Critics have analysed Wilde's use of images favoured by Israel's kingly poets and references to the moon,[53] his depiction of power-play between the sexes,[54] his filling in of gaps in the biblical narrative[55] and his invention of the "dance of the seven veils".[56]
Ida Rubinstein as SalomeWilde's version of the story spawned several other artistic works, the most famous of which is Richard Strauss's opera of the same name. Strauss saw Wilde's play in Berlin in November 1902 at Reinhardt's Little Theatre, with Gertrud Eysoldt in the title role. He began to compose his opera in summer 1903, completing it in 1905 and premiering it later the same year.[57] Critics including Horst Schroeder have argued that the international success of Strauss's adaptation "virtually drove Wilde's drama in its original form off the stage".[58][59]
There have been numerous adaptations and interpretations of Wilde's Salome, on stage and screen and in the visual arts. In St Petersburg in 1908 Mikhail Fokine created a ballet based on the play, with music by Glazunov and décor by Léon Bakst. Ida Rubinstein played Salome.[60] For the cinema, Salome was first filmed in an American silent version directed by J. Stuart Blackton in 1908, with Florence Lawrence as Salome and Maurice Costello as Herod,[61] followed by an Italian version in 1910.[62] Later adaptations include a 1918 silent film starring Theda Bara,[63] a 1923 silent version directed by Charles Bryant starring Alla Nazimova as Salome and Mitchell Lewis as Herod,[64] and a 2013 sound adaptation directed by and starring Al Pacino, with Jessica Chastain as Salome.[65] Excerpts from the play featured prominently in Ken Russell's 1988 film Salome's Last Dance.[66]
