The art of dying in Trionfo della morte

Abstract

This article argues that Gabriele D’Annunzio’s protagonist in Trionfo della morte fails to become the superuomo because he pursues beauty in death rather than in life. While Giorgio Aurispa aspires to follow the teachings of Nietzsche and affirm life, his psychological weakness and sick will render him unable to do this. Any energy and willpower that Giorgio does possess is channelled into a morbid direction, alienating him from life and those around him. Giorgio becomes fixated on the ‘beautiful’ deaths of several figures (including Percy Bysshe Shelley and his uncle, who committed suicide) and, rather than imitating Zarathustra’s affirmative attitude towards life, aspires to create an end for himself that matches the beauty of the deaths of these macabre role models. It is Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde that provides the most beautiful – and fatal – model for death, however, and after hearing Wagner’s music D’Annunzio’s protagonist becomes obsessed with recreating a Liebestod. Instead of applying creativity to his life, Giorgio channels his (ebbing) energies into making a work of art of his death; but even here his creativity fails, and his intended Liebestod becomes a desperate suicide and brutal murder.