Salome is a
play by Oscar Wilde, famous for The Importance of Being Earnest.
The play deals with Salome's destructive love for John the Baptist, a relative of Jesus Christ. Salome flirted with John and did everything to lure him into a carnal relationship, but unsuccessfully. As already accounted from the Bible, the outcome is the tragic beheading of John the Baptist.
According to Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (1993), the play went into rehearsal in 1893, but was banned by the Lord Chamberlain for its depiction of biblical characters. The first production, with Sarah Bernhardt, took place in Paris, when Wilde was in prison. It was not
performed in Britain until 1931.
Salome inspired Richard Strauss's
opera of the same title, first performed at Dresden in 1905. (Refer to the link for Strauss's opera Salome .)
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