{"id":464,"date":"2022-04-24T19:04:17","date_gmt":"2022-04-24T23:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/oascarwilde\/?p=464"},"modified":"2022-04-24T19:04:25","modified_gmt":"2022-04-24T23:04:25","slug":"violence-in-salome%ef%bf%bc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/oascarwilde\/2022\/04\/24\/violence-in-salome%ef%bf%bc\/","title":{"rendered":"Violence in Salom\u00e9\ufffc"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Salom\u00e9 <\/em>is unique to Wilde\u2019s other pieces in its non-English setting and characters but also in the prevalence of violence. The two significant instances of such violence are the beheading of Jokanaan and the crushing to death of Salom\u00e9, and from an anticolonial reading of the text, both hold greater significance than just their deviation from Wilde\u2019s typical style. Wilde\u2019s lectures in the US drew heavily on his mother\u2019s depictions of the dangers of English authority in Ireland In \u201cAnticolonial Wilde,\u201d Degl\u00e1n \u00d3 Donaghaile describes Wilde\u2019s views on English violence saying, \u201cEnglish conquest of Ireland could be discerned through the \u2018trail of blood\u2019 left in its historical wake. Speranza described the colonization of Ireland as a psychological exercise as well as a military one\u201d (40). The fact that Herod slips in blood in the play is a foreshadowing of the violence to come but also a recognition of the violence that already took place throughout history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First considering the beheading of Jokanaan, it is important to note that this element comes from the original biblical story, \u201cJohn the Baptist Beheaded.\u201d While this was not one of the many additions Wilde made to the original story, it is indicative of Wilde\u2019s anticolonial messages in the play and his choice to reimagine this specific biblical tale. John the Baptist was originally beheaded by King Herod at his daughter\u2019s request, who was instructed to do so by her mother and King Herod\u2019s wife, Herodias. Herod and his family rule Judea, and he is depicted as a monstrous figure in the Bible, attempting to have the infant Jesus killed earlier in the New Testament. However, the inclusion of Salom\u00e9 holding the head of Jokanaan is one of Wilde\u2019s many additions to the tale, and it functions to highlight the fascination and horror of the colonized other represented that Salom\u00e9 represents as she revels in the violent beheading. In his book, Irish Orientalism: A Literary and Intellectual History<\/em>, Joseph Lennon discusses the phenomenon of \u201cIrish Orientalism,\u201d a method by which the Irish people reclaim discursive agency in discussions of English imperialism through the representation of other colonized peoples, specifically from Asia and the Middle East. Through his over-exaggeration of the violence in the biblical story, Wilde works within the European construction of the violent and passionate Orient to critique cultural expectations and justify Salom\u00e9\u2019s horrific request because she is first objectified and condemned for her desires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The death of Salom\u00e9 holds multiple meanings as well. Herod condemns her monstrous desires, saying, \u201cKill that woman!\u201d (Wilde 605). The soldiers then crush Salom\u00e9 to death beneath their shields. By calling her \u201cthat woman\u201d Herod re-inforces Salom\u00e9\u2019s position as \u201cthe other\u201d throughout the entire play. From a post-colonial perspective, especially considering the oriental tropes that surround Salom\u00e9\u2019s character, her death by shield is symbolic of the violence against the \u201cCeltic Other\u201d by English imperial powers. Wilde portrays her as childish, unreasonable, and out of control, and the Irish people were portrayed by the English using similar descriptions which he refutes in his lectures in the United States. Rather than explicitly condemn the violence of English imperialism in the play, Wilde again works within stereotypes against colonized peoples to demonstrate that the dangerous and reductive construction of the \u201cCeltic Other\u201d is actually a greater reflection of the English than the Irish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Salom\u00e9 is unique to Wilde\u2019s other pieces in its non-English setting and characters but also in the prevalence of violence. The two significant instances of such violence are the beheading of Jokanaan and the crushing to death of Salom\u00e9, and from an anticolonial reading of the text, both hold greater significance than just their deviation … Continue reading Violence in Salom\u00e9\ufffc<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4166,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[541801,541782,541829],"class_list":["post-464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-orientalism","tag-salome","tag-violence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/oascarwilde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/oascarwilde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/oascarwilde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/oascarwilde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/oascarwilde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/oascarwilde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":465,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/oascarwilde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464\/revisions\/465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/oascarwilde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/oascarwilde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/oascarwilde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}