Der Tod in Venedig

eath in Venice, as Thomas Mann himself described it, is a "novella of a daring, if not impossible subject," referring to the sudden "irruption of passion" into the life of a person with homoerotic inclinations.

The no-longer-young writer Gustav Aschenbach-whose features recall those of Gustav Mahler-discovers on the Lido of sultry, sweltering Venice the figure of the beautiful boy Tadzio. In his thoughts he reaches out toward him, gradually intensifying into an unfulfilled love, of which he ultimately becomes the victim.

Text based on the version of the Great Commented Frankfurt Edition (GKFA).