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| (The Peacock Skirt by Beardsley) |
Although her name derives from the Hebrew root word for “peace,” none of the interpretations of Salome’s life were particularly peaceful. Salaciousness, in fact, was just one of many sensationalistic factors within her “biographies.” By most accounts, it merely served to grease the slimy wheels of violence, hypocrisy and political intrigue. It wasn't until Oscar Wilde (with a lot of help from Aubrey Beardsley) came along that Salome’s salaciousness was given top literary billing.
In Wilde’s famous play, it doesn’t take but an instant for Salome to fall totally in lust with Iokannan the Baptist. As she stares at his tortured imprisoned body for the very first time, she immediately notes that his eyes “are like black lakes troubled by fantastic moons” and his chaste flesh is “like a shaft of silver.” He, on the other hand, calls her a “daughter of Babylon” whose “mother hath filled the earth with the wine of her inquities.”
Not an auspicious first encounter, by any means – and it only gets worse from there…
This initial assessment of her and her closest kin only serves to fan the flames of Salome’s passion. Whereas most might run (or at least hide) from such condemnation, Salome merely replies: Speak again, Iokanaan. Thy voice is as music to mine ear. All the “Daughter of Sodom” accusations in the world couldn’t dissuade her from yearning to kiss his pomegranate-like lips.
No need to recount (and every need to recant) all the subsequent details. Suffice it to say that Salome did
get to kiss those lips – at which point, even Herod concludes: In truth, what she has done is a great crime. I am sure that it is a crime against some unknown God.
Resources
http://www.wilde-online.info/salome.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salome
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/salaciousness
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/recant
http://www.aaronartprints.org/beardsley-thepeacockskirt.php
Copyright August 29, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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