The New Woman : the woman image in the art of Decadence through Aubrey Beardsley's Salome pictures, in the mirror of Oscar Wilde's text

In this thesis I examine the way in which Oscar Wilde's Salome and Aubrey Beardsley's accompanying pictures attack the Victorian woman image, advertising women's equality, and sexual freedom in general. I also look at the nature of the relation between Wilde's text and Beardsley's embellishments. By analysing the drawings I point out their decadent features emphasising their threatening qualities regarding Victorian values, in the mirror of Wilde's text.