In his old age, Aschenbach had attained a “dignity and severity” in his work and his life.Ībout two weeks after his afternoon walk in Munich, Aschenbach traveled to an island in the Adriatic. The narrator writes that Aschenbach’s writing became so popular because his own life experience contributed to his portrayal of a certain kind of “elegant self-control that conceals the sapping of strength and biological decay,” and this kind of “heroism of weakness,” struck a chord with people of the time.

His father’s side of the family had all lived “disciplined, respectable, frugal lives,” but his mother was the daughter of an orchestra conductor, so his personality was a “marriage of sober official conscientiousness with darker, more ardent impulses.” He lived an austere, hardworking life, and dedicated himself to his writing.

He decided he needed “an exotic atmosphere,” and planned to go somewhere in the south of Europe.Īschenbach had achieved notoriety as a novelist, short story writer, and critic. He had always been extremely disciplined and worked hard at his writing, but now craved an escape from his work with some vacation. Embarrassed, Aschenbach walked away, but he found he had a sudden urge to travel faraway. He noticed a strange-looking man standing on the portico of a church with red hair and an “unusual appearance.” Aschenbach stared at him, and the foreign-seeming man looked back at him. Gustav von Aschenbach, a famous, well-respected German author, went for a walk one afternoon in Munich, tired from writing all morning.

Death in venice author