“Salome” is a poem from Carol Ann Duffy's poetry collection The World's Wife; most of the poems share a common characteristic: a historically marginalized narrator who tells the story from a personal point of view. 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 iconisation of the character as a fierce femme fatale. One of the texts that follows the biblical story of Salome is a turn-of-the-century play written by Oscar Wilde. This play may have had a greater influence in the creation of Carol Ann Duffy's poem “Salome” than the original story. This influence is suggested by the intertextual relationship between the two texts established through characterization and the juxtaposition of tone and rhyme. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In Wilde's work, symbolism contributes most to the characterization of Salome. Throughout the play the moon can be perceived as a metaphor alluding to the main character. In the opening scene she is depicted by Herodias' page "like a woman rising from a tomb", "like a dead woman... looking for dead things". Later in the play Salome herself reflects on the state of the moon as if reflecting on herself "cold and chaste", "she has never defiled herself...she has never abandoned herself to men". These allusions to the moon add to the premonition of desperation and the portrait of Salome. The metaphorical presence of the moon indirectly describes Salome as frigid, haughty and adamant. Although at the end of the play Salome demonstrates emotional intentions in her actions, it is a sick perception of love in which the main motivations are selfish and obsessive. Salome as narrator in Carol Ann Duffy's poem bears a strong resemblance 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 receives a strong self-reflection 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 in some ways resembles Salome's self-identification in the play: denoting that even the evil characters seem saintly compared to 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 doesn't know who it is. AND; seen in the lines "-whose?- what did it matter?" and "What was his name?" Also taking into account the lack of empathy that Salome demonstrates in the lines “from pain, I would say, perhaps from laughter”. This line can be interpreted as an indication of Salome's inability to discern between human emotions. Despite portraying a disturbed and emotionally drained character, the phrase “life ain't a bitch” could suggest that Salome herself is familiar with life's struggles, which could potentially justify her vindictive 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 is enjoying life. In any case, Carol Ann Duffy manages to create a complex and dimensional character in her poetry as well as Oscar Wild in the work. The play's structure emphasizes Salome's irrational behavior by providing a paradoxical relationship between content and tone. The light and musical tone.