Hermione's Shakespearean antecedant (was Names)

[Hecate]

No: HPFGUIDX 22382

Liz brought up the Shakespearean precedent for Hermione's name:

> Hermione--queen of Sicilia and wife of Leontes in Shakespeare's The
> Winter's Tale. Hermione is a stable, warm-hearted wife and mother whose
> virtue is called into question only by her husband. Unlike Desdemona,
> another of Shakespeare's long-suffering victims of irrational jealousy,
> Hermione-thought to be dead-is "brought to life" at the play's conclusion.

This is very intriguing.  At the beginning of *The Winter's Tale*, we are
given reason to believe that Hermione is happily married to Leontes, King of
Sicilia.  She was a princess in another land, which she has left for good to
marry Leontes.  Her predicament is due to her husband's erroneous perception
on terribly insufficient evidence that Hermione is being unfaithful with a
neighboring king, Polixenes, who is Leontes's best friend and has been since
their childhood.  At the time of Leontes's jealous rage, Hermione is very
pregnant and she gives birth to their daughter while imprisoned.  Leontes
believes the child is a bastard and has her cast out in the wilderness.  At
the trial (where Leontes receives even more evidence of his wife's
innocence, but chooses to disregard it), Hermione faints and is taken away
as if dead.  Leontes immediately begins to repent.  Hermione is kept hidden
by a loyal friend for 16 years until Leontes has mostly made up for his
beastliness (long plot involving now-grown infant daughter who hooks up with
son of best friend).  At the end, she returns to him in a facsimile of a
magical act orchestrated by the friend who has hidden her all these years.
Leontes replies, astounded, "If this be magic, let it be an art as lawful as
eating" (5.3.110).  In this scene, the text indicates that Hermione embraces
Leontes, but she does not speak *to him*.  Shakespearean brides rarely get
to talk as the curtain goes down, but it is interesting that when Hermione
does speak, she speaks to the daughter and not the husband.

Potterverse connections -- since Hermione has left Muggle society for the
magical one, she, like Shakespeare's Hermione, is a beloved stranger in a
strange land.  The woman who is equally valued by two friends who are
boyhood friends has several obvious parallels with the Hermione/Harry/Ron
trio.  If JKR is following this model, I would expect Harry to develop
hitherto unseen jealousy of any increased bond between Ron and Hermione for
which he will be brutally chastised before Hermione comes "back" to him in
the end (I find this personally unlikely, but H/H isn't my ship).

Hagrid would like *The Winter's Tale* -- this is the play with the stage
direction "Exit pursued by a bear" (3.3.58).

And FWIW, I do see an interesting echo in Snape's "I can teach you how to
bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death" (PS 137) speech of Hecate's
lines "He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear / His hopes 'bove wisdom,
grace, and fear" (3.5.30-31) in *Macbeth*.  The Macbeths would definitely
have been Slytherins.

Hecate
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