Nothing is stable in the world of Salomé. Seriously: nothing. Something as simple as the moon means different things to different people. A young man seems like he's centuries old. New omens crop up at every turn…and that's only the beginning.
This is because those omens are just the promise of things to come, which means that things are going to change, and stat. Just as Jokanaan says that "after me shall come another mightier than I," we also have to recognize that the events we see on stage (however shocking and crazy) are only the beginning of a greater change. Basically, everything is up in the air in this play.
Questions About Versions of Reality
- What makes the moon such a powerful symbol? How can it accommodate so many interpretations?
- Can we make sense of Jokanaan's admittedly cryptic prophecies?
- How do we explain Salomé's rapidly fluctuating perceptions of Jokanaan's beauty?
- What makes Herod so susceptible to seeing bad omens?
Chew on This
The moon is not merely a piece of scenery; it allows Wilde to give us a sense of each character's state of mind without resorting to long expository monologues.
Herod's susceptibility to omens speaks to both his fear of Jokanaan and a larger kind of openness; he is not entrenched in his depravity like Herodias, or in chastity like Jokanaan.