王爾德與比亞茲來的莎樂美 與「致命女性形象」

Abstract

本論文旨在探討王爾德劇作《莎樂美》與比亞茲萊為其所繪插圖之中的性／別元素，特別是二人所創造出的莎樂美一角與「致命女性」形象之關係。王爾德與比亞茲來二人作品中皆呈現了具驚駭效果之性／別元素，在當時亦皆引起相當批判；而其中引起爭議的部分皆與二人呈現「變態」（perversity）與「色情」（pornography）元素相關。此外，許多評論者亦特別指出比亞茲來作品與王爾德原著之不同；事實上，比亞茲來為王爾德此劇所繪插圖中最具爭議性的部分可能就是其「時代錯置」（anachronism）之設計；此類設計很可能創造出了更具顛覆性之效果。 本論文分為三章。第一章探討「致命女性」形象之重要特色以及這些特色在文學藝術作品中之呈現。本章觀察了一些十九世紀具代表性的「致命女性」作品，並將焦點特別放在濟慈的詩《無情美人》及數幅前拉斐爾派畫作，包括了羅賽蒂的《李莉斯貴婦人》與瓦特豪斯的《無情美人》。第二章討論王爾德劇作《莎樂美》，特別是其中呈現之「變態」、以及其莎樂美與先前「致命女性」之關聯。此章研究以十九世紀末焦慮為背景之「變態」，探究王爾德之莎樂美為「變態女性」的身份，並進一步將之與先前十九世紀英國「致命女性」作比較。第三章探討比亞茲來的莎樂美插圖，聚焦於這套作品中性／別元素與「色情」之聯結、以及為何比亞茲來的莎樂美被視為「致命女性」。此章並比較王爾德與比亞茲來在其莎樂美創作中運用性／別元素之方式。

This thesis aims to analyze and explore the sexual elements of Oscar Wilde’s play Salomé and Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations, especially regarding how Wilde’s and Beardsley’s characterizations of their Salomés can be associated with the femme fatale figure. Both Wilde and Beardsley present shocking sexual images and arouse responses of indignation, and the shocking effects generated by Wilde’s play and Beardsley’s drawings are closely related to their representations of perverse sexualities and their deployment of “pornographic” elements. In addition, many critics have pointed out the discrepancy between Wilde’s play and Beardsley’s illustrations. In fact, the most controversial feature of Beardsley’s works is arguably his design of “anachronistic” settings; such designs may be said to generate subversive power not to be found in Wilde’s original. The thesis is divided into three chapters. Chapter one is devoted to the femme fatale figure, considering what her definitive qualities are, and how these qualities are represented in literature and visual arts. In order to rehearse the quintessential qualities of femmes fatales before Wilde’s and Beardsley’s Salomés, this chapter surveys some notable nineteenth-century femme fatale representations, especially John Keats’s poem La Belle Dame sans Merci and a number of Pre-Raphaelite paintings such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Lady Lilith and John William Waterhouse’s La Belle Dame sans Merci. Chapter two focuses on Wilde’s Salomé, including the perverse sexualities presented in the play and the Salomé’s associations with the prior femme fatale figure. This chapter discusses perversities in the context of the fin-de-siècle anxiety, investigates Wilde’s Salomé as a female pervert, and goes further to compare Wilde’s Salomé with the femme fatale representations in nineteen-century Britain. Chapter three addresses Beardsley’s Salomé drawings, focusing on how the sexual elements in them are associated with pornography and how Beardsley’s Salomé is dubbed “femme fatale.” Comparisons are also made on how Wilde and Beardsley implement sexual elements in their Salomé renditions.