A major preoccupation of the novella is the conflict between rationality and sensuality. Before his trip to Venice, Aschenbach’s lifestyle is founded on excessive discipline and rationality, and he fears that he has repressed his passions to the detriment of his art. In Venice, he gives himself over to intoxicating passion and sensuality—though these passions remain largely confined to his imagination. Variations of this theme are a common preoccupation across Mann’s work and were a subject of significant interest to Mann’s early 20th-century educated readership. Within Death in Venice, this theme is grounded with references to Plato’s theories on the human soul, Neitzche’s concepts of art, and Freud’s theories of psychoanalysis.

Aschenbach imagines himself as Socrates in Plato’s Phaedrus. In the Phaedrus, Socrates describes the human soul as akin to a chariot pulled by two horses, one representing rationality and the other passion. He proposed that careful management of the “passion” horse was necessary for the charioteer to drive the vehicle, and that balance was key. Aschenbach has long since avoided indulging his passions, and in Chapter 1 he fears that these passions are seeking “vengeance” for their neglect by sabotaging his art. Aschenbach’s hostility to his passions arises at least in part from the stigma surrounding relationships between men in Europe during this time period.