Salomé

Salomé (1894) is Oscar Wilde's provocative retelling of the biblical story of Salome and the beheading of John the Baptist, originally written in French and later translated into English by Lord Alfred Douglas. Set during a banquet at the palace of Herod Antipas, the play transforms the brief New Testament episode into a darkly sensual drama of obsession, desire, and death.

The young princess Salomé becomes consumed with a forbidden passion for the imprisoned prophet Iokanaan (John the Baptist), whose refusal to acknowledge her only intensifies her fixation. When Herod, captivated by his stepdaughter, promises her anything in return for performing the Dance of the Seven Veils, Salomé seizes the opportunity to claim the one thing she truly desires—with horrifying consequences. Wilde's lush, incantatory prose and striking imagery made the play a landmark of the Symbolist movement and a scandal that was banned from the London stage.