Salome, an Obsessive Compulsive Myth, from Oscar Wilde to Richard Strauss

No female character, more than Salome, carries in herself so much power to debunk and rebut any establishment. Salome is deranged by an obsessive compulsive disorder that leads her to touch everything she desires, repeat things over and over again and count things around her. Oscar Wilde uses these...

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Main Author: Jacques Coulardeau
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée 2010-12-01
Series:Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/cve/2730
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author Jacques Coulardeau
author_facet Jacques Coulardeau
author_sort Jacques Coulardeau
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description No female character, more than Salome, carries in herself so much power to debunk and rebut any establishment. Salome is deranged by an obsessive compulsive disorder that leads her to touch everything she desires, repeat things over and over again and count things around her. Oscar Wilde uses these elements to create in French, and then in English in his own translation of the play, a style conveying and expressing these traits. Salome is the archetypical monster in Christianity. She provokes Herod, John himself and everyone else around her and pushes them to the extreme limits of decency. And yet she is killed like a plain outlaw by some soldier on Herod’s order. This exploration of the relation between Salome and John the Baptist leads to a deep reflection on the value of life when it is entirely dominated by obsessive carnal desires. That also leads to an end that looks like some form of expiatory justice. Richard Strauss amplifies the text and the subject with his music and his German libretto.
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spelling doaj-art-1fcf7578b6884742b4c320d1313428ab2025-01-30T10:21:41ZengPresses Universitaires de la MéditerranéeCahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens0220-56102271-61492010-12-017213114610.4000/cve.2730Salome, an Obsessive Compulsive Myth, from Oscar Wilde to Richard StraussJacques CoulardeauNo female character, more than Salome, carries in herself so much power to debunk and rebut any establishment. Salome is deranged by an obsessive compulsive disorder that leads her to touch everything she desires, repeat things over and over again and count things around her. Oscar Wilde uses these elements to create in French, and then in English in his own translation of the play, a style conveying and expressing these traits. Salome is the archetypical monster in Christianity. She provokes Herod, John himself and everyone else around her and pushes them to the extreme limits of decency. And yet she is killed like a plain outlaw by some soldier on Herod’s order. This exploration of the relation between Salome and John the Baptist leads to a deep reflection on the value of life when it is entirely dominated by obsessive carnal desires. That also leads to an end that looks like some form of expiatory justice. Richard Strauss amplifies the text and the subject with his music and his German libretto.https://journals.openedition.org/cve/2730
spellingShingle Jacques Coulardeau
Salome, an Obsessive Compulsive Myth, from Oscar Wilde to Richard Strauss
Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens
title Salome, an Obsessive Compulsive Myth, from Oscar Wilde to Richard Strauss
title_full Salome, an Obsessive Compulsive Myth, from Oscar Wilde to Richard Strauss
title_fullStr Salome, an Obsessive Compulsive Myth, from Oscar Wilde to Richard Strauss
title_full_unstemmed Salome, an Obsessive Compulsive Myth, from Oscar Wilde to Richard Strauss
title_short Salome, an Obsessive Compulsive Myth, from Oscar Wilde to Richard Strauss
title_sort salome an obsessive compulsive myth from oscar wilde to richard strauss
url https://journals.openedition.org/cve/2730
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