Publisher's Synopsis
Salome is a one-act play written by Oscar Wilde. It's loosely based on the Biblical story as told in the New Testament books Mark 6:15-29 and Matthew 14:1-12, though the character of Salome is not named in the Bible. The play is set during biblical times and takes place in Judea, a historical region that was located in the Middle East, near what is Palestine and Israel today.
Salome is the stepdaughter of King Herod of Judea. Herod's wife is Herodias, who is cursed by a prophet named Jokanaan (known as John the Baptist in the Bible). He says that the king's marriage is unlawful because Herodias is the widow of Herod's brother. In the Bible, Salome helps her mother seek revenge on John the Baptist, but in Wilde's play, Salome's decisions regarding Jokanaan are the result of her own desire for lust-driven revenge.
Because British law at the time forbade the public performance of plays depicting Biblical characters, Wilde wrote Salome in French. It was first performed as a play in France. Eventually, Wilde was able to translate the play to English. It was performed for British audiences for the first time in 1918, several years after Wilde's death.
