Advanced Acting Notes: Hermione
“Sir, spare your threats” - The Winter’s Tale - III.II
Hey there, lovely people!
After filming the above video breaking down Hermione’s wonderful and popular monologue, “Sir, spare your threats”, I decided to do a self tape of the monologue for a scene class I was doing. In diving into as an actor, I noticed quite a few acting challenges that I thought were worth sharing, as well as the tricks I found to work around those challenges.
If you’re new to the monologue and would like to hear the meanings broken down, watch the above video. If you’re ready for some
The cue is, “Look for no less than death.” Leontes is trying to scare her into admitting that she committed adultery. She jumps in QUICKLY with the response of “Sir, spare your threats.”
Giving plenty of emphasis to the consonants at the start of the monologue will help you connect with Hermione’s mental state. She is practically spitting at him – possibly in exasperation, or an effort to get him to understand. E.g. Spare, Commodity, Crown, Comfort. In your rehearsal, practice ‘overdoing’ these.
There is plenty of time for breath after “seek” and “commodity”. These are moments where you can have a slight pause if you want – after that it takes off like a speeding train (notice how many sentences end in the middle of lines – a clue not to stop).
The objective I worked with was that she wants him to admit that he’s being a tyrant – but she has no intention of letting him speak until she’s made her point. This is definitely a monologue that needs a clear objective so spend some time working out what you think it is (it doesn’t have to be the same as mine – work with whatever feels most powerful and makes the most sense to you!)
Think about why she includes certain phrases and how they link to her objective (don’t just assume ‘because it’s Shakespeare’!) E.g. “The innocent milk in its most innocent mouth” is a reminder of her own innocence, as well as the innocence of a baby – she is giving evidence that he’s being a tyrant.
I personally found it useful to connect these phrases to shared memories that she and Leontes would have. E.g. “First fruits of my body” – a strong memory of her giving birth and him being so happy and excited after the birth of their son. This is her working towards her objective by reminding him of the life they shared together. All of this work is subtle and won’t necessarily be visible to an audience or audition panel, but it gives detail and a rich inner life, which tends to contribute to the level of believability and audience engagement.
In the context of the play, she has already been arguing her case for quite a while and has been quite reasonable about it, all things considered. If you were doing this in a full performance of the play, this is where she would really let fly and tell him what she really thinks – but this is actually quite unhelpful in an audition context! If you perform at the level of emotion that would be appropriate to a full performance of the play, it will be too much for the audition panel to listen to straight off. It would be like hitting them over the head with a sledgehammer. It is more helpful to work with the idea of keeping the emotion in, and even potentially pulling back slightly from the emotion until further into the monologue.
It’s important to note the “list” element. She starts with crown (being the most important thing in her life - 1), second joy (2), third comfort (3), lastly (4- though technically it’s about 6th, because she lists other things without giving them further numbers). These are clues that it needs to build throughout, and finish off at ‘strength of limit’ as if you were talking through a complicated list - which is essentially what it is! You will also want to emphasise these ‘numbering’ terms in some way so the audience/panel can follow your train of thought.
You may also find it useful to think about how Leontes is reacting at each point. As she lists, she may be watching to see how he reacts, then choosing a new tactic to get through to him. You will need to make decisions about whether any of what she’s saying actually gets through to him, and if so, which parts, and how she then capitalises or adjusts to those reactions. Just don’t take big pauses to notice and readjust. The full stops in the middle of lines indicate that she’s got a lot of momentum going.
Please let me know if that was helpful, or if you have any questions! The more feedback I get from you guys, the more helpful detail I can add!
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