She went out and said to her mother, what shall I ask for? The head of John the Baptist, she replied — the girl's question to her mother and Herodias's immediate answer communicate the premeditation: Herodias has prepared for this moment. The girl does not know what to ask; Herodias does. The head of John the Baptist — the specific demand is not for John's release or imprisonment or exile but for his death, and not merely his death but its public confirmation through the presentation of his head. The demand is as comprehensive as Herodias can make it: irrevocable, public, visible.

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