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Wilde's "Salome".(19th-century writer Oscar Wilde)(Critical Essay)

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From: The Explicator
Date: 20010322
Author:NASSAAR, CHRISTOPHER S.; SHAHEEN, NATALY

Wilde's Salome has a tripartite structure. The moon-goddess Cybele, Salome, and Herodias, for instance, represent the same principle in a descending order and are opposed respectively by Jesus, Jokanaan, and the Nazarenes. Jokanaan is associated with three colors--white, black, and red; Salome in wooing him approaches him three times. The language often repeats basic words and phrases in groups of three. One of the significant tripartite associations of the play is Salome's connection with mythic demonic creatures. In his attempt to dramatize Salome as a symbol of pure evil, Wilde ...

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