Line #14 Literature/DeathInVenice


1	[[quoteright:297:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/574924.jpg]]
2
3	''Death in Venice'' is a 1912 novella written by the German author Thomas Mann (original title ''Der Tod in Venedig''). The story centers around an aged writer, Gustav von Aschenbach, who travels to Venice on the advice of his doctor and falls in love with a stunningly good-looking, aristocratic boy of fourteen, Tadzio, to whom he never speaks. Gustav finds himself drawn deeply into a ruinous inward passion, which has bad consequences for him as there is a cholera epidemic currently going down in the city.
4
5	The novella is highly autobiographical: while holidaying in Venice, thirty-seven-year-old Mann, a married father, had crushed from afar on a ten-year-old Polish aristocrat, Wladyslaw Moes. Music/BenjaminBritten adapted the story into an opera, and director Creator/LuchinoVisconti made a 1971 film adaptation (''Film/MorteAVenezia'') starring Creator/DirkBogarde and Björn Andrésen. It also served as the primary inspiration for Gilbert Adair's 1990 novel ''Literature/LoveAndDeathOnLongIsland'', a more humorous take on the novel which also gives it a SettingUpdate to 1990s America, and in turn received a 1997 film adaptation by director Richard Kwietniowski, starring Creator/JohnHurt and Creator/JasonPriestley.
6
7	%%A direct adaptation is set to release 2023, with Creator/KennethBranagh returning Poirot, as well as director.
8	----
9	!!This work provides examples of:
10
11	* BlueBlood: The boy was born into nobility; Aschenbach was recently raised to nobility for his artistic achievements.
12	* BuryYourGays: Aschenbach ultimately dies.
13	* DownerEnding: Because of Gustav's reluctance to leave Venice (because it will mean leaving Tadzio), he contracts and dies of the cholera that is sweeping the city.
14	* LongHairedPrettyBoy: Tadzio.
15	* LongingLook: The way Aschenbach looks at Tadzio throughout his stay.
16	* LoverAndBeloved: Aschenbach constructs a complex fantasy life around the boy.
17	* LoveAtFirstSight: Aschenbach is instantly struck by Tadzio's beauty.
18	* LoveEpiphany: The boy's beauty makes Aschenbach aware of true artistic beauty.
19	* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Gustav starts to do crazy things, like dye his hair and wear makeup, in order to appear younger for the boy.
20	* MostWritersAreWriters: Tells of the downfall of a successful novelist.
21	* PrettyBoy: Tadzio
22	* StalkerWithACrush: Gustav's obsession with Tadzio has more than a few shades of this.
23	* UnresolvedSexualTension: Aschenbach's desire is painted in non-sexual terms, but c'mon...
24	* WhatBeautifulEyes: Tadzio's most striking feature, at least according to Gustav.
25	* WretchedHive: Pre-UsefulNotes/WorldWarI Venice is portrayed as a CrapsaccharineWorld version of one, a city that hides growing corruption under a pretty face.
26	* YoungerThanTheyLook: Both Mann and his wife estimated the age of the fascinating boy who was the inspiration for Tadzio was around 13-14. He was actually only 10 years old at the time.

Context Literature / DeathInVenice