Sylvester Levay - Tumblr Posts

I am thinking once again about Elisabeth das Musical and Death.

Recently Overly Sarcastic Productions' Red presented a video on the fictional depiction of Death. And I thought about my favorite assassin faery king/meow meow feral wet cat Der Tod. During my video essay, I only mentioned a few interpretations of Death without digging into it. But I realized that the interpretation where Der Tod is not an independent character - but as a personification of a troubled psyche perhaps - doesn't have to be confined to the experience of an individual.

In the musical, a lot of deaths are shown or alluded to. But what is curious about the total death toll in is that Der Tod only appears to a handful of characters.

If Der Tod is an independent psychopomp character, wouldn't it make consistent logical sense if he comes to deliver every single soul passed away? The Takarazuka Revue production definitely leans more heavily into this interpretation. Which makes him appear like a deity associated with Death but not the event of death itself.

The pre-2012 Der Tod is more nuanced combining characteristics of death itself and representation of psychological darkness to create ambiguity. But what if these 2 things overlap and he represents both?

Here's the thing!

Der Tod is only relevant in the lives and deaths of 3 characters: Elisabeth, Rudolph, and Lucheni. Old Sophie's death is a fade-to-black. Baby Sophie's death, Der Tod appears in front of - NOT SOPHIE - but ELISABETH. And this is no coincidence! These are 3 characters who contemplate Death the most. Not just in the sense that they are su*c*dal but they ponder much about lives and subsequently the concept of death.

So that brings me to the question: what does it all mean?

Death is, after all, the only universal experience every human must face. And we as humans don't just stop at knowing, but we actively think about what death means, and tell stories about the experience of living and dying. The fact that Der Tod is intimate with multiple characters can represent the collective contemplation of Death.

And his relationship with them begs the question:

Is he more powerful, the more we think of him?

´´ÁIRWOLF´´ Recordamos a Este Clasico de la Tv de Los Ochentas.......Emitida originalmente en Estados Unidos a lo largo de cuatro temporadas, sumando entre las cuatro un total de 79 episodios.

´´ÁIRWOLF´´ Recordamos a Este Clasico de la Tv de Los Ochentas.......Emitida originalmente en Estados Unidos a lo largo de cuatro temporadas, sumando entre las cuatro un total de 79 episodios.