The Austrian aristocracy
The estate that Murau inherits is a glorious part of this imagery. Other obvious aspects of life in the nationalistic upper crust include literal appearances, like clothing and makeup, and also the social game of entertainment and socializing and such. The term that comes to mind is "hobnobbing." This aristocratic approach to social life and aesthetics is everything Franz-Josef hates about his culture, and his parents are thoroughly sold on every bit of it, so he looks down on them and eventually leaves the estate behind.
Art and entertainment
Murau's complain against his parents is founded in his experience of this imagery. He says that they are focused on entertainment; they are all appearance, and they literally entertain guests in the estate, which is automatically glorious because it is a wonderful estate, but he sees that underneath their façades, they are shallow and their taste is insipid. He holds them in contempt because they claim to be so cultured, but they have a son who is a cultural genius and they never celebrate him.
Italy as respite
For Murau, it wasn't enough to go to a college somewhere to be away from his folks for awhile. He totally abandons the family, and their Austrian pride, and their passion for their land, and he goes somewhere new, to a different nation entirely. Italy is the imagery of his self-imposed exile and expatriation. He indulges his penchant for art and fancy living in Italy—not in the glamorous way of his father and mother, but in the genuine appreciation of artistic genius.
Exile and homecoming
The whole novel, Murau has disowned his family and their prized possession, the family estate. He says, "I don't identify with that." But when he finally goes home, for his parents' funerals, he literally returns to "his own home," because he has inherited the house he spent his whole young life disavowing. And how does he feel when he sees it? He is doomed with dread and sorrow, because although he proclaimed hatred and indifference, he secretly loves the house, and he knows that he loves the people who lived there.
