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Salome: [A tragedy in one act, (Illustrated library)

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The Salome legend has its beginnings in the Gospels of Matthew (14:3-11) and Mark (6:17-28), which tells of the beheading of John the Baptist at the instigation of Herodias, wife of Herod. The queen was angered by John's denunciation of her marriage as incestuous (she had been married to Herod's brother). In both accounts, Herodias uses her daughter (unnamed in scripture but known to tradition, through Josephus, as Salome) as the instrument of the prophet's destruction by having her dance for Herod. The story of Salome was prominent in both literature and the visual arts until the end of the Renaissance, and was revived in the nineteenth century by Heinrich Herne, and explored by such divergent authors as Gustave Flaubert, Stephane Mallarme, Joris-Karil Huysmans, and Oscar Wilde.

Wilde wrote "Salome" in French in 1893 for the famous actress Sarah Bernhardt. The play was performed once in Paris in 1904, and today is much better known as the libretto for Richard Strauss' operetta. In large part Wilde ignores the idea that Heroidas is the prime mover behind John death, focusing instead on the eroticism of Salome's passions for the Baptist. In this version of the story, John rejects the princess who then dances the infamous Dance of the Seven Veils for Herod to achieve her revenge. Of course, fans of Wilde, or at least those who know the highlights of his life's story, will recognize the name of Lord Alfred Douglass, the translator of the play into English. However, whatever the merits of the play, the chief attraction of this volume remains the illustrations.

Aubrey Beardsley was an important artist in the Esoteric Art movement of the "fin du siecle" (end of the 19th-century). A close friend of Oscar Wilde, he did both the illustrations and stage designs for Wilde's play "Salome." Obviously Beardsley represents the "Art Nouveau" school, but he also showed an affinity with the Symbolists and Pre-Raphaelite schools as well, all of which explored the rich symbolism of Judeo-Christian and pre-Judeo-Christian Pagan mythos. In this context the story of Salome is ideal. However, Beardsley remains the most controversial artist of the Art Nouveau era, renowned for his dark and perverse images and the grotesque erotic themes which he explored in his later work. Beardsley was not interested in creation any illusion of reality, but like the Eastern artists he studied, was concerned with making a beautiful design within a given space. His work on "Salome" is considered some of his finest examples of decadent erotica. This volume has 20 such illustrations, including those originally suppressed when the book was first published in 1905.

This play takes a psychotic murderer from the bible who used her beauty and sex appeal to get her way...and turns her into a wholly sympathetic character. The star of this play is charged with life and vitality and a kind of beautiful, moving viciousness, and Oscar Wilde reminds us that Salome was not the [person] portrayed in the Bible and most Christian literature. She was an old-fashioned fairytale princess, albeit one capable of murder, and she had never truly loved a man before Iokanaan.

As for Iokanaan (the exotic Hebrew name given to John the Baptist), he is arrogant, vicious, and cold, and his emotional brutality toward Salome makes him literally impossible to like--an interesting portrayal of this so-called "Holy Man" and a reminder that John the Baptist was not a Christian, but an old-fashioned, "law of Moses", stone-casting Hebrew of the time.

Still, above and beyond the characters is the trademark beauty of Wilde's word-play, which in my opinion has never quite equaled this anywhere else. From the ironic wit of Herodias ("There are others who look too much at her"), to the sappy, empty-headed, yet still beautiful pomposity of Herod, to the pitiable misery of Narraboth, a young Syrian guard who loves Salome, to the religious rants and prophecies of Iokanaan (mostly re-written Bible verses), every word of the play is a treasure.

However, none of these things can equal Salome's adoring eloquence when describing Iokanaan's beauty. Every word of that speech is a treasure. The fact that she loves him is, in fact, the only thing that makes Iokanaan likeable to any degree. This play proves that Oscar Wilde can actually write serious literature as well as or better than he can write witty banter.

Of all the stage plays I have ever had the privilege of experiencing, this one is by far the most dear to me. You haven't lived until you have at least read it. Get this manuscript; it is the most precious you will ever buy.

Salome is a play based on the bibical story of the beheading of John the Baptist. As the story opens, Salome becomes fascinated by this man of God, and the fascination quickly devolves into lust. She desires John and does her best to tempt him. However, John doesn't give in and he holds onto his faith. With each rejection, she becomes angrier and angrier. In the end, she is driven to bloodlust, and orders for the head of John the Baptist.

The language of this play is beautiful to read and highly poetic. This is one of the best plays for reading. Of course you can draw your own conclusions as to the relationship between lust and bloodlust. False passions lead to bad ends.

The last reviewer has totally missed the genius of this incredible dramatic work. The story as told in this one act play has nothing to do with the theology of Christian Biblical Mythology. It is a carefully constructed a meticulously executed examination of 'real' personalities interacting within a particular network of historical and social relationships. The unfulfilled passion which drives Wilde's Salomé to murderous revenge is deeply convincing within the context and the characterisation of the personalities created by this greatly inspired Anglo-Irish dramatist.

Complaining that a literary work does not reflect accurately some personally perceived 'historical' truth is like complaining about the historical accuracy of Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar' - it is missing the point entirely!

This play is a gripping, fast-moving tragedy which deals with the darker side of human nature vividly, imaginatively and with unguarded honesty. It is not, of course, like Wilde's other more popular plays which were designed to be humorous, witty and light. This like 'De Profundis'' "A picture of Dorian Gray' or some of his truly magnificent later poems, ranks as one of Wilde's greatest contributions to modern English literature. If you haven't already read it, do so - or better still - buy a few copies and stage it!

Oscar Wilde's 1905 shocking, controversial play is no longer as disturbing to modern desensitized audiences and critics/literary scholars who recognize it as a play of psychological/Freudian aspects and as a fin-de-siecle example of the Decadence movement in the arts. Wilde's flowery, poetically lyrical, Biblically-influenced orutund words is devilishly at variance with its cruel violence and horror. In this edition, we are treated to the full illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley, Wilde's friend and himself a playwright and exponent of the Decadence. The pictures are dark, erotically charged but full of feminine lines and flowery imagery which were typical of Art-Noveau style in art/architecture. This is the entire play in a single act and I find makes a eye-grabbing book to put on your coffee table so guests can marvel at it. You'd be surprised to see the looks I get from them whenever they see the cover art!!

Wilde did not regard this work as his greatest when compared to his others, most notably The Importance Of Being Earnest. Shortly after Salome premiered, Oscar Wilde poked fun at himself and his play by dressing in drag in Salome's sexy costume for a photograph. It's likely Wilde had a bit of fun in writing a play that was bound to turn heads in a society fresh out of the Victorian Era. The words are indeed poetic and beautiful descriptions of nature, spirituality and romance mix with carnal innuendo.

The main characters- King Herod, Queen Herodias and Salome- are each in dire need of therapy, though they themselves may not admit it being a vainglorious and proud royal family. Queen Herodias became a target of John the Baptists' righteous anger and condemnation because according to old Mosaic Law she sinned by marrying the brother of her deceased first husband and thus committed incest. Full of hatred for the Prophet, she waited for the right moment to extract her revenge as well an opportunity to get him to "shut up" forever through his death. John the Baptist languished in prison at King Herod's Palace Dungeon, though in Wilde's play it was changed to a cistern in the palace courtyard garden. Herod thought it better he live the rest of his life in prison rather than be executed, for internally, Herod had always suspected that John was a reincarnation of the long dead Prophet Elias. Perhaps he thought that his presence would bring good fortune to his home. Herod has his own complexities. This is not the same Herod who ordered the deaths of the infants upon Jesus's birth. This Herod, possibly the son, ruled Jerusalem as a puppet-king and was a sycophant to the Roman Emperor. He lusted after his own daughter or stepdaughter Salome. "You stare at her too much" says the jealous Herodias whom we assume is aging and lackluster compared to her teenage, nubile daughter. Herod entertains sexual thoughts about his daughter and is aroused when she dances her famous Dance of the Seven Veils. I don't buy that he was just dead drunk. He has always lusted after Salome. But...he was in awe of John the Baptist and secretly respected him which is why he is so reluctant and even opposed to have his head severed upon Salome's request.

As for the eponymous heroine herself, she has been a subject of scholarly chat, art, literature, poetry and music throughout the years. Richard Strauss composed a celebrated opera based on this very play in 1905 and the soprano singing the role is in for a challenge because not only must she look young and dance, but her voice must be gargantuan and yet delicate. Salome found herself within the poetic themes of French poet Stephen Mallarme among others and orchestral compositions were made about her. Why does Salome ask for the head of Jon the Baptist ? Simply put, she's crazy young girl. She is only a teenager, probably between the ages of 15 and 18, awakening to her own sexuality which can be a confusing time. She is naive and inexperienced, spoiled rotten and mentally disturbed. She is fascinated with Jon the Baptist as a child would be with a new toy. He is foreign, exotic and mysterious to her and that's what makes him sexually attractive to her. More specifically, she is enamored of his lips though she believes the rest of his features are hideous. Since the Prophet rejects women and worldly things, he scolds Salome's sinfulness and refuses to kiss her, refuses to even turn and look at her face to face. This spurs Salome's anger. No man has ever found her unattractive or turned her down. The Palace Guard Nabbaroth kills himself out of frustated love for her. Many men are intoxicated by her beauty. The jealous, sexually frustrated Salome has reason enough to want Jon the Baptist's head on a platter. I have always felt that Salome was not a naive, thoughtless girl that her mother the Queen used as a pawn for her own revenge, as the Bible seems to imply. Salome had her own reasons for wanting the head of the Prophet. The truth is very disturbing as it would seem that Salome wanted his severed head as a sexy toy. "You would not suffer to kiss me when you were alive," she says in the play," and now you're dead and I'm alive and I have kissed your lips, Jochanaan." Necrophilia at its ugliest! It was for a sick, sexual pleasure that she demanded his head. Yet for all this, Wilde makes her a sympathetic, pitiful figure. We the audience are able to see her thought process through her words each time the Prophet rejects her and we see before our eyes her mental breakdown. Even so, one cannot help but wonder if this child of sin is right about certain claims she brings up. Salome believes that if John the Baptist had turned to look at her just once, he would have fallen in love with her. Could this be true ? Is this why the Prophet controlled himself and averted his eyes ? Salome claims that the Prophet is the only man she ever truly loved, which is a fallible even illogical statement when considering Salome appears to be a virgin, a girl on her first crush and has never experienced mature adult sexual relationships. Salome may be a ditzy, emotional and mental wreck but she has one of the most thought-provoking and inspirational lines I've ever heard in a play: "The mystery of love is greater than the mystery of death" which contain in its own way a kind of spirituality. Throught the play the most mysterious, unknowable character is John the Baptist, who, parrot-like, quotes Biblical passages and preaches in a fire-and-brimstone kind of way and never once reveals any of his true character. The play is great and though it's not performed today, it continues to fascinate readers everywhere. And by the way, the proper pronounciation for Salome is not "salami" like the food but sounds more French: Sa-Lo-May.

Beardsley's illustrations for Wilde's "Salome" are quite well known. I enjoyed seeing them, in unexpurgated forms, in the context of the script they were meant to adorn. I think I can see wonderful possibilities in staging that play, where modern sensibilities could show and accept what England of 1892 could not. Even so, I found the script itself somewhat repetitive, with more in it to startle than to explain. Perhaps there's a knack to reading this script that I haven't mastered.

This isn't the only place to find Beardsley's "Salome" illustrations. Other books show the uncensored forms of the pictures, too. This book, however, reproduces them in larger format and crisper printing than the others I know, and is worthwhile for at least that reason.

//wiredwierd

Decadent, sexual, Byzantine, and finely-made.

This is a Salome of palpable quality. Bound in black cloth with a blind-stamped image of Salome surrounded by stars above John the Baptist's head. With matching slipcase.

Every page of text is laid out with golden-yellow and salmon rules surrounded by Persian arabesques. There are numerous incidental Valenti Angelo illustrations in black and white. His full page illustrations in black, white, blue, and salmon with real gilt.

And, incredibly, the gilt on the full-page illustrations is hand-applied.

This play is based on the biblical story of the death of John the Baptist. Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Judea, is married to his brother's wife Herodias, but finds himself lusting after her daughter Salome. Overcome with wine and passion for Salome, he offers her anything to dance the dance of seven veils for him. Little does he know what price she will exact.

Oscar Wilde first published this book in Paris in 1891 in an attempt to bypass Victorian censorship. In 1894 it was translated into English, and published with a series of illustrations created by the incomparable Aubrey Beardsley. This book was quite shocking to Victorian Britain.

This book surprised me with its power. While not erotic in the modern, XXX sense, it is a compelling tale of decadence. The characters give no thought to anything but their own pleasure, and the worst of them all is the young (and far from innocent) Salome. Beardsley's stark, black-and-white pictures add to the tale, complementing Wilde's text with a disturbing, passionless sexuality. This is a fascinating story, and one that I recommend to any adult.

Salome: A Tragedy in One Act
Translated from the French of Oscar Wilde by Lord Alfred Douglas.
With a new introduction by Holbrook Jackson.
Beautifully decorated and hand-illuminated by Valenti Angelo for the Heritage Press, New York.
51 pages.
Copyright 1945.
Hardback book comes in slipcover.

Wilde's fairy tales prepare you for the personality of the spoiled child, Salome, who seems cursed like a fairy tale princess, into falling in love with a raving maniac religious fanatic, John the Baptist. Yet it is Herod's bargaining with Salome to release him from the promise of beheading the Baptist that transforms the story beyond cautionary folk tale. Herod has a strong inclination that the death of the Baptist will bring about his own death. Thus he bargains with Salome to release him from his oath to give her anything she wishes if she will dance for him. As he describes endless beautiful cascades of riches, he becomes more and more lost and resigned to his fate. The riches of the world become flimsy and fragile through the hypnotic repetition and description and Herod becomes more convinced of their temporal value as he sees his fate laid out before him. The tale of the spoiled fairy tale princess and the everyman declining king are tied together by Wilde in the final sentence of the play where Salome pays for her destructive passions while Herod makes one last power stoke before he falls.