Strangers

Venice
The Comfort of Strangers is similar to Death in Venice since the main characters of both novellas go to a foreign city to rekindle an interest in life. In Death in Venice, Aschenbach is weary of his rational, sedate life devoted to his writing. Colin and Mary seem to be hoping that their travels will bring back the passion they used to share. They all look to Venice with its mysterious winding streets as a place to find what they are missing in life. When he arrives in Venice, Aschenbach sees a fairy tale city, mystery, and debauchery. Yet despite finding this, he is unable to discover what he needs to rejuvenate himself. When the weather does not impress him he is at first quite willing to depart from the city. While staying in the unnamed city, assumed to be Venice, Colin and Mary experience the narrow, winding streets as confusing, mysterious, and disorienting. However, they too are unable to locate what they were hoping would allow them to revive their now passionless relationship.

It ends up being a person in both novellas that allows the main characters to renew their lives. Aschenbach finds inspiration for his writing and a new excitement once he sees Tadzio. For Colin and Mary, meeting Robert is the event which allows them to become close again. While Aschenbach was infatuated with beauty, Colin and Mary seemed to gain intimacy from a shared fear of Robert. Sharing the strange and intense experience of going out with him, spending the night in the street, and staying at his house brought them together. There were then able to talk extensively and be intimate with each other as they had not been in years.