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Death in Venice

by Thomas Mann

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What is the relationship between Aschenbach and Tadzio in "Death in Venice"?

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The relationship between Aschenbach and Tadzio in "Death in Venice" is entirely one-sided and exists only in Aschenbach's imagination. Aschenbach, an older writer, becomes obsessed with the 14-year-old Tadzio, whom he idealizes from afar. Despite never meeting Tadzio, Aschenbach follows him obsessively and even risks his life to remain near him, ultimately succumbing to cholera.

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The relationship between von Aschenbach and Tadzio is extremely one-sided in that von Aschenbach, a much older man and a famous writer who was once married to a woman, becomes essentially obsessed with Tadzio, a fourteen-year-old boy, to the extent that he risks his life for the ideal of his "love." Tadzio has no real feelings for von Aschenbach, although after von Aschenbach has begun to pursue him more aggressively, it becomes clear that Tadzio knows the older man is following him. But Tadzio does not actively encourage the relationship.

Fantasizing about Tadzio, von Aschenbach imagines himself as Socrates and Tadzio as Phaedrus, casting their relationship in the guise of the Greek mentor/mentee ideal, wherein an older man takes a younger man under his wing and there is mutual love and affection. In reality, this is not the case. Von Aschenbach whispers "I love you" only after Tadzio has left the vicinity, and his obsession with the boy causes him to do things he had previously found perverse, such as wearing rouge to look younger. In the end, his obsession with the boy causes him to stay in Venice even though he knows an epidemic is coming, and essentially his pursuit of Tadzio leads to his death.

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