53 pages • 1 hour read
Silvia Moreno-GarciaThe Seventh Veil of Salome
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Makeup and Costumes
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual content, graphic violence, and death.
To film a historical epic, Vera and other cast members rely on extravagant costumes. The skimpy costumes worn by the women in the film were part of the allure of the “sword and sandals” genre and yet were also tricky to navigate in an era of strict censorship. The motif of costumes thus highlights the complexity of attitudes toward female sexuality and toward women’s social roles in general. In these costumes, women are simultaneously exposed and inauthentic.
This tension is particularly evident when Vera wears her costume to perform the Dance of the Seven Veils (and by extension, when Salome herself dances). For those watching, the veils represent simultaneous titillation and concealment; a veil reveals more than opaque fabric but prevents complete nudity. This betrays a contradictory attitude toward women’s sexuality—one that simultaneously positions women as sexually desirable objects but also penalizes them for sexual displays (e.g., Nancy’s nude photographs).
However, Vera’s costume symbolizes how her sexuality is both hidden and displayed in another, more empowering sense. Though the spectacle of her exposed body is received as sexual by onlookers, this is not how Vera experiences it. Instead, she finds power in imagining Salome as powerful and angry. Thus, both she and Salome are able to keep their desires “private” even in the act of revealing them; the unveiling of their bodies reflects their ambitions (to become a star or a queen) more so than their sexuality, but the former are misinterpreted while the latter remain entirely secret.
The novel also highlights how even ordinary clothing and makeup can be used to curate and control one’s image in this way. Nancy is keenly aware of using her appearance to feel empowered, recognizing that “making connections, scoring modeling gigs, obtaining the odd bit part require[s] her to look good” (19). Similarly, when Vera makes public appearances during filming, her outfits are deliberately chosen to reflect the image she is supposed to portray. In a novel deeply concerned with the pressures of the male gaze, clothing and makeup are costumes that both cater to and subvert that gaze. By using them, women present a façade to the world while keeping their inner worlds (which might be filled with violent impulses or illicit desires) veiled and hidden.
Music
Music is an important motif because it is a major source of common ground between Jay and Vera: Jay came to California to hone his skills as a jazz musician; Vera loves opera and other forms of music. The pair bond by composing pieces of music together. Moreover, both characters find music empowering. Music is an important outlet for Jay because it is a creative space where he does not have to live up to familial and social expectations, while for Vera, it is an art form that does not hinge on the sexualized spectacle of her body. The motif of music thus functions as a counterpoint to the other types of art represented in the novel, including film, dance, theater, and visual art such as paintings. Music is not consumed as a visual medium, so it is less easily reduced to exoticism and eroticism. Moreover, the musical pieces that Jay and Vera compose together are not narrative, meaning they are not limited in their ability to convey a story, as they exist to simply evoke emotion instead. Vera reflects on “pure feeling. That’s what the music had granted her” (180). This is all the more significant in a novel that suggests that both history and art are often insufficient for fully explaining ambiguous situations. After she leaves Hollywood, Vera becomes a successful composer, the implication being that music is a space where Vera can finally experience unmediated agency and creativity.
Vera’s House
When Vera initially moves to Los Angeles, she and her mother stay with relatives (her aunt and cousins). Eventually, Vera rents a house from a friend and decides to live there alone despite her mother’s strong objections. When Vera tells her mother her intentions, her mother retorts, “[Y]ou can’t possibly live on your own. It’s not done. What will our friends say?” (202). Vera disregards this, the house therefore symbolizing her burgeoning independence and her willingness to defy the social norms she has grown up with. Once Vera has her own house, she also begins a sexual relationship with Jay, underscoring her willingness to make her own decisions and defy social expectations (sexual relationships outside of marriage were not seen as entirely acceptable in this era).
However, Vera’s house also becomes a site of tragedy: Benny and Nancy plan to target her there, and Jay dies on the front step. This reveals that Vera’s attempts to make her own decisions and pursue her dreams on her own terms have a high cost, making the house a symbol not only of Vera’s agency but also of the Consequences of Women’s Ambition and Desire.
Related Titles
By Silvia Moreno-Garcia
