COVE

Oscar Wilde’s Salomé was originally published in French in 1893 with the intention to shock audiences with perverse imagery. The production of the play however, came to a halt because of censorship issues and instead went on to be published in an English translation a year later, including Aubrey Beardsley’s artwork. Like his other illustrations throughout the play, “The Eyes of Herod” was fashioned in black and white, art-nouveau style, using photomechanical line blocks. His drawings were considered to be both transparent and ambiguous in the sense of sexual references. Many of his original illustrations for the print were deemed to be too erotic, and had to either be altered or were completely omitted from the 1894 publication. This specific image is found on page 33 of the play, accompanying a conversation between Herod, Salomé, and Herodias about the act of “looking” at Salomé. The drawing is set outside, using white space to highlight the figures in the illustration. The torch is an important symbol as it is the object bringing light to the picture, illuminating both Salomé and Herod’s faces. This imagery is carried throughout the duration of the play, especially foreshadowing the ending where Herod forfeits his ability to see by putting out the torch lights. Furthermore, Beardsley uses nudity to openly translate the social context of the play. The irony exists in how sexuality is being exposed in his artwork, whereas the actual text could not explicitly portray these details. His illustrations are able to capture both the idea of Salomé as a femme fatale, and simultaneously suggests how the woman is a spectacle through Herod’s gaze. Through this, Beardsley makes a commentary toward the censorship of the play’s censorship and moreover during the Victorian Era. Although there is a common misconception that the imagery in Beardsley’s drawings are conflicting and/or misinterpret the text, they actually work to realize the tabooed subtext of the play. Wilde was in fact, aware and approving of Beardsley’s interpretations, signing an edition dedicated to “the only artist who, besides [himself], knows the dance of seven veils…”. His comment contrasts the previous notion, and suggests that Beardsley was the only other person who was capable of illustrating the “invisible”. 

Sources:

Albin, Tania. “Salome: Wilde and Beardsley.” The Victorian Web, 2006, http://www.victorianweb.org/gender/albin/6.html

Lee, Elizabeth. “The Femme Fatale - Her Dark Continent.” The Victorian Web, 1996, http://www.victorianweb.org/gender/fatalsex.html

Lee, Elizabeth. “Victorian Theories of Sex and Sexuality.” The Victorian Web, 1996, http://www.victorianweb.org/gender/sextheory.html