Salome’s Tale—Iokanaan’s Telling—Wilde’s Retelling: Historical Relativity and (Un)specificity in Wilde’s Salome

Chapter 2 discusses the ways in which Salome sees and shows. I venture to say that Salome exhibits a Brechtian turn in Wilde. Instead of just inviting the audience to consider what they would have done if they were in Salome’s position, Wilde seems to ask himself: How would I have written this play if I were part of this society? Wilde repositions the storyteller like a Brechtian actor . Salome, then, is a historically relative adaptation meant to alienate not only the audience but also the writer himself. This chapter, ultimately, discusses Wilde’s many translations, some literal and some metaphorical, of Salome and how these layers of translation lead to alienation .