Salome: A Tragedy in One Act

Translated from the French of Oscar Wilde with illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley [1894]. Salome is a tragedy by Oscar Wilde. The original 1891 version of the play was in French. Three years later an English translation was published. The play tells in one act the Biblical story of Salome, stepdaughter of the tetrarch Herod Antipas, who, to her stepfather's dismay but to the delight of her mother Herodias, requests the head of Jokanaan (John the Baptist) on a silver platter as a reward for dancing the dance of the seven veils. Wilde's play Salome is the distortion of the Biblical story through the creation of Salome as a victim and victimiser. She is the incarnation of seductive lust and manipulative power. Salome is the object of lust and perverted desire leading to her twisted obsession in the beheading of John the Baptist. Keijser believes that Wilde was influenced by the Bible's word choice and style, adapting Bible verses and diction generously. Biblical images, symbols, and diction are referenced from the Gospels, Isaiah, Song of Solomon and the Book of Revelation. Wilde even gives John the Baptist a more derived biblical Hebrew name with Iokannan.