Der Tor und der Tod

Tor und der Tod, Der, a verse play in one short act by H. von Hofmannsthal, written in 1893 and published in 1894. Claudio, whose life has been spent in perceiving the reflection of life in art, and has never given himself entirely to any person, is approached by Death, who, fiddle in hand, suggests a medieval dance of death, a motif which is accentuated by the dress of Death and those accompanying him, ‘altmodisch nur von Tracht, / Wie Kupferstiche angezogen sind’. Claudio seeks to dismiss Death on the ground that he has not yet lived; Death produces his witnesses, Claudio's mother (Die Mutter), das junge Mädchen, who had loved him, and his friend (Der Mann). In his egocentric aestheticism, Claudio has aroused no devotion in others (‘Der keinem etwas war und keiner ihm’). Only in the last, the parting moment, does it dawn upon Claudio what it means to live.