Der Tod in Venedig by Thomas Mann was published in 1912. An English translation by Kenneth Burke with the title Death in Venice was published in 1925.
Why did Thomas Mann write this book? What was his inspiration? This book is based on a combination of three facts:
# 1. In 1911, Thomas Mann and his wife Katia went on a holiday to Italy during which they stayed in a hotel on the Lido di Venezia.
# 2. While they stayed there, Thomas Mann noticed a Polish boy who was on a holiday with his family. Thomas Mann was fascinated by the Polish boy, because he was so beautiful.
# 3. The famous composer Gustav Mahler, whose music Thomas Mann liked, died in 1911.
Starting with these three facts, Thomas Mann wrote his book Der Tod in Venedig.
The main character is Gustav von Aschenbach, a writer, who travels to Italy, more precisely to Venice, where he stays in a hotel on the Lido di Venezia, just like Thomas Mann and his wife did in 1911.
Gustav von Aschenbach is a fictional character. Thomas Mann gave him the first name Gustav to remember Gustav Mahler. When he describes him, he makes him look like Gustav Mahler.
While he stays in the hotel, Gustav notices an Italian boy whose name is Tadzio. Gustav is fascinated by Tadzio, because he is so beautiful. Just like Thomas Mann was fascinated by the beautiful Polish boy.
Gustav follows the boy and his family when they cross the water to visit Venice. But he never talks to him. He looks at him from a distance. He dreams about him, but he never takes any action.
Gustav was married and he had a daughter. But then they both died. Now he is all alone in the world.
When he stays in this hotel and when he notices the Italian boy, he realises that he is attracted to him. Perhaps he is bisexual? Perhaps he is homosexual? He knows it is dangerous to take any action. At that time, homosexual acts were illegal in Italy as well as in Germany.
When Thomas Mann is writing about the fictional character Gustav von Aschenbach, he is in fact writing about himself.
Thomas Mann was married. When he wrote Death in Venice, he was the father of four children. In 1918 and 1919, two more children were born. But he did not look at other women. He was was fascinated by handsome young men.
He never took any action. He knew it was illegal to do so. He was not going to be a victim of the infamous paragraph 175 which made homosexual activities illegal.
How did he deal with this aspect of his personality? He used his observations in his published works, as he did with Death in Venice, and he revealed his inner feelings in his private diaries.
Perhaps he was bisexual? Perhaps he was homosexual? He never talked about it in public. He had to hide this aspect of his personality.
His oldest son Klaus (1906-1949) was a gay man. He did not try to hide this fact. He was quite open about it.
His oldest daughter Erika (1905-1969) was a lesbian woman. She did not try to hide this fact. She was quite open about it.
Thomas Mann died in 1955. When he died, his private diaries were sealed. In 1975, twenty years after his death, the diaries were no longer sealed.
When scholars studied the diaries, they found several passages which confirmed what many observers had suspected while he was alive:
Thomas Mann was fascinated when he saw young man with a beautiful body.
During the years when he and his family lived in exile in California, he would sometimes go to the beach.
He would sit and watch the people around him. But he did not look at young beautiful women. He was fascinated by the presence of handsome young men.
He never acted on his feelings. He used them in his work. He attributed his own personal feelings to a character in his published work and mentioned the fact in his diary.
This is how he dealt with this aspect of his personality.
This is why he wrote Der Tod in Venedig.
PS. The book Der Tod in Venedig was transformed into a historical drama which premiered in 1971.
The drama is directed by the Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti. Dirk Bogarde plays the role of Gustav von Aschenbach, while the Swedish actor Björn Andrésen plays the role of the Italian boy Tadzio.
In the book, Gustav is a writer. But in the drama, he is a composer, and music by Gustav Mahler is used in the drama.
What do reviewers say about this drama?
Here are some answers:
** 73 percent = IMDb
** 71 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)
** 81 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)
I do not understand the numerous positive reviews.
In my opinion, this drama is highly overrated.
REFERENCE
*****
Death in Venice
By Thomas Mann
An English translation by Kenneth Burke
was published in 1925
Several English translations of this work are available
*****
Death in Venice
This historical drama premiered in 1971
*****
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