Thomas Mann and Shakespeare: something rich and strange

Bringing together major scholars from diverse disciplines and countries, this study explores the always fascinating if sometimes disturbing connections between Shakespeare and Thomas Mann.

It establishes startling resonances between the central works of these two authors, pairing, for instance, Der Zauberberg with The Tempest, Der Tod in Venedig with The Merchant of Venice, Tonio Kroger with Othello, as well as Love's Labour's Lost with Doktor Faustus.

It shows how the conjunction of Shakespeare and Mann affords new, alternative perspectives on fundamental issues such as modernity, irony, art, desire, authorship and religion.