 In 1680 John Bunyan referred to it as "the captain of all these men of death".Several major operas have exploited the theme of heroines dying tragically of tuberculosis, including
Mimì in Puccini's opera "La bohème".Giuseppe Verdi's "La Traviata" features the consumptive Violetta Valéry, based on Marguerite Gautier in Alexandre Dumas, "fils"'s 1848 novel "La Dame aux Camélias".