Sunday, December 14, 2008
Hermione's Silence
How do you all interpret Hermione’s silence towards Leontes after they are reunited? After she comes back to life (or just comes back to Leontes, whichever) why does she address only the gods and then Perdita alone? You would think she would have something of significance to say to the husband that not only caused her so much pain, but that she hasn’t seen for 16 years. I reason it could be interpreted 2 ways: 1, she hasn’t really forgiven him, or at least not as much as he’d hope, or 2, you can interpret it positively and think of it as happiness beyond words. Silence could have its own eloquence, I suppose, or maybe it’s just that nothing needs to be said. What do you all think?
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I personally think that it is the first reason you gave. This is because I interpret the play as that Hermoine has been hidden by Paulina for sixteen years in secret. Because of this I am inclined to believe that she is speaks to Perdita because she has never really met her daughter and is overjoyed to finally get to meet her and the gods she is thankful that everything turned out as well as could be hoped for. However I don't think she has fully forgiven Leontes yet. Because of Leontes suspicions she was hidden for 16 years and basically lost that time of her life because of the constraints of being hidden. 16 years of lost time is a lot for anyone to forgive. Also Leontes indirectly caused the death of her son through his suspicion and accusations. This would be a huge thing for any mother to forgive, probably far bigger than the loss of 16 years of her life. For these reasons I think she is still trying to forgive Leontes at the end of th play.
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