[HPforGrownups] Re: Hermione's name

[Aberforth's Goat]

No: HPFGUIDX 31278

Philip wrote,

> So, it's mere coincidence that Shakespeare's Hermione
> appears to be a statue and then comes to life, just as
> Rowling's Hermione is petrified in book 2 and then comes
> to life?  Two characters both named Hermione, both of
> whom change from statues back into fully alive humans.
> Clearly no connection, eh?
>
> The point of my (admittedly sarcastic) remarks is that yes,
> we know what Rowling has said (points 1 and 2 above)
> and we know that she got the name from _A Winter's
> Tale_.  [....]

Interesting thoughts, those. Yes: the parallels are there. The name itself,
the unfair accusation, the statue-sleep.

But there are some differences, too. In particular (as Catherine Coleman
once pointed out to me), the two Hermiones evince very different
personalities and deal with their romantic problems in very different ways.

And, of course, there are *other* parallels. There are at least three (semi)
well-known actresses called Hermione. And then there's the book-memorizing
Granger in _Fahrenheit 451_.

And a certain sort of shipper will be more than happy to point out the
parallels to Euripides' take on Homer's own Hermione (the original if there
ever was one!) The daughter of Helen of Troy (a woman who made guys' heads
hurt more than any dentist could), Hermione's charms lead to strife between
Orestes (Ron, obviously) and Neoptolemus (Harry, of course), when she ended
up being shagged by Neo, contrary to Orestes expectations and desires. (The
really interesting part is that Orestes ended up murdering Neo to get her
back ... )

(See http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/wian.html and assorted
mythological websites.)

Further, I'm not sure whether JKR has ever actually agreed that Hermione's
name was originally derived from Shake's WT. I've run every possible search
on my link page(http://www.geocities.com/aberforths_goat/), but I can't find
any reference to Shakespeare in my collection of interviews and press
releases.

[To be honest, I can't even find the interview with Steve's points 1&2 -
though I *have* read or heard them somewhere. I hereby offer a butter beer
to anyone who can deliver the URL - I think it would be rather helpful if
someone could figure out what JKR has actually said!]

> However, while we should take an author's
> remarks into account, we should be wary of
> making the argument that the author's
> interpretation is the only "correct" interpretation.
> If an author chooses a name that alludes to
> other works or ideas, this name will continue
> to make those allusions, irrespective of what
> the author now says about the name.

Hmm. I'm not quite sure how to read that statement. If you mean that the
allusion is present in the fabric of our linguistic culture, regardless of
whether the author knew it, I agree. Even if WT is the one play JKR has
never even got around to reading, that allusion is still a characteristic of
the word "Hermione" - in the same way that the patinae on a bronze statue
are a still a characteristic of the statue, even if the sculptress never
thought about them while she was at work. To point out that the sculptress
or author never thought of the patinea or allusions doesn't mean they aren't
there; it just means that the work of art has passed out of their hands,
that it has become something independent of its creator.

But perhaps you mean that JKR's creative process was influenced by Shake's
Herm, only she was either unaware of it or has simply forgotten it. If
*that's* the point, I'm not so sure. Yes: you might be right. Other people
may indeed notice real elements in our creative processes that we have
forgotten or that were formerly subconscious to us. But if people want to
convince us that their insights into our own creative processes are deeper
than our own, they'll have to be pretty darn convincing about it. And the
parallels I've seen between WT!Herm and HP!Herm seem just a little weak to
carry off such an ambitious project.

> What's more, Rowling's names are clearly allusive
> -- heck, some of the names are even allegorical.
> Voldemort, derived from French "flight of death"
> or (figuratively) "cheating death," quite literally
> embodies the character Voldemort.

Or "desire of death" ("death wish") from the Latin "volo" (desire) + "mors"
(death). Not to mention "destroyer of good, old-fashioned family values"
from "Volvo" + "mors."

Baaaaaa!

Aberforth's Goat (a.k.a. Mike Gray, who can't figure out why no one has ever
picked up on his first Voldemort derivation - but who realizes that the
second etymology is a lost cause in this nest of slithering liberalism.
=;-> )
_______________________

"Of course, I'm not entirely sure he can read, so that may not have been
bravery...."