I went through an Oscar Wilde phase as a teen, and I remember having a very similar reaction to Salome. It felt very posed. I thought it was the weakest of his major plays. However, I had no idea Wilde invented Salome's obsessive love for John. Interesting!

I also recall being surprised by how moral his fiction often was, considering his reputation of believing in art for art's sake. Likewise, his choice of Lord Henry as the delivery vehicle for his Wildean aphorisms raised a few questions. I thought there was a sense of tension in his writings, between the man and the persona he cultivated, and it resonated with me at that time in my life.