Wilde’s one-act tragedy
Salomé, an account of the beheading of John the Baptist and of the princess who danced for his death, is the fruit of his late-autumn 1891 sojourn in Paris, where the Irish playwright was “studying the curious and fascinating development of Art in France” (Wilde, 2000, p. 499). Written in French in 1891–92 and translated into English in 1893–94, with the assistance of Wilde’s undergraduate lover Alfred Douglas, the avant-garde play is his most experimental and controversial work. It was not until 11 February 1896, when Wilde was incarcerated at Reading Gaol in Great Britain, that
Salomédebuted for one night only in Paris, produced by actor-director Aurélien Lugné-Poe’s (1869–1940) theatre company Théâtre de l’Œuvre. Lugné-Poe played the…
6711 words
Citation: Kaiser, Matthew. "Salome". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 August 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2294, accessed 23 November 2024.]
