Salome

After Herod and his wife Herodias enter the scene, Wilde shifts focus from the power dynamics of desire to the absurdity of vanity when contrasted with inevitable human mortality. While Herod perceives himself as powerful, he is repeatedly terrorized by omens of death and reminded of his own inability to transcend human mortality. Salomé, conversely, entirely disregards the barrier between life and death when she kisses the decapitated head of Jokanaan. Unlike Herod, who fears death, Salomé’s love for Jokanaan becomes a monstrous inversion of spiritual resurrection, highlighting the Similarity of Beauty and Horror and causing her to disregard all other worldly pleasures in order to achieve union with him.

Herod’s arrival on the terrace contrasts his enjoyment of worldly pleasure with the threat of human mortality. While he is initially pleased by the physical pleasures of the space, remarking “this air is delicious” (28) he is quickly reduced to terror when he cries out “Ah! I have slipped! I have slipped in blood! It is an ill omen!” (28). Herod is particularly upset by the death of the Young Syrian because, as he says, “I gave no order that he should be slain” (28). The soldiers have previously noted that “the Tetrarch does not care to see dead bodies, save the bodies of those who, he himself has slain” (26). This hypocritical attitude exposes a key aspect of Herod’s conflict: he only fears death when it is outside of his control. Throughout the banquet, Herod is repeatedly reminded of mortality through omens and prophecies from Jokanaan. He hears wingbeats, suggesting that the angel of death is nearby; he feels his garland of roses beginning to burn his forehead; he sees the moon turn red. Jokanaan warns him in a prophecy that “he shall be seated on this throne. He shall be clothed in scarlet and purple. In his hand he shall bear a golden cup full of his blasphemies. And the angel of the Lord shall smite him. He shall be eaten of worms” (47). However, Herod is able to distract himself from the meaning of these omens by seeking out worldly pleasures. He brushes off the prophecy about being eaten by worms, telling Herodias that he has never sinned against the prophet and so “it is of the King of Cappadocia that he speaks” (47). When the omens begin to distress him, he asks Salomé to perform a dance for him, choosing to be blind to impending events rather than embracing Sight and Comprehending God. Wilde indicates that Herod’s riches and vanity are deadly to him in that they allow him to ignore the obvious signs of a coming disaster.

Unlike Herod, Jokanaan’s prophecies and the Nazarenes’ debate reveal that there is one figure powerful enough to actually control mortality: Jesus Christ. When Jokanaan predicts that the “Saviour of the world” (36) has come, Herod is initially confused. Tigellinus, a Roman politician and diplomat at the court, claims that “Saviour of the world” is “a title that Caesar takes” (36). Herod therefore interprets the prophecy literally, objecting that Caesar Augustus is not planning to come to Judea because he has gout. This spurs the Nazarenes at Herod’s court to recount the recent news of a Messiah performing miracles throughout the kingdom. Herod appears intrigued and tolerant of these stories until the Nazarenes reveal that Christ has raised the dead. At that, Herod exclaims “I forbid Him to do that. I allow no man to raise the dead” (40). He continues, saying “to change water into wine, to heal the lepers and the blind… He may do these things if He will. I say nothing against these things. In truth I hold it a good deed to heal a leper. But I allow no man to raise the dead. It would be terrible if the dead came back” (41). Herod’s pronouncement is comedically absurd because he erroneously supposes that he has greater authority than the Messiah and that he is the one who can forbid a divine being from performing miracles. Like his misinterpretation of the prophecy about the “Saviour of the world,” Herod assumes that earthly power is more meaningful than divine power. His horror that Christ is raising the dead indicates that he does not understand the spiritual victory over mortality that this deed signifies, but is instead worrying about all of those he has ordered to be killed returning to harm him. He fears that which is outside of his control as an earthly ruler.

Salomé’s request for Jokanaan’s head upon a silver charger draws a parallel between erotic fulfillment and death. Unlike Herod, Salomé has learned to resist the temptations of worldly vanity. She refuses his wine and fruit at the banquet and turns down his offer of peacocks, gems, and rich garments. While Herodias assumes that Salomé makes this request to honor her mother, seeking revenge on Jokanaan for preaching against her, Salomé’s final speech reveals that this is not the case. When she takes the head, she declares “thou wouldst not suffer me to kiss thy mouth, Jokanaan. Well! I will kiss it now” (63). By removing Jokanaan’s life, she removes his bodily autonomy to resist her sexual advances. Murder becomes a twisted form of sexual conquest to her. She brags “thy head belongs to me. I can do with it what I will. I can throw it to the dogs and to the birds of the air” (64). Yet, Salomé’s elation quickly turns to bitterness as she realizes that Jokanaan continues to hold power over her because she cannot fulfill her desire with only his body; she wants his love as well. She laments that “the mystery of love is greater than the mystery of death. Love only should one consider” (65). This line suggests that, to Salomé, the power that love exerts over humans is more complex and significant than the power of death. While killing someone is a relatively simple act and death is inevitable for all mortals, it is harder to understand why people fall in love. Salomé suggests that love persists beyond death—a sentiment with Christian significance but also disturbing implications given the context of her statement. The play ends with Salomé’s death, as Herod attempts to destroy the threat of unconventional desire and female sexuality. Yet the possibility of resurrection and eternal life implicit in the arrival of the Messiah suggests that Herod does not truly have the power to destroy Salomé’s love, no matter how monstrous it appears.