Art Criticism - The State University of New York

sure.
This is best seen in The Climax, where Salome has possession of the
head of John the Baptist. The print illustrates the narrative climax of Wilde's
play while visually orchestrating notions of pre-climactic sublimity. Snodgrass
elucidates: "We can see how Beardsley exposes evil while simultaneously
trying to seal it in a stylized elegance in The Climax/or Salome ... The counterbalancing
curves of Salome's wild hair and the way the upward curve of the
line dividing the black/white background is off set by the complementary line
of Salome's back and the contrary swoop of her dangling robe, reinforce the
fact as she is 'suspended forever agonizingly close to a fulfillment she can
never know'" (Read, Style 165).7 This agony parallels Durtal's experience before
he possesses Mme. Chantelouve. Huysmans, however, must take his
reader over the top in order to foist blame on woman as a source of anticlimactic
ennui. In his pornographic work, Rops rides the peak of the crest. In
other words, his etchings sit on the fence and may be described as continually
climaxing. This idea is facilitated by the sexual availability and subsequent
moral judgement of his female SUbjects.
To examine the morality issued upon their women, it is essential to
explore the moral stance of both Huysmans and Rops. Zatlin sums up their
relationship: "Huysmans' tribute to Rops, that the artist paid homage to 'Woman
essential, beyond all time and space, Woman, the nude and Beast of Poison,
the Whore of Darkness, the absolute Handmaid of the Devil,' reveals Huysmans
as a salient example of an enthusiastic adherent of the prevalent nineteenthcentury
concept of woman."s She emphasizes woman as the utter sexualized
embodiment of evil rather than its symbol. When Rops and Huysmans sexually
align woman with the Devil, they are passing a moral judgement on her susceptibility
to evil. She is loose, without strong morals, will power or the ability to
think for herself. In the end, it is the male character in Las Bas who, after an
attenuated seduction, resists temptation. Spiritual seduction as seen in Rops,
however, is a full-on pornographic invitation. His ''Temptation of St. Anthony"
depicts the Devil ousting Christ in favor of a woman with a come hither gaze,
surrounded on her cross by animal attendants. In their own ways, Huysmans
and Rops debase woman in an occult context in a weak effort to conceal their
fear of the powerful female sexuality represented by Salome.
Why is female sexuality so terrifying? Ideas of her nefarious intent
aside, woman cannot mediate this problem; it is biological. She is man's biological
opposite and, naturally, attractive to him. When looking at the larger fin
de siecle cultural milieu, however, she becomes an emotional problem for the
decadent artist. Rops and Huysmans accuse her of sexual temptation, holding
her responsible for both the anti-climax and for her insatiable sexual proclivity
that makes them feel powerless to satisfy her. After all, if the Devil still cannot
satisfy her, how will mortal man? Believing woman is a causal agent in their
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