Christa Giles

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decadent rejection of reality and withdrawal into the self is
linked both with the idea of narcissism in the play and
mode of self-destruction. Similarly, the emphasis on eating
and drinking in Salomé suggests love or, rather, lust, which
is in actuality an appetite for human flesh associated with
satanism. The words Huysmans wrote about Rops could
equally apply to the author of Salomé: ˝He has celebrated
the spirituality of lust which is Satanism…˝ 300 For Salomé
will not eat in the early parts of the play; indeed, she leaves
the feast. Herod offers her wine and fruit but she refuses.
The reason for her refusal becomes apparent only at the
end of the play when we realise that her hunger and thirst
are not directed towards food:
Ah! thou wouldst not suffer me to kiss thy
mouth, Jokanaan. Well! I will kiss it now. I
will bite it with my teeth as one bites a ripe
fruit… I am athirst for thy beauty; I am
hungry for thy body; and neither wine nor
fruits can appease my desire. What shall I do
now, Jokanaan? 301
Salomé functioned in Wilde’s and Huysmans’ work
not only as a symbol of evil but also as a symbol of man’s
desire for the unknown. The femme fatale appeared in
various different forms at the fin-de-siècle: Salomé, the