances behind his wife’s death. The narrator soon finds out that Pozdnyshev killed his wife, but does not blame his actions for her death until the end of the novel. Rather, he blames the institution of marriage as it existed during his time and society’s expectation of how men and
LITR 202-A1
G. Sotis
17th April, 2014
The Role of Eros in The Kreutzer Sonata and Death in Venice The interplay of love and sexuality within humanity has been explored for thousands of years. This theme has shaped and continues to shape mankind on a daily basis, so it is not surprising that this topic can be found in literature of every era dating from the present to ancient times. Specifically within European literature of the 18th and 19th century, Leo Tolstoy’s The Kreutzer Sonata and Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice concentrate heavily on these two aspects. This relationship between love and sexual desire can be referred to as the Eros, named after the patron Roman God of the two subjects. The role of Eros in human relations can cover a wide variety of topics. In Tolstoy’s The Kreutzer Sonata, Eros is explored primarily within marriage, focusing on the roles love and lust play in a marriage, the part society plays in Eros, and Eros as motivation for murder. Mann’s Death in Venice portrays the concept of Eros in a very different way, using the theme instead to touch on the balance of passion versus control in the main character’s life and writing, and how this balance leads to the character’s ultimate death. These two novels represent the theme of Eros in dissimilar ways, however, Eros plays a large role in both of their plots and underlying messages to their audiences. The Kreutzer Sonata tells the story of a man named Pozdnyshev who is recounting the tale of his wife’s murder to the narrator of the story. Pozdnyshev decides to share his life story with the narrator, from the time of his youth to present day, to allow the narrator to fully understand the circumstances behind his wife’s death. The narrator soon finds out that Pozdnyshev killed his wife, but does not blame his actions for her death until the end of the novel. Rather, he blames the institution of marriage as it existed during his time and society’s expectation of how men and