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Salome is a poem taken from Carol Ann Duffys collection of poems The Worlds Wife; most of the poems share a common feature: a historically marginalized narrator retelling the story from personal perspective. Salomes character originally appeared in the New Testament and over the centuries many novels and paintings focused on Salome and the legend of Salome contributing to iconization of the character as a vicious femme fatale. One of the texts that followed the biblical story of Salome is a fin-de-siecle play written by Oscar Wilde.
This play may have even had a larger influence in the creation of Carol Ann Duffys poem Salome , than the original story. Such an influence is suggested by the intertextual relationship between the two texts established through characterization and juxtaposition of tone and rhyme. In Wildes play, symbolism contributes most to Salomes characterization. Throughout the play the moon can be perceived as a metaphor alluding to the main character. In the opening scene it is depicted by the Page of Herodias like a woman rising from a tomb, like a dead woman& looking for dead things . Later on in the play Salome herself reflects on the state of the moon as if reflecting on herself cold and chaste, she has never defiled herself & never abandoned herself to men. These allusions to the moon add to the premonition of despair and to Salomes portrait. The moons metaphoric presence indirectly depicts Salome as a frigid, haughty and adamant. Although at the end of the play Salome demonstrates emotional intentions to her actions, it is a sick perception of love where the main motives are selfish and obsessive. Salome as a narrator in Carol Ann Duffys poem bears strong resemblance with the depiction of the character in the play. In the form of a internal dramatic monologue the poem provides exhibits the thoughts of the heroine creating a dimensional and complex portrayal. The poem indicates such attributes of the character as narcissism, indifference and perversion. The reader gets a strong self-reflection from the character in the lines the beater or biter, whod come like a lamb to the slaughter to Salomes bed , which somewhat resembles Salomes self-identification in the play: denoting that even the bad characters seem holy in comparison with her. There are important quotations in the poem that indicate Salomes coldness of heart and indifference to others, when she wakes with a head next to her, but she doesnt know who it is; seen in the lines -whose?- what did it matter? and What was his name?
Moreover taking into account the lack of empathy that Salome demonstrates in the lines from pain, Id guess, maybe from laughter . This line may be interpreted as an indication of Salomes disability to discern between the human emotions. Despite the portrayal of a disturbed and emotionally drained character, the line aint life a bitch could suggest that Salome herself is familiar with the struggles of life, which could potentially justify her vengeful and cruel behavior. Alternatively aint life a bitch may be a sarcastic exclamation, seen as is Salome is in a position of power over the victim and is enjoying life. Either way Carol Ann Duffy succeeds in creating a complex, dimensional character in her poem as well as Oscar Wild in the play. The structure of the play emphasizes Salomes irrational behavior by providing paradoxical relationship between the content and the tone. The light, musical tone of the play contradicts the actions of the character accentuating Salomes inconsistent emotions. This makes a morally challenging story. Duffy borrows this element of the play successfully using the structure of free verse and the rhyme to provide gentle build up through the poem although the content insinuates murderous notions of events. The rhyme in the poem is most dynamic in the second stanza, perhaps phonetically implying the sound of dripping blood; the phonetic effect in combination with the descriptions from the first stanza head on a pillow with dark hair, rather matted may conjure up an image of a severed head.
Through the rhyme in such words as butter and clatter and clutter the poet creates a light musical overtone appealing to the readers auditory sense. The structure is truly ironic as it combines the structure of a sonnet on the surface and the descriptions of the disturbing actions of a femme fatale. The works of Carol Ann Duffy and Oscar Wilde put Salome in the epicenter of the events taking place, whereas original story in the New Testament gives little to no credit to Salome in Johns beheading. The New Testament focuses mostly on John the Baptizer, Herod and Herodias. When given an opportunity to request anything of Herods, Salome runs to her mother and enquires, What should I ask for? declining to make her own choice and establishing her mothers power and absolute rule. In the New Testament Salome is seen as only a girl originally without even a name, she seems much younger in the original work than in the subsequent recreations. She acts entirely on the behalf of her mother without regard for personal wishes. The lack of personal motive behind makes Salome bleak and insignificant in the original story.
Carol Ann Duffy borrowed the character from the original bible story in a very idiosyncratic way. Duffy took the character with the least power and lack of opinion and gave her a voice. In the poem Salome is seen as an independent character, which can be seen through the chosen form of an internal dramatic monologue. An abundance of first face singular pronouns followed by action verbs (for example Ill do it again , I needed and I flung ) highlight the characters dominant presence. Thus, Carol Ann Duffy recreates the original story of John the Baptizer, crafting it into the story of Salome. Duffy gives strength and independence to Salome, inspired by Oscar Wildes vision. The effect of intertextuality allows a complex depiction of Salome, which furthermore challenges the reader to interpret and/or understand her motifs and internal feelings.
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