Der Tod in Venedig

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a b Letter to Wolfgang Born dated March 18, 1921. In: Thomas Mann: Briefe I: 1889–1936, ed. Erika Mann. Fischer 1979. p. 185.

The novella is rife with allusions from antiquity forward, especially to Greek antiquity and to German works (literary, art-historical, musical, visual) from the 18th century. Well! What a conflicting piece of fiction. The novella seems fairly divisive amongst critics, but one thing that I think most of us can agree on, is that the novella is a discomfiting piece of writing. I suspect this was so for the author as well as for his readers. Some interesting thoughts there, though I disagree with the sentiments expressed in bold. Were these the thoughts of the protagonist, or the author himself? From his notes, it would seem that these were actually Mann's own sentiments. They do seem a perfect rationalization for a man in Achenbach's position to make though, which makes them pretty fitting in their context, I must concede.So it doesn’t come as a surprise that even Gustav Aschenbach, notwithstanding the fame and dignity safely held in his bag of accolades, gropes for purpose in his new found state of ripe mind. Nothing is a bigger curse for a writer than to have hit a plateau from where all the previous works appear a distant dream and the present air leaves nothing for the fertile imagination to latch on. In search of this elusive purpose, after declaring many destinations unfit for ideation, he halts at Venice at a quaint hotel and opens the window of his room to the sea, inviting both its calmness and ferocity to wash his rusted mind panes with inspiring waves. Tadzio ist „das Werkzeug einer höhnischen Gottheit“, des rauschhaften und zügellosen Gottes Dionysos. Er ist zugleich aber auch Hermes Psychopompos, der Aschenbach letztendlich in den Tod bzw. das Meer geleitet.

Mann also remarks on Tadzio's narcissism with acute insight. According to The Real Tadzio: Thomas Mann's Death in Venice and the Boy Who Inspired It, the latter was indeed a pretty narcissistic person who enjoyed the attentions of older men, so Mann was pretty spot-on with his portrayals. There is a predatory element to this novel that makes the reader cringe. Unlike the perversion in Lolita, this perversion is kept in the right perspective for me; the child is innocent and there is no pretense that there is anything pure or acceptable about the thoughts of this old man.Over the next days and weeks, Aschenbach's interest in the beautiful boy develops into an obsession. He watches him constantly and secretly follows him around Venice. One evening, the boy directs a charming smile at him, looking, Aschenbach thinks, like Narcissus smiling at his own reflection. Disconcerted, Aschenbach rushes outside, and in the empty garden whispers aloud "I love you!" Guido Fuchs (Hrsg.): Tadzios Brüder. Der „schöne Knabe“ in der Literatur. Monika Fuchs, Hildesheim 2015, ISBN 978-3-940078-42-1. Herkunft, Lebensweg und Charakter Aschenbachs werden beschrieben, dazu seine Werke, ihr literarischer Stellenwert und ihre Publikumswirkung.

Der gespenstisch wirkende Zahlmeister während der Schiffsreise nach Venedig erinnert an den Totenschiffer Charon, der in der Vorstellung der griechischen Antike die Verstorbenen in den Hades übersetzte und dafür als Fährmannslohn einen Obolus erhielt. This man was ready to sacrifice on the altar of art, the strength he had garnered from his sleep. This is his story.

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Thomas Mann selbst hat den Tod in Venedig in seinem Lebensabriss die „Tragödie einer Entwürdigung“ genannt und dabei den Begriff Tragödie durchaus wörtlich gemeint, denn seine Novelle weist gleich mehrere klassizistische Merkmale auf: Ceea ce-l intrigă pe protagonist este mai întîi un miros ciudat de dezinfectant, de acid fenic. Are o vagă bănuială cînd ascultă liturghia în basilica San Marco: „în mireasma dulceagă şi grea a catedralei simţi deodată strecurîndu-se un alt miros, mirosul oraşului bîntuit de molimă”. Ceva nu-i în ordine. Dorește să afle adevărul, consultă ziarele italiene, dar nu găsește nimic despre holeră. A intervenit cenzura. Îl întreabă pe patronul hotelului, dar primește răspunsuri vagi, ocolitoare: „Aşa a poruncit poliţia. Astea sînt prescripţiile, domnule”. E limpede că „blestemata sete de bani” îi oprește pe comercianți să recunoască franc realitatea: ar da faliment. Cînd vorbesc despre epidemie, îi diminuează proporțiile: nu-i ceva grav, e doar o măsură preventivă. Sună cunoscut, nu-i așa? He softly pits intellectual beauty against corporeal beauty and questions whether attaining the fulsome body of the former, can, in any way, deride the necessity of the latter’s blossoming. He also nudges us to consider the propriety of actions taken under the influence of relationships which, in the safety net of sanguinity, can deluge the delicate fabric of morality. He also presses us to weigh the artistic liberties in the light of societal approvals and take a stand. Tobias Kurwinkel: Apollinisches Außenseitertum. Konfigurationen von Thomas Manns „Grundmotiv“ in Erzähltexten und Filmadaptionen des Frühwerks. Mit einem unveröffentlichten Brief von Golo Mann zur Entstehung der Filmadaption „Der kleine Herr Friedemann“. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-8260-4624-7

France, Peter (2000). The Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation. Oxford University Press. pp. 333-334. ISBN 0198183593. ("disastrous ... a reworked, sanitized version of the text".) Aschenbach considers warning Tadzio's mother of the danger; however, he decides not to, knowing that if he does, Tadzio will leave the hotel and be lost to him. But Aschenbach is not rational; "nothing is as abhorrent to anyone who is beside himself as returning into himself.... The awareness that he was complicit, that he too was guilty, intoxicated him...." [2] Now, when confronted with the exotic, sensation-filled atmosphere of Venice, von Aschenbach’s suppressed desires bubble to the surface, and his carefully constructed, intellect-driven world crumbles in the face of the onslaught. <>"His head and his heart were drunk, and his steps followed the dictates of that dark god whose pleasure it is to trample man's reason and dignity underfoot." Swiftly, our protagonist finds himself at the other extreme, a slave to his passions, the object of which is encapsulated in the character of Tadzio. Here is a text that frightened me and in which I am happy to have been able to penetrate with delight, with concentration also because it is true that the beast is austere and does not offer itself easily. It also relentlessly demonstrated in this novel that confronting pure beauty, "the only idea that can contemplate," inevitably leads to the idea of ​​death.Der Gondoliere rudert von Aschenbach nicht zur Vaporetto-Station, sondern gegen dessen Willen über die Lagune zum Lido. Nachdem zuvor die Gondel mit einem Sarg verglichen worden ist, entsteht beim Leser eine Charon-Assoziation. Die letzte Überfahrt ist ebenfalls ohne Umkehr und der Fährmann bestimmt das Ziel. wurde die Novelle von dem italienischen Regisseur Luchino Visconti unter dem Titel Morte a Venezia (deutsch: Tod in Venedig) mit Dirk Bogarde als Aschenbach verfilmt.