关键词: 王尔德, 《莎乐美》, 比较神话, 历史书写, 爱尔兰天主教

Abstract: Under the inspiration of Pater's critique of Leonardo da Vinci, Oscar Wilde portrayed the characters in Salomé by adding to Christian figures the aesthetic qualities of pagan ones and by merging masculinity with femininity. Different from da Vinci, what Wilde borrowed are Aryan mythologies rather than just Greek and Roman mythologies. Meanwhile, the passionate commitment to archaeology and comparative religion developed in Wilde a scientific view of history, leading to his agreement with Josephus, who held in his Antiquities of the Jews that Herold imprisoned the Baptist for he was afraid the latter's religious charisma might be so powerful as to incite mass uprisings against him. The metaphorical implication in Salomé hence is Wilde's critique of the crackdown of British imperialism upon Irish Catholicism and nationalism.

Key words: Oscar Wilde, Salomé, comparative mythology, history writing, Irish Catholicism