Tonio Kröger
Encyclopedia
Tonio Kröger is a novella by Thomas Mann
, written early in 1901, when he was 25. It was first published in 1903
.
—who knew Thomas Mann personally— observed, Tonio Kröger’s theme is that of the "artist as an exile from reality" (with Goethe
’s Torquato Tasso
(1790) and Grillparzer
’s Sappho (1818) for company). Yet it was also Erich Heller who, earlier, in his own youth, had diagnosed the main theme of Tonio Kröger to be the infatuation and entanglements of a passionate heart, destined to give shape to, intellectualize, its feelings in artistic terms.
(Der Tod in Venedig). They both describe the life of an artist and express Thomas Mann's views on art. In one story the artist travels from south to north, in the other from north to south. One journey ends in a tenuous reconciliation, and the other in death. But, as T. J. Reed
has pointed out,
Thus the importance of the work lies, chiefly, in its autobiographical character, as well as in its contribution, through the description of an amitié particulière, to the theory of love.
The novel was made into a film
in 1964, directed by Rolf Thiele
.
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
, written early in 1901, when he was 25. It was first published in 1903
1903 in literature
The year 1903 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* October 24 - Mark Twain moves to Florence.* The first Goncourt Prize for French literature is awarded to John Antoine Nau....
.
Plot summary
The narrative follows the course of a man's life from his schoolboy days to his adulthood. The son of a north German merchant and an Italian artist, Tonio inherited qualities from both sides of his family. As a child, he experiences conflicting feelings for the bourgeois people around him. He feels both superior to them in his insights and envious of their innocent vitality. This conflict continues into Tonio's adulthood, when he becomes a famous writer living in southern Germany. "To be an artist," he comes to believe, "one has to die to everyday life." These issues are only partially resolved when Tonio travels north to visit his hometown. While there, Tonio is mistaken for an escaped criminal, thereby reinforcing his inner suspicion that the artist must be an outsider relative to "respectable" society. As Erich HellerErich Heller
Erich Heller was a British essayist, known particularly for his critical studies in German-language philosophy and literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.- Biography :...
—who knew Thomas Mann personally— observed, Tonio Kröger’s theme is that of the "artist as an exile from reality" (with Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
’s Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso (play)
Torquato Tasso is a play by the German dramatist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe about the sixteenth-century Italian poet, Torquato Tasso. The play was first conceived in Weimar in 1780 but most of it was written during his two years in Italy, between 1786 and 1788. He completed the play in...
(1790) and Grillparzer
Franz Grillparzer
Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer was an Austrian writer who is chiefly known for his dramas. He also wrote the oration for Ludwig van Beethoven's funeral.-Biography:...
’s Sappho (1818) for company). Yet it was also Erich Heller who, earlier, in his own youth, had diagnosed the main theme of Tonio Kröger to be the infatuation and entanglements of a passionate heart, destined to give shape to, intellectualize, its feelings in artistic terms.
Connection to other works
Tonio Kröger forms a pair with the more famous story, Death in VeniceDeath in Venice
The novella Death in Venice was written by the German author Thomas Mann, and was first published in 1913 as Der Tod in Venedig. The plot of the work presents a great writer suffering writer's block who visits Venice and is liberated and uplifted, then increasingly obsessed, by the sight of a...
(Der Tod in Venedig). They both describe the life of an artist and express Thomas Mann's views on art. In one story the artist travels from south to north, in the other from north to south. One journey ends in a tenuous reconciliation, and the other in death. But, as T. J. Reed
Terence James Reed
T. J. Reed is a prominent British Germanist, an emeritus fellow of the Queen's College, Oxford and a Fellow of the British Academy; he was formerly Taylor Professor of German in the University of Oxford....
has pointed out,
- "In Der Tod in Venedig, Thomas Mann returns from excursions into allegory and once more writes directly about a literary artist. But the directness is not that of Tonio Kröger. There he was expressing lyrically his immediate experience, formulating and coming to terms with what he had gone through..."
Thus the importance of the work lies, chiefly, in its autobiographical character, as well as in its contribution, through the description of an amitié particulière, to the theory of love.
The novel was made into a film
Tonio Kröger (film)
Tonio Kröger is a 1964 German drama film directed by Rolf Thiele, based on the novel of the same name. It was entered into the 14th Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Jean-Claude Brialy - Tonio Kröger* Nadja Tiller - Lisaweta Iwanowna...
in 1964, directed by Rolf Thiele
Rolf Thiele
Rolf Thiele was a German film director, producer and screenwriter. He directed 42 films between 1951 and 1977. He was born in Budweis, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His 1958 film Eva was entered into the 1959 Cannes Film Festival...
.
See also
- Júlia da Silva BruhnsJúlia da Silva BruhnsJúlia da Silva Bruhns was the wife of the Lübeck senator and grain merchant Johann Heinrich Mann, and mother of writers Thomas Mann and Heinrich Mann....
, Thomas Mann's mother, inspiration for Consuelo, Tonio's mother.