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Salome

by Oscar Wilde, Robert Baldwin Ross (Introduction), Aubrey Beardsley (Illustrator), Alfred B. Douglas (Translator)

3.69 of 5 stars 3.69 · rating details · 4,295 ratings · 168 reviews

Written originally in French in 1892, Wilde's one-act tragedy Salome enacts the biblical tale of a wanton woman's erotic dance and the martyrdom of John the Baptist. This volume reprints the complete text of the first English edition (1894) with illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley, plus "A Note on Salome" by Robert Ross....more

Paperback, Abridged, 64 pages

Published August 14th 2002 by Dover Publications (first published 1892)

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Oct 08, 2007 Santosh Kashyap rated it 2 of 5 stars

...I dont know what Wilde had in his mind before writing this book...it appears more as a retold story and completely lacks elements of subtle wits & humour, Wilde is known for...

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Aug 24, 2007 Tracey Duncan rated it 5 of 5 stars

a gothic classic. particularly pleasing if you are now, or have ever been rejected by a man who thought he was better than you.

off with their heads!

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Jun 20, 2012 Julia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

I was excited to read this for two reasons.

1) Its a play, and I don't read play's often. I don't think I've read one in years, so this was quite exciting.

2)I got my hands on a 1935 edition, which, yes, is a little more than 40 years after it was published, but its much closer to the time than we are now. Every time I flipped the page I had the smell of old book overwhelming my senses. It was exciting.

This is a must-read classic, and I'm surprised I hadn't read it before now.

After I couldn't hel...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Bogdan rated it 5 of 5 stars

«я ничего не хочу видеть, не хочу, чтобы меня что-нибудь видело. тушите факелы. скройте луну. скройте звезды.» скройся свет, пронизывающий кисейные занавеси, пронизывающий порывала, под которыми – бледное тело саломеи, подобное луне, печальной луне, луне, ищущей смерти и убийства. луна бледна и печальна, луна алчна, луна заливается кровью, когда целует мертвые уста и когда убиваема солдатами. луна слепа, слепа саломея, не видящая будущего в то время, как все вокруг только и наделены, что глазами...more «я ничего не хочу видеть, не хочу, чтобы меня что-нибудь видело. тушите факелы. скройте луну. скройте звезды.» скройся свет, пронизывающий кисейные занавеси, пронизывающий порывала, под которыми – бледное тело саломеи, подобное луне, печальной луне, луне, ищущей смерти и убийства. луна бледна и печальна, луна алчна, луна заливается кровью, когда целует мертвые уста и когда убиваема солдатами. луна слепа, слепа саломея, не видящая будущего в то время, как все вокруг только и наделены, что глазами, они смотрят, видят и жаждут видеть. кружение взглядов подобно кружению птиц. молодой сириец влюбленно смотрит на пажа ирода, ирод смотрит на саломею, саломея смотрит на иоканаана, иоканаан смотрит на мессию, луна смотрит на водоем.

«я поцелую твой рот, иоканаан. я поцелую твой рот.» сначала я люблю твое белое тело, белое, словно колонна на серебряной подставке – я не люблю твое тело: я люблю твои волосы, подобные гроздям винограда, подобные ливанским кедрам – я не люблю твои волосы: я люблю твой рот, я поцелую твой рот, рот, источающий слова проклятия, сладкий яд, огонь, такой яростный в бледном свете луны, печальной, словно бледная голубица – саломея одержима, одержима этим ртом, отравленным и близким, желанным и недоступным. это илия? но это было триста лет назад, а он так молод. он выходит из водоема, его выводят, но голос его отравлен, даже бледная луна не может смягчить его жестокости. «я в рот твой влюблена, иоканаан. он как алая перевязь на башне из слоновой кости. он как гранат, разрезанный ножом из слоновой кости. цветы граната, что цветут в садах тира,- более красные, чем розы,- не так красны. красные крики боевых труб, возвещающие прибытие царей и внушающие страх врагам, не так красны. твой рот краснее, чем ноги тех, что мнут виноград в давильнях. он краснее, чем ноги голубей, которые живут в храмах и которых кормят священники. он краснее, чем ноги того, кто возвращается из леса, где он убил льва и видел золотистых тигров.» золотые глаза саломеи под золотыми веками – глаза блудницы вавилонской, глаза дочери кровосмесительницы, золотой кубок, наполняемый кровью.

я смотрю – не смотри на нее – я смотрю – не смотри на нее. а между тем молодой сириец убивает себя несмотря на влюбленного пажа, дарившего ему серьги – луна ищет мертвого и не успокоится, пока не обрящет, одного, второго, третьего. чего ты хочешь, саломея? «у меня есть ожерелье из четырех рядов жемчуга. можно подумать, что это луны, нанизанные на серебряные лучи. можно подумать, пятьдесят лун, уловленных в золотую сеть. это носила когда-то одна царица на белой, как слоновая кость, груди. когда ты наденешь его, ты будешь хороша, как царица. у меня есть аметисты двух пород. одни черные, как вино. другие красные, как вино с водою. у меня есть желтые топазы, как глаза тигров, и розовые топазы, как глаза голубей, и зеленые топазы, как глаза кошек. у мена есть опалы, которые всегда светятся очень холодным пламенем, опалы, которые делают душу печальной и боятся мрака. у меня есть ониксы, подобные зрачкам мертвой женщины. у меня есть лунные камни, которые меняются, когда меняется луна, и бледнеют, когда они видят солнце. у меня есть сапфиры, большие, как яйца, и синие, как синие цветы. в них волнуется море, и луна никогда не мутит синевы их волн. у меня есть хризолиты и бериллы, хризопразы и рубины, сардониксы, и гиацинты, и халцедоны, я отдам тебе их все и к ним прибавлю еще много других вещей. царь индии как раз послал мне четыре опахала из перьев попугаев, а царь нубии - одеяние из страусовых перьев. у меня есть кристалл, на который не дозволено смотреть женщинам, и даже молодые люди могут смотреть на него только после того, как их бичевали розгами. в ларчике из перламутра у меня есть три чудесных бирюзы. если их носишь на лбу, можно воображать то, чего нет, а если их носить в руке, то можно женщин сделать бесплодными. эти сокровища - великой ценности. эти сокровища бесценны. и это не все. в эбеновом ларчике у меня два янтарных кубка, подобных золотым яблокам. если в эти кубки враг подмешает яду, они делаются подобны серебряным яблокам. в ларчике, выложенном янтарем, у меня есть сандалии, изукрашенные стеклом. у меня есть одеяния, что из страны шелковичной, и браслеты, украшенные карбункулами и зеленчаками из города евфрата... ну, что же ты хочешь, саломея?» уже слышатся черные крылья, раскинушиеся над дворцом, слышится шелест покрывал, слетающих с тела саломеи в танце, уже царь просит вина, и просит расстегнуть одежды, и просит снять венок из роз – чего же ты хочешь на серебряном блюде, саломея?

одержимость взглядами, одержимость ртом, одержимость танцем и зеребряным блюдом. серебряный щит – зеркало, в котором отражаются закрытые глаза, рот в крови, который целует луна-саломея, отражаются щиты которыми в кровь растирается и убивается тело саломеи. «я поцеловала твой рот, иоканаан, я поцеловала твой рот. на твоих губах был острый вкус. был это вкус крови?.. может быть, это вкус любви. говорят, у любви острый вкус. но все равно. все равно. я поцеловала твой рот, иоканаан, я поцеловала твой рот.»

«пойдем! я не хочу оставаться здесь. идем, говорю я. я уверен, что случится несчастье. манассия, иссахар, осия, тушите факелы. я ничего не хочу видеть, не хочу, чтобы меня что-нибудь видело. тушите факелы. скройте луну. скройте звезды.
скроемся в нашем дворце, иродиада. я начинаю бояться.»

занавес.(less)

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Jul 30, 2012 El rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: late20th-centurylit, thespian-stuff

(Read as part of the Complete Works of Oscar Wilde.)

This was cute! So step-daddy Herod is a dirty old man, being all lascivious and stuff towards Salomé and wanting her to dance for him. There's a lot of, "No, I don't wanna" and a whole lot of Salomé's mother, Herodius, saying, "No, don't make her". Ultimately she does, but insists that when she does so, she wants Jokanaan's head (aka John the Baptist) brought to her on a platter which Herodius was all, "Yeah, DO IT" about.

When you're a dirty ol...more

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Aug 22, 2011 Emily Snyder rated it 5 of 5 stars

My senior year of high school, I read this play as part of an independent course study of Oscar Wilde. My first impression upon completing it was: "Wow. That Salome is seriously f----d up!"

However, four years later while I was searching for a one-act play to direct for my college thesis - and having no particular luck - I remembered this play. Reading it again produced in me quite a different reaction: if Salome is crazed (I was more discreet in my thoughts at that time), then she is so because...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Martin Michalek rated it 4 of 5 stars

Salomé is one of those texts where the ideas presented by the author exceed the text itself. Not performed in England until well after Wilde's death, I found it hardly worthy of a ban by today's standards. But a woman trying to seduce John the Baptist (not to mention it was written by, like, a gay) was understandably of some controversy in Victorian England. Wilde wrote the play in French and it shows. One of Wilde's greatest charms is his ability to play with words and their meaning; to twist e...more

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Jun 04, 2010 Rowland Bismark rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wilde wrote Salomé while frequenting the symbolist circles of late nineteenth-century Paris. Among the symbolists, the legend of the Oriental princess who dances for the head of John the Baptist had experienced a massive revival in both the visual and literary arts. According to his biographers, Wilde drafted the bulk of the play in a single sitting after an evening spent discussing the legend with a number of fellow writers. Taking a break, Wilde stopped by a nearby café that same night and req...more Wilde wrote Salomé while frequenting the symbolist circles of late nineteenth-century Paris. Among the symbolists, the legend of the Oriental princess who dances for the head of John the Baptist had experienced a massive revival in both the visual and literary arts. According to his biographers, Wilde drafted the bulk of the play in a single sitting after an evening spent discussing the legend with a number of fellow writers. Taking a break, Wilde stopped by a nearby café that same night and requested that the orchestra help him in his endeavor by playing something that might conjure a "woman dancing in her bare feet in the blood of a man she has craved for and slain." Wilde completed his play soon thereafter. Significantly, he wrote Salomé entirely in French, and, because of a law forbidding the theatrical depiction of biblical figures, the play never saw production in either English or England during Wilde's lifetime. As a result, Wilde published the work in the original, and actress Sarah Bernhardt later staged it in a production. An English translation of the play by Lord Alfred Douglas appeared in 1894, though Wilde reportedly regretted what he saw as its "schoolboy fault." Hedwig Lachmann produced Salomé's more respectable German translation, which served as the libretto to Richard Strauss's opera of the same name. A number ofSalomé's critics have suggested that Wilde's weakness in French explains the play's at times simple and repetitive dialogue; others have argued for its intentionally mechanical and estranged effects, comparing the piece especially to the work of symbolist Maurice Maeterlinck. It is also possible that Wilde's turn from his native tongue corresponds from a turn from the "native" subjects of his domestic comedies, French figuring here as the language of choice for his Orientalist reverie.

That Salomé concerns itself with looking is about as self-evident as its concern with sex. The Salomé legend, featuring what has been for the West one of the primal scenes of woman-as-spectacle and male spectator, is organized in all its forms around the seductive play of voyeurism and exhibitionism, exhibition and concealment, and the transgression of visual taboos on the body. Invariably, the transgression of these taboos involves illicit sexual desire. Looking in Salomé is dangerous, bringing death on the stage. Thus the image of the prophet that captures Salomé's illicit gaze awakens her lethal desire and the fascination of Herod's incestuous gaze by the image of the dancing Salomé, and her seductive veils binds him to the prophet's execution.

At the center of the play is of course Salomé. Her image fatally captures the male gaze: for looking on her too much, the Syrian will die. Equally significant is Salomé's own "strange look," a look she will cast specifically on Jokanaan, which will demand the prophet's recognition to the point of his death. We elaborate the qualities of this Salomé as spectacle and look further under Motifs. The other forbidden gaze in the play is Herod's. Herod's look upon Salomé is incestuous, lascivious, and grotesque—that of a "mole's eyes" under "shaking eyelids." When Herod's lust for looking leads him to Jokanaan's execution, he will guiltily exclaim that Salomé is punishing him for his look. Thus he will resolve to withdraw from looking altogether, turning from both people and things. This withdrawal prefigures his disgusted retirement from the scene of the visible, where he puts out the palace torches and reduces the stage to darkness: "I will not look at things, I will not suffer things to look at me."

Along with the dancing Salomé, the play's other primary body-as-spectacle is Jokanaan's. As a mystic, Jokanaan would remove himself from worldly desire—again, here organized fundamentally by structures of voyeurism and exhibitionism, look and spectacle—in his apparent "blindness" and invisibility. Reduced to God's mouthpiece, Jokanaan sees nothing. Only gradually does he emerge from his haze to see Salomé—the girl everyone else is looking at—and then immediately refuses to grant her his gaze. As Salomé exclaims, the prophet's blank eyes are above all terrible, like black holes burned in tapestries, dragon caverns, and—in a reference to her attempt to seduce him—lakes troubled by "fantastic moons." The blackness of his eyes marks Jokanaan's refusal to return the enamored princess' gaze by looking at her. Secreted in the cistern and barred from view by royal decree, Jokanaan is also an invisible, tabooed body. Salomé's transgression is her look on him, a look that gives him an eroticized body.

Though Salomé is not directly "about" the Orient, the reader would do well, in an era where many still believe that the "clash of civilizations" is upon us, to take a cue from Edward Said and consider the play's imbrications in the longstanding Western discourse of Orientalism. In this sense, Saloméwould figure less a "portrait" of some supposed Orient than as staging of Victorian fantasies of it. Take, for example, the parenthesis on the Tetrarch's wine toward the beginning of the play. Here the Second Soldier lists Herod's three wines in a series of parallel structures, describing their color and land of origin: purple from Samothrace, yellow from Cyprus, and red from Sicily. Color is evoked in simile: purple like Caesar's cloak, yellow like gold, and red like blood. The listings of the wines is reminiscent of a fairy tale device, the wines mapping the fantastic and exotic world of the play and evoking its trappings of power. Here the language belongs to a fantasy of the exotic Orient, an Orient composed of ornaments, luxurious commodities, wondrous artifacts, fiery passions, and high adventure.

As almost all its critics have noted, Salomé weaves an extensive network of metaphors around the color white, which all link to the moon, Salomé, and the prophet. Key terms in this network include: an unearthly paleness, flowers, silver and doves (in the case of Salomé), sepulchers, ivory, and statues (in the case of Jokanaan). Significantly it elaborates this network in the cast's various acts of looking at the feminized trio, its members appearing as the play's consummate—and most consuming—objects of the look. Thus the play begins with two voyeurs: the Syrian, who marvels at the beautiful princess, and the Page, mesmerized by the moon. The Page's first line is an injunction to look: "Look at the moon!" Though both these voyeurs first appear lost in their own reveries, their respective monologues soon interweave around the pronoun "she." The moon becomes a metaphor for the princess: she is a dead woman rising from a tomb, slowly moving, dancing a dance of death. The link to the prophet, who will himself soon rise from the tomb-like cistern at the back of the stage, is also clear. Thus the image of the moon/princess/prophet heralds the viewers' death. As the Page repeatedly warns the Syrian, if he looks at "her" too much, undoubtedly something terrible will happen.

Importantly, however, not only does the male look at the female: the female looks back and also with fatal results. The play unfolds under the gaze of the moon, a gaze that, as the page notes, searches for the dead. As the Syrian muses, the princess herself has a "strange look" (the play is consistently unable to resist the double entendre); the Page senses the significance of this female look more clearly: "You would fancy she was looking for dead things." This phrase of course parallels the Syrian's own fancy: "You would fancy she was dancing." Again, Salomé's dance is the dance of death. And, in dancing, she looks for dead things. Thus the feminine will bring death here as both look and spectacle.

Salomé features a host of omens symbolizing the death about to befall the palace, the majority of which are perceived by an increasingly desperate, paranoiac Herod and prophesied by Jokanaan. Examples include: the beating wings of the angel of death, the blood in which Herod slips, and the blood-red moon. Some have somatic effects: his garland is like fire and burns his forehead. He tosses it on the table and its petals become bloodstains on the cloth. Certainly one hears the echo of the crown of thorns here. Terrified Herod reflects that one "must not find symbols in everything" as it "makes life impossible." Unlike Herodias, however, Herod would not seek life in an ultimately hopeless denial of metaphor but in metaphor itself—specifically, the reversibility between metaphor's terms. Thus "it is better to say that stains of blood are as lovely as rose petals." Of course, the omen is perhaps characterized by the inflexibility of its metaphoric structures, the stop in the whirligig between a metaphor's terms. Though usually vague in its meaning and thus producing uncontrollable anxiety in its audience, it remains "motivated" nevertheless as a demonstration of some ill fate. Thus the petals are blood because the garland must portent dark times in the palace.(less)

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Jan 31, 2011 Malak Alrashed rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The play tells the story of the execution of John the Baptist the prophet (يحيئ بن زكريا) in one act and how he was beheaded at the request of Salome, a Jewish dancer as it is mentioned in the Bible. The story is pretty familiar for the Muslims too though the Biblical version is a bit different. For those who don't the story it started when John the Baptist stood against the marriage of Salome and Herod Antipas, the ruler of some parts of Palestine and Salome's uncle, John described it as an unl...more The play tells the story of the execution of John the Baptist the prophet (يحيئ بن زكريا) in one act and how he was beheaded at the request of Salome, a Jewish dancer as it is mentioned in the Bible. The story is pretty familiar for the Muslims too though the Biblical version is a bit different. For those who don't the story it started when John the Baptist stood against the marriage of Salome and Herod Antipas, the ruler of some parts of Palestine and Salome's uncle, John described it as an unlawful marriage which made Salome bore a grudge against him for she was interested in her uncle's wealth and later she decides to seduce her uncle in order to make him swear to give her whatsoever she would ask of him, now that he can't break his oath she would demand the head of John the Baptist. Now that's the story that the Muslims (I) know, others might say that Salome was in love with John, but he didn't fall for her and that's why she decided to get a revenge. Or it also may be true that Salome's mother was the one who wants to get married to Herod and when she felt that John was threatening her she used her daughter to seduce Herod and then to ask him to obtain the head of John the Baptist.. so nobody really knows which one is the true story. History of full of mystery!

Here's some links of the story:
1
2
3

So according to my book's introduction, Wilde had thought of the subject since he was first introduced to "Herodias" one of Gustave Flaubert's works, which was first published in France in the 19th century. His interest in Salome's image stimulated by Gustave Moreau's painting (the one in the cover) all this inspired Wilde to write the play. Later, when the rehearsals of the play were first preformed in London the licensor of plays banned it because it was illegal to depict Biblical characters on the stage and blah blah it was premiered in London after a six years. Anyhow, the play is like nothing I have ever read for Wilde! when I first read couple of pages I thought I was reading something for Shakespeare!

I think because the story is already fixed Wilde couldn't put so many imagination in the play neither his philosophical thoughts in criticising the society ->(which is my favourite). The play shows Wilde's poetic skills more than his skills as a novelist. Although Salome is a tragedy you'll read some humour in the most unexpected places. So generally, the play was a good reading to me and it made me think how women can be deeply dangerous, and how weak men can be, but I still prefer Wilde to be Wilde! we've got Shakespeare if we want some historical-tragic plays. (less)

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Dec 27, 2012 Sketchbook rated it 3 of 5 stars

"I have kissed thy mouth, Jokanaan, I have kissed thy mouth."
So exhales Salome in OWs famous-awful play after she receives his head on a silver platter. With his religio rants, Jo was a tiresome bore. Eve, Delilah, Lot's wife -- the Bible views women brutally while serving sex & sadism girdled with inspirational asides. OWs extravaganza is wittily adapted by Ken Russell as "Salome's Last Dance." I got tangled in this Salome mischief after seeing Rita Hayworth's titular calamity in which she...more

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Feb 19, 2012 Zee rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: booksread2012, ebook, plays

'Salome' is probably one of the most notorious femme fatales in literature. But through no fault of the historical or biblical accounts mind you; but rather because of Aubrey Beardsley's grotesque ink panels that were inspired by Wilde's play. Like most people, I became aware of the play through these oriental drawings, yet had a devil of a time finding a translated English version (Wilde originally wrote it in French) anywhere on the the web. However, thanks to pinkmonkey.com I have finally sat...more

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Aug 26, 2007 Alene rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Based on the Bible story of John the Baptist and how his head eventually got served on a silver platter--I'd always wanted to read some Oscar Wilde and heard this one was a little bit sexy so I was intrigued. I liked it, I think a story like that now could be even more intense, but it's written as a play and perhaps that's why it had its limitations. I liked it for what it was, for when it was written, and for the risk he took in doing so at that time.

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Oct 16, 2012 Cheryl rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: play

"Well, Jokanaan, I still live, but thou, thou art dead, and thy head belongs to me. I can throw it to the dogs and to the birds of the air. Ah Jokanaan, Jokanaan, thou wert the only man that I have loved. Ah, wherefore didst thou not look at me, Jokanaan? Thou didst put upon thine eyes the covering of him who would see his God. Well, thou has seen thy God, Jokannaan, but me, me thou didst never see."

"If thou hadst seen me thou wouldst have love me. I, I saw thee, Jokanaan, and I loved thee. Oh,...more

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Sep 09, 2009 J. Alfred rated it 4 of 5 stars

A one act play that is both thought-provoking and disconcerting in a good way. I've never come across one of those. This play, which is a poetic retelling of John the Baptist's beheading, was banned for a long time because people said it was blasphemous. Qua?
Don't we believe that that... you know... happened?
Anyhoo, it's a goodn', and it's got some pretty awe-inspiring Jesus referances, such as when John tells Salome that "there is but one who can save thee" and yet all she can think about is J...more

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May 11, 2012 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: drama

SALOME. (1893). Oscar Wilde. ****.
I didn’t realize that this short one-act play by Wilde was originally written in French. It was ostensibly, according to the dedication, translated by Wilde’s lover, Lord Alfred Douglas – although scholars have since cast doubt as to the extent of Douglas’s real involvement. It is a spare production with few characters: Herod, the Tetrarch of Judea, Herodias, his wife and formerly the wife of his dead brother, Jokaanan, the Prophet, and Salome, the daughter of...more

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Apr 11, 2008 dead letter office rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

if you read this play, you need to get a version with the beardsley illustrations. aubrey beardsley was so far ahead of (or at least apart from) his time it's dizzying. i'm actually not sure there is a time where he would have been at home.

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Feb 03, 2013 Amalie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: plays

First of all, I had no idea this was a one act play. Then I found out it was originally written in French (while Oscar Wilde was in exile in Paris) to avoid the Victorian censorship.

Salome is a tale of complex passion. Oscar Wilde's Salome is not an instrument of Herodias. She's a a sensual, sensitive lover who turns into a vengeful executioner. Her mother, Herodias and the present King had imprisoned and put to death, her father, the former king making her a "Hamlet". She falls in love with Joh...more

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Apr 18, 2010 Núria rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, 4-muy-buenos, decimononicos, literatura-en-ingles, prestados, teatro

Con ‘Salomé’ he encontrado otra obra de Oscar Wilde que me gusta genuinamente. Ya no es sólo en el ‘De profundis’ que veo verdadera pasión. Quizás sea porque Wilde las escribió sin la presión de tener que ser arrebatadoramente ingenioso y sin la necesidad de gustar y adular a cierto tipo de público. La historia la conocemos todos, pero lo importante es la forma en que es contada, como Wilde lleva a su terreno una anécdota bíblica, la intensidad dramática que le otorga. Es una tragedia con todas...more

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May 12, 2012 Hanny added it

Shelves: oscar-wilde

Wilde's aesthetic at its highest pitch, but with less self-awareness than usual. His wit comes through in funny ways ("It is a terrible thing to strangle a king." / "Why? Kings have but one neck, like other folk.") and the Decadent/Symbolist aesthetic is everywhere ([Of Salome:] "She is like the shadow of a white rose in a mirror of silver." / [Of John the Baptist:] "Thy body is white, like lilies of a field that the mower hath never mowed ... They hair is like clusters of grapes, like the clust...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Manish rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

The depiction of the Feast of Herod and Salome with the decapitated head of John the Baptist in sculptures and paintings, made me aware of the story of Salome as narrated in the Bible.

King Herod had married Salome's mother who was in fact the wife of his brother. This incestuous relationship was heavily criticized by John the Baptist. In a fit of passion and drunkenness, Herod requests Salome to dance for him and in return offered to grant her any boon she sought. Salome dances - the infamous d...more

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Mar 18, 2009 Jared rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People who want to like Shakespeare, but are intimidated by the length/language of his stuff.

Recommended to Jared by: Found it while browsing the shelves at the library

Shelves: classic-literature

This is a somewhat rare to read work of Oscar Wilde, which I find sad. The office of censor in France banned the play from being performed, and it has wallowed in relative obscurity since then.

Not intended to be any sort of an accurate historical depiction, it is a great play for what it is. If you take it as a work of art, it will reward you.

I really enjoyed how each character in the play seemed to reveal who they truly were deep inside by how they viewed the personality of the moon. It was rea...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Ron Arden added it

I always wanted to read this play, since I've heard about it for years. Wilde makes short work of the legend of Salome. It's a one scene play that shows how self absorbed and spoiled she is. She demands to kiss the local prophet/man of god Jokanaan, who does not want to grant her wish. Jokanaan is really supposed to be John the Baptist. He raves on about the doom that is coming with a not too veiled series of abusive volleys at Salome's mother, the current queen of Judea. The mother complains ab...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Micha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-century, magister-artium, queer-readings

Given that it forms a portion of my thesis I have no idea how to review it. You think that would make it easier, but it doesn't. I get too distracted, wanting to talk about the Beardsley illustrations, or wanting to talk about the Syrian and the Page, or how it resembles Maeterlinck in style but is really taken from Huysmans and Moreau in substance. And none of these things are very useful to a casual review! I will give you this: to say that someone's hair is like clusters of black grapes is th...more

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Dec 06, 2011 Matthew Leeth rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 13, 2011 Eruwenfuin rated it 5 of 5 stars

This play straddles the brink between comedy and drama. It's fast paced, very fast paced, which lends it a comic air, but at heart it is a moralistic play detailing the death of John the Baptist (Jonakaan) and Salomé's involvement in it.

Having said that, the drama isn't overly heavy and Wilde's comic genius can still be found in more than just the fast pace of this play. The play is riddled with symbolism, and omens and signs, which all come true, and then at the end he gives Tetarch Herod thes...more

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Apr 02, 2010 Bob LaVelle rated it 5 of 5 stars

I worked on this play for a number of years, so I am biased. (How can one dislike a play or a character one is compelled to believe in, to identify with?) This is Wilde at his florid best. The story has everything, sex, violence, mythology, hedonism, all woven into psychedelic poetry. He takes the biblical story of the death of John the Baptist and extrudes it from the mouths of "wild beasts howling." A cultural revolutionary, Wilde was fierce and at least outwardly fearless in his writing and i...more

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Jun 29, 2010 Bruce rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Actually, I read this play in English, not Spanish. This dark and intense play was the source of the libretto for Richard Strauss’ opera of the same name; it is impossible for me to read this work without hearing Strauss’ music. Wilde has a way of plumbing the depths of decadence that is unparalleled, I think, using language that is florid and obsessive, images that are rich and extreme. How easy it is to understand why this play was banned from performance for so long, why it so upset people of...more

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Apr 24, 2011 Anthony rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: top-10

Oscar Wilde's crowning achievement as an artist. This play is not bogged down by the semantic witticism of many of his others but is a pure expression of fin de siecle decadence and despair. The things that we desire the most are the very things that will destroy us. Wilde weaves black and white shadows with his prose that are so sludgy you can practically see the ink pool and bleed on the page. This play is ambient and atmospheric, like a prophetic dream of an ancient tragedy. I could read this...more

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Jan 11, 2011 Amandine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: théâtre-et-opéra, 19e-siècle

J'ai trouvé cette pièce intéressante. J'aimerais la voir représentée sur scène: je crois que les répétitions auraient encore plus de force déclamées. J'ai aimé les répétitions et les parallélismes: ils accentuent vraiment les paroles et désirs des personnages pendant une scène assez courte. Je ne pouvais pas manquer d'aimer les oppositions entre certaines répliques de Salomé, notamment quand elle parle du prophète (ses cheveux, sa bouche, etc.), et toutes les images développées autour de la lune...more

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Dec 22, 2011 Tabitha rated it 3 of 5 stars

Almost immediately after my initial read of this play a couple of days ago, I rated it as having two stars. The familiarity of the story of John the Baptist from my Catholic grammar school years made the plot a little stale for me, I guess. However, over the past couple of days I've noticed certain symbols and metaphors from the play surfacing from my subconscious and inspiring my personal work, and the beauty of the piece continues to reveal itself slowly. Something about Salomé resonated with...more

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About Oscar Wilde

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish playwright, poet and author of numerous short stories and one novel. Known for his biting wit, and a plentitude of aphorisms, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day. Several of his plays continue to be widely performed, especially The Importance of Being E...more

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Quotes from Salome

“The mystery of love is greater than the mystery of death.” — 521 people liked it

“It is not wise to find symbols in everything that one sees. It makes life too full of terrors.” — 31 people liked it

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