THIS CHAPTER TRACES the lesson for cultural types implied in the relationship between the descriptions of the faces observed in Thomas Mann's Der Tod in Venedig(1912; Death in Venice, 1928) and the observers’ behavior and cultural standing. Mann's novella begins with Gustav von Aschenbach, a Munich-based author, breaking from his work by taking a late-afternoon stroll in the English Garden. While waiting for the streetcar home, he is distracted by the appearance of a man who stands in the portico of the mortuary chapel of the Northern Cemetery, facing into the sun. Caught staring at the unexpected figure, Aschenbach looks away, senses a newfound desire to travel, and decides to postpone his book project by taking a holiday on the Mediterranean in order to put the spark back into his life and work. That evening, instead of writing, Aschenbach looks over maps and timetables. This sudden about-face is remarkable. The journey—through nature, the bustling city, reading the Greek crosses and religious inscriptions on the chapel's Byzantine facade—that would return Aschenbach to cultural production is entirely rerouted because of a desire awakened by encountering a man whom, after reflecting upon his appearance, Aschenbach chooses to avoid. Something in Aschenbach's appreciation of the stranger both disturbs him and causes him to reset his ways. This man is not the only such individual whom Aschenbach encounters and estimates during the novella. On his holiday in Istria and Venice, several men intrude uninvited into Aschenbach's world and, for the most part, cause him discomfort. In each case, Aschenbach reacts, sets his course again, and makes strategic decisions; and, in one instance, he is moved to write again. He always knows how to respond. He either avoids or pursues the figures based on his physiognomical understanding of them. In each case, concurrent facial descriptions and character assessments pave the way for Aschenbach's response. In this way, faces in Der Tod in Venedig—their physiognomical reception—motivate Aschenbach's attempt to retrieve and reinvigorate his cultural creativity.

Physiognomy matters in Der Tod in Venedig. In addition to the frequency of verbs of seeing and looking, there is a range of common to more technical words denoting “appearance” or the “face.”