“Salomé” is a poem from Carol Ann Duffy's collection of poems, The World's Wife; Most poems share a common characteristic: a historically marginalized narrator telling the story from a personal perspective. The character of Salome originally appeared in the New Testament, and over the centuries many novels and paintings have focused on Salome and the legend of Salome, contributing to the iconization of the character as a femme fatale vicious. One of the texts that followed the biblical story of Salome is a fin de siècle play written by Oscar Wilde. This play may have even had a greater influence in the creation of Carol Ann Duffy's poem "Salome" than the original story. Such an influence is suggested by the intertextual relationship between the two texts established through the characterization and juxtaposition of tone and rhyme.Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay In Wilde's play, symbolism contributes most to the characterization of Salome. Throughout the play, the moon can be seen as a metaphor alluding to the main character. In the opening scene, he is represented by Herodias's page "like a woman emerging from a tomb", "like a dead woman... searching for dead things". Later in the play, Salomé herself reflects on the state of the moon as if reflecting on herself "cold and chaste", "she never defiled herself... never gave herself up to the men”. These allusions to the moon add to the premonition of despair and the portrait of Salomé. The metaphorical presence of the moon indirectly portrays Salomé as an icy, haughty and categorical person. Although at the end of the play Salomé demonstrates emotional intentions in her actions, this is an unhealthy perception of love where the main motivations are selfish and obsessive. Salome as the narrator in Carol Ann Duffy's poem is very similar to the portrayal of the character in the play. In the form of an internal dramatic monologue, the poem exposes the heroine's thoughts, creating a dimensional and complex representation. The poem indicates character attributes such as narcissism, indifference and perversion. The reader feels a strong reflection on himself from the character in the lines "the beater or the biter, who would come like a lamb to the slaughter to Salome's bed", which somewhat resembles the self -identification of Salomé in the play: denoting that even the bad characters seem sacred in comparison with her. There are important quotes in the poem that indicate Salome's coldness of heart and indifference towards others, when she wakes up with a head next to her, but she does not know who it is ; seen in the lines “-to whom?- what does it matter?” and “What was his name?” Additionally, given the lack of empathy Salome shows in the lines "from pain, I suppose, maybe from laughter." This line can be interpreted as an indication of Salome's inability to discern human emotions. Despite portraying a troubled and emotionally exhausted character, the line "life ain't a bitch" could suggest that Salome herself is familiar with the struggles of life, which could potentially justify her vengeful and cruel behavior . Alternatively, "life ain't a bitch" may be a sarcastic exclamation, as Salome is in a position of power over the victim and enjoys life. Regardless, Carol Ann Duffy succeeds in creating a complex and dimensional character in her poem, much like Oscar Wild in the play. The structure.