This week's seminar focused on Salome: A Tragedy in One Act, a play written by Oscar Wilde. The play was originally published in French in 1892, however, it was censored from being performed as it depicted Biblical figures. The English translation was published in 1894 with ten censored accompanying illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley. It was later republished in 1907 with all sixteen uncensored illustrations. Beardsley, like the Pre-Raphaelites, was known for creating commentary or interpretations of work through their illustrations; ones that were not generally approved by the authors. Many of Beardsley's illustrations were extradiegetic, he incorporated elements that were not explicitly stated in the text. One such illustration is 'The Peacock Skirt' in which he illustrates Salome wearing a peacock skirt that is never mentioned in the text. One can assume that Beardsley is making a comment on gender and the way in which women are constructed in this text. Beardsley constructs Salome as a domineering, proud, vain, and lustful woman which subverts the notion of women as well-mannered, modest, and subservient. Furthermore, what is interesting is peacocks (male peafowls) rather than peahens (female peafowls) have elaborate plumage. Thus, Salome is taking on a masculine role as the central focus in the image. This is further supported by the fact that Wilde and Beardsley chose to put her at the forefront of the text and its illustrations, as in the narrative in the Bible, she is unnamed. In this way, they give her a voice and place in literature that more active and memorable than her previous roles. We further see the subversion of gender through the androgynous way in which Beardsley draws characters such as the page of Herodias and the young Syrian, whose relationship is coded as queer in the text and images. The moon, assumedly, a representation is Wilde is assumed to further support this analysis. In these images, the moon can be seen as either a benevolent figure that serves as a sort of protector to these characters or as a figure that brings about chaos (lune = lunar = lunacy) as the young Syrian stabs himself when Salome devotes all her attention to John the Baptist; later, the page of Herodias is seen mourning him. Beardsley does an excellent job of creating meaning between the text and images, even if it means adding his own commentaries and ideas, as it allows the reader/viewer to see the text in a way that is deeper than just what's on the surface.