Obsession

The narrative frames dynamics of obsession as inherently destructive, for the characters’ obsessive tendencies generally lead them to personal degradation and desolation. The narrator’s obsession with Aspern is the most central example of this dynamic, as his admiration for Aspern is so central to the narrator’s identity that it erodes other considerations of life and personal conduct. This obsession is established early in the story as a type of religious workshop. The narrator remarks in narration, “I took no pains to defend [Aspern]. One doesn’t defend one’s god: one’s god is in himself a defense” (52). This moment establishes the narrator’s view of Aspern as a god, and it also establishes the narrator’s willingness to value his worship of Aspern above matters of critical thought and introspection. The destructiveness of this dynamic is demonstrated throughout the story, as the narrator...