To what extent is Death in Venice a tragic vision of a flawed artist? Aschenbach was certainly an artist. A very decent one. He had his life planned out, was very accurate and organized. Perhaps even a bit boring, monotonous. He was a hard-working man, he had that certain motus animi continuus. He was seen as a genius. From the beginning, he wanted to become known, to become famous, but his life was empty. He yearned for a change of pace, for some action, adventure and unpredictability of what might come. He was afraid of ‘breaking out’, yet he was also afraid of being trapped. Then