Salomé, Oscar Wilde (Joost Daalder's Analysis)

Oscar Wilde

Wikipedia

Oscar Wilde's drama Salome is a complex text in its English translation from the French original. It was first translated by Wilde's lover Lord Alfred Douglas in 1894, but this version was considered unsatisfactory and was replaced in 1906 by a much superior translation by Wilde's lifelong friend and literary executor Robert Ross. This fact that the text of 1894 was not very good was suppressed by Wilde and Ross in order that Douglas's feelings not be hurt, which could lead to Wilde's loss of his lover (i.e., Douglas). I have pasted the first two pages of Joost Daalder's article as a way of introducing these issues.

Daalder, incidentally, notes that Douglas tends to 'biblicize' the text, which means that he puts the English translation into the language of the Authorized Version (i.e., the King James Version). Here is an example of this biblicizing (W = Wilde; D = Douglas; R = Ross) by Douglas:

Aussi j'ai entendu un battement d'ailes dan l'air, un battement d'ailes gigantesques. Ce sont de tres mauvais presages. Et i1 y en avail d'autres. Je suis sur qu'il y en avait d'autres, quoique je ne les aie pas vus. Eh bien! Salome, vous ne voulez pas qu'un maIheur m'arrive? Vous ne voulez pas cela. Enfin, ecoutez-moi W; Also did I not hear a beating of wings in the air, a beating of vast wings?'These are ill omens. And there were other things. I am sure that there were other things, though I saw them not. Thou wouldst not that some evil should befall me, Salome? Listen to me again D; Also, I heard a beating of wings in the air, a beating of mighty wings. These are very evil omens, and there were others. I am sure there were others though I did not see them. Well, Salomé, you do not wish a misfortune to happen to me? You do not wish that. Listen to me, then R

Note the biblical "Thou" and the subjunctive of "will" (want) in "wouldst": "Thou wouldst not that some evil should befall me." (Note also the shift from Douglas's "vast" wings to Ross's "mighty" wings, though this is not a biblicizing move.)

Here begins Joost Daalder's opening pages:

[Page 131]

"A History of Confusion: The Two Earliest English Translations of Oscar Wilde's Salomé," Bibliographical Society of Australia New Zealand Bulletin, Vo1. 26, No. 3, and 4, 2002, 131-172

Joost Daalder

Introducing the Issues

Salome is now one of Oscar Wilde's most highly regarded plays - no longer only in continental Europe, but also in English-speaking countries. As is well known, it was originally written in French and published in 1893:

Oscar Wilde, Salome: Drame en un Acte, Paris: Librairie de l'Art Indépendant; London: Elkin Mathews and John Lane, 1893. - Stuart Mason, Bibliography of Oscar Wilde, London: Bodley Head and T. Werner Laurie, 1914 (new ed., London: Bertram Rota, 1967), no. 348.[1].

[1]This is an extremely rare book. As most readers will have great difficulty locating a copy, I cite Wilde's French from Robert Ross's first collected edition of the Works, London: Methuen, 1908, reproduced under the title The First Collected Edition of the Works of Oscar Wilde, 1908-1922, in 15 vols, London: Dawsons of Pall Mall, 1969. Salomé is part of vo1. l3 (though of vo1. 2 in the 1908 version). I use the form Salome instead of the French Salomé wherever the texts cited allow me to do so, and also when I refer to the play in general terms. In English the second syllable normally receives the stress, in French it is always the last.

Page 132

It is also common knowledge that an unsatisfactory translation of the play into English by Wilde's beloved 'Bosie', Lord Alfred Douglas, appeared in 1894:

Salome - A Tragedy in One Act: Translated from the French of Oscar Wilde: Pictured by Aubrey Beardsley, London: Elkin Mathews and John Lane; Boston: Copeland and Day, 1894 - Mason Nr. 350[2]

[2]This, again, is a very rare book. The illustrations in this article are from a copy in the Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne.

The 1894 text does not bear Douglas's name, but does include an acknowledgement: 'To my friend Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas the translator of my play'. What until now has not been realised, however, is that this translation has been persistently confused with a later, drastically overhauled version - virtually a new translation - first published in 1906 and almost certainly prepared by Robert Ross, Wilde's life-long friend, and his literary executor after his death in 1900.[3] This later version has been repeatedly mistaken for Douglas's original translation. Thus many - indeed most - judgements formed about what is held to be Douglas's translation are in fact based on Ross's amended version, which has often been re-printed by later publishers, and presented to an unknowing public, as though it was Douglas's. Vice versa, those who concern themselves with Douglas's version are unaware of the existence of Ross's.

[3]Salome: A Tragedy in One Act Translated from the French of Oscar Wilde, London: John Lane, Bodley Head; New York.: John Lane Co., 1906. Mason (no. 352) points out that this book was reprinted in the form he describes in 1908 and 1911. An upgraded version of the 1906 publication (Mason no. 355) had meanwhile appeared, dated 1907 but published in September 1906: Salome: A Tragedy in One Act Translated from the French of Oscar Wilde, with Sixteen Drawings by Aubrry Beardsley, London: John Lane, Bodley Head; New York.: John Lane Co., 1907. The text of the play remained unaltered from the 1906 publication, though some significant material was added. Either the 1906 or the 1907 volume provided the basis for all subsequent reprints of Ross's 1906 version, which will from here on be referred to as '1906-7'. Page references are to the 1907 volume.

Thus ends Joost Daalder's opening pages. Shift now below to the confused notes that I took when I thought that Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas was the sole authoritative translator of the French into English, despite the fact that I am first quoting from Daalder himself:

HEROD (6): C'etait le vent sans doute W; It was the blowing of the wind D; - of the wind, no doubt R # un battement d'aiIes W; a beating of wings D; the beating - R# HEROD (7): C'est votre

[Page 166]

fille qui est malade. Elle a rair tres malade, votre fille W; It is your daughter who is sick to death D; It is your daughter who is sick. She has the mien of a sick person R #

The Two Earliest English Translations of Oscar Wilde's Salome [Page 171]

Aussi j'ai entendu un battement d'ailes dan rair, un battement d'ailes gigantesques. Ce sont de tres mauvais presages. Et i1 y en avail d'autres. Je suis sUr qu'il y en avait d'autres, quoique je ne Ies aie pas W5. Eh hien! Salome, VOllS ne voulez pas qu'un maIheur m'arrive? VOllS ne voulez pas cela. Enfin, ecoutez-moi W; Also did I not hear a beating of wings in the air, a beating of vast wings?'These are ill omens. And there were other things. I am sure that there were other things, though I saw them not. Thou wouldst not that some evil should befall me, Salome? Listen to me again D; Also, I heard a beating of wings in the air, a beating of mighty wings. These are very evil omens, and there were others. I am sure there were others though I did not see them. Well, Salome, you do not wish a misfortune to happen to me? You do not wish that. Listen to me, then R # HEROD (2): Vous voyez, vous ne m'ecoutez pas. Mais soyez calm•.· Moi, je suistres calme. Je suis tout afait calme W; Ah! thou art not listening to me. Be calm. As for me, am I not calm? I am altogether calm D; Ah! you are not listening to me. Be calm. I - I am calm. I am quite calm

Away from Daalder, here is my confused analysis:

In Oscar Wilde's Salomé: A Tragedy in One Act, we find two passages in which the expression "vast wings" occurs, depending on which translation from French to English is used. Lord Alfred Douglas translated Wilde's French original into English three years later, in 1894. There have been other translations. The authoritative version is that of Lord Alfred Douglas, Wilde's lover, since Wilde chose him as translator.

Here is the first passage:

HEROD: His father was a king. I drove him from his kingdom. And you made a slave of his mother, who was a queen, Herodias. So he was here as my guest, as it were, and for that reason I made him my captain. I am sorry he is dead. Ho! why have you left the body here? I will not look at it - away with it! [They take away the body.] It is cold here. There is a wind blowing. Is there not a wind blowing?

HERODIAS: No; there is no wind.

HEROD: I tell you there is a wind that blows . . . . And I hear in the air something that is like the beating of wings, like the beating of vast wings. Do you not hear it?

HERODIAS: I hear nothing.

HEROD: I hear it no longer. But I heard it. It was the blowing of the wind, no doubt. It has passed away. But no, I hear it again. Do you not hear it? It is just like the beating of wings.

HERODIAS: I tell you there is nothing. You are ill. Let us go within.

Here is the original translation of the first passage from French into English in 1894:

Herod. His father was a king. I drove him from his kingdom. And his mother, who was a queen, you made a slave, Herodias. So he was here as my guest, as it were, and for that reason I made him my captain. I am sorry he is dead. Ho! why have you left the body here? It must be taken to some other place. I will not look at it — away with it! (They take away the body). It is cold here. There is a wind blowing. Is there not a wind blowing?

Herodias. No; there is no wind.

Herod. I tell you there is a wind that blows. And I hear in the air something that is like the beating of wings, like the beating of vast wings. Do you not hear it?

Herodias. I hear nothing.

Herod. I hear it no longer. But I heard it. It was the blowing of the wind. It has passed away. But no, I hear it again. Do you not hear it? It is just like a beating of wings.

Herodias. I tell you there is nothing. You are ill. Let us go within.

Here is the second passage:

Herod: Be silent! You cry out always; you cry out like a beast of prey. You must not. Your voice wearies me. Be silent, I say Salomé, think of what you are doing. This man comes perchance from God. He is a holy man. The finger of God has touched him. God has put into his mouth terrible words. In the palace as in the desert God is always with him.... At least it is possible. One does not know. It is possible that God is for him and with him. Furthermore, if he died some misfortune might happen to me. In any case, he said that the day he dies a misfortune will happen to some one. That could only be to me. Remember, I slipped in blood when I entered. Also, I heard a beating of wings in the air, a beating of mighty wings. These are very evil omens, and there were others. I am sure there were others though I did not see them. Well, Salomé, you do not wish a misfortune to happen to me? You do not wish that. Listen to me, then.

Here is the original translation of the second passage from French into English in 1894:

Herod: Peace! you are always crying out. You cry out like a beast of prey. You must not cry in such fashion. Your voice wearies me. Peace, I tell you! . . . Salomé, think on what thou art doing. It may be that this man comes from God. He is a holy man. The finger of God has touched him. God has put terrible words into his mouth. In the palace, as in the desert, God is ever with him . . . It may be that He is, at least. One cannot tell, but it is possible that God is with him and for him. If he die also, peradventure some evil may befall me. Verily, he has said that evil will befall some one on the day whereon he dies. On whom should it fall if it fall not on me? Remember, I slipped in blood when I came hither. Also did I not hear a beating of wings in the air, a beating of vast wings? These are ill omens. And there were other things. I am sure that there were other things, though I saw them not. Thou wouldst not that some evil should befall me, Salomé? Listen to me again.

Note that I here turn to another text, Milman's Belshazzar, a text which I am elsewhere among these texts analyzing, a text that I thought showed parallels to a passage in Salome in which Herod considered the beating of wings to be evil omens, perhaps omens as found in Belshazzar:

A dim oppression loads the air, and sounds
As of vast wings do somewhere seem to brood
And hover on the winds; and I that most
Should tremble for myself, the appointed prey
Of sin, am bow'd, as with enforced compassion,
To think on sorrows not mine own, to weep
O'er those whose laughter and whose song upbraids
My prodigality of mis-spent pity.

But one must remember that Wilde's drama was first published in a French version, only three years later to be translated into English, so there is not so much to be uncovered, perhaps.