1 h 28 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 36 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 36 pagesAbout this book
Under the moon at Herod’s palace, desire grows stronger with every refusal.
In Oscar Wilde’s Salomé: A Tragedy in One Act, a feast continues inside while Princess Salome steps onto the terrace for air. Below her, the prophet Jokanaan is held in a cistern. She wants to see him, though Herod forbids anyone to speak to the prisoner. Narraboth, the young captain who loves her, stands between her and that command.
Across a single night, longing meets stern judgment in a court already thick with fear. Jokanaan denounces Herodias, Salome’s mother. Herod watches his stepdaughter and reads omens in the moon. When he asks Salome to dance, desire and power draw closer together. Wilde’s poetic dialogue turns this biblical tale into a tense exploration of obsession, control, and the danger of refusing limits.
What you’ll discover
- A terrace full of omens Enter a moonlit scene where anxious watchers sense danger before they understand it.
- A princess who insists Follow Salome as fascination with the forbidden prophet hardens into an obsession.
- A court divided by fear Meet a ruler caught between his desire for Salome and his dread of the prophet.
- The demand to dance Feel the tension as Herod presses his request and Salome initially refuses.
- Poetry that tightens its grip Discover how repeated phrases, echoes, and symbols give the dialogue its haunting rhythm.
Who will love it
For readers who love short, intense plays, rich imagery and dark psychology, and for anyone curious about Wilde beyond his comedies.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A moonlit terrace full of omens
- Salome leaves the feast for the night air
- Salome gets her way with Narraboth
- The prophet comes up and Salome is obsessed
- Herod, Herodias and a court on edge
- The dance and the dangerous promise
- Desire that cannot hear a refusal
- A play built from moon, repetition and symbol
Who’s who
- SalomePrincess of Judea and daughter of Herodias, young and used to having her way, she becomes fixed on the imprisoned prophet.
- JokanaanThe prophet, Wilde's John the Baptist, is held in a cistern and denounces the court with stern, holy words.
- Herod AntipasTetrarch of Judea, a fearful and superstitious ruler who desires his stepdaughter and dreads harming a possible holy man.
- HerodiasHerod's wife and Salome's mother, proud and bitter, who wants the prophet silenced for insulting her.
- NarrabothA young Syrian captain of the guard who loves Salome and cannot refuse her.
- The Page of HerodiasA watchful young attendant who senses danger early and warns Narraboth to stop looking at Salome.
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Salomé: A Tragedy in One Act
by Oscar Wilde · 1893
On Herod's moonlit terrace, Salome's desire for an imprisoned prophet brings longing into collision with holiness.
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In short
Salome is a one-act tragedy by Oscar Wilde. He wrote it in French in Paris in 1891, after the Bible story of Herod, Herodias and the prophet John the Baptist.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A moonlit terrace full of omens
The play opens on the great terrace above the banqueting hall of Herod's palace. A young Syrian captain of the guard, Narraboth, gazes at Princess Salome and cannot look away. A page of Herodias warns him that something terrible may come of his stare. He keeps looking at her anyway.
The moon dominates the talk. Narraboth says the moon is like a little princess with white doves for feet. The page says the moon looks like a woman rising from a tomb. Each watcher sees something different in the same light, and that already tells you how each of them feels.
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What is Salome by Oscar Wilde about?
It is a one-act play set on a single night at Herod's palace. Princess Salome becomes obsessed with the imprisoned prophet Jokanaan, and her desire pulls in Herod, Herodias and the guard Narraboth.
Is Salome based on a true story or the Bible?
It is based on the Gospel accounts of Herod, Herodias, her daughter and John the Baptist. Wilde invented the princess's passion and most of the dialogue, which the Bible does not give.
Why did Oscar Wilde write Salome in French?
Wilde wrote it in French in 1891 while in Paris, and he admired French symbolist writing. An English translation came out in 1894, and the play had its first stage production in Paris in 1896.
The author
Oscar Wilde
1854–1900 · Irish playwright and poet
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) was an Irish poet, playwright, and novelist born in Dublin. He lived in London and later in France, where he died in Paris. He published The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1890. His play The Importance of Being Earnest was first performed in 1895.
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