The Figure of the Jew as Key to Oscar Wilde’s Aesth-Ethos

Abstract

Salome—Oscar Wilde's spectacular dramatic reimagination of the New Testament tale of the death of John the Baptist—may be seen to serve as a manifesto of his aestheticist ideology, in which beauty and worship of it supersede common morality as its own form of ethical system. The play is set among the ancient Hebrews. Evidently because the theme of the play is biblical, its engagements with the figure of the “Jew” seem to have been taken for granted. However, these are worthy of remark. In fact, Wilde’s complex use of the figure of the Jew is key to understanding the governing “aesth-ethos” of his works and the life he performed for the late Victorian public.