Characteristic Dialogue -- Trelawney

[Cindy C.]

No: HPFGUIDX 28786

Luke wrote:

>Professor Trelawney's melodramatic manner of speech is generally 
comprised of short exclamations whenever something evokes a strong 
reaction in her (surprise, concern, etc.) and somewhat longer, 
sweeping sentences when she is explaining things in mysterious 
detail.  Interestingly enough her casual predictions thrown about 
while walking around the classroom (and seemingly said in a "flat 
affect", matter-of-fact voice as opposed to the more misty voice that 
she seems to use in her explanations) are usually middle-length and 
tersely-constructed.<

As Professor Trelawney is one of my favorite characters (not in a 
Lupin-like way, but because she is comic relief and very effective at 
confusing us about the Grim), I thought I'd have a go at making a few 
quick observations about her dialogue based on Luke's outstanding 
essay on Characteristic Dialogue.  I categorically deny in advance 
that I chose Trelawney because she might not be as challenging as 
certain other characters, like Snape.  I also don't represent that 
these observations are scintillating; as Professor Trelawney might 
say, they might be "hopelessly mundane."  Anyway, I must admit I 
hadn't observed some of these things until Luke provided guidance on 
Characteristic Dialogue, so here we go.  

As Luke notes, Professor Trelawney certainly displays a pronounced 
Speech Quirk:  the use of the word "dear."  In her first divination 
class in PoA, she calls someone "dear" 18 times in the course of 5 
pages, pretty much every time she speaks.  I never really noticed 
this before, which suggests that it is possible to really "do" a 
speech quirk without overdoing it.

Indeed, Professor Trelawney never directly addresses her students by 
name at all in PoA.  When she first meets them, she refers to them 
collectively as "my children."  Neville is "boy."  After that, it is 
only "dear."  It is not until Harry's dream in GoF that Professor 
Trelawney finally addresses Harry by name, and then only to call 
him "Potter":  "You were clutching your scar!" said Professor 
Trelawney.  "You were rolling on the floor, clutching your scar!  
Come now, Potter, I have experience in these matters."  So, 
ironically, Professor Trelawney uses the overly familiar form of 
address "dear" in a formal classroom setting, but can only manage to 
use the student's last name when the student has just collapsed on 
the floor.

As for the staff, Professor Trelawney drops all of the "dears" when 
dealing with her professional peers.  At the Christmas dinner, she 
still calls Harry and Ron "dears."  Dumbledore, however, 
is "Headmaster." She only addresses one other staff member directly --
 calling McGonagall "Minerva" when irritated with her.  As for 
Professor Lupin, she refers to him as "dear Professor Lupin."  Old 
habits die hard, I suppose.  

She also tends to use rhetorical questions when in airy-fairy 
mode:  "Who am I to refuse the promptings of fate?"  "Something 
moving . . . but what is it?"  When angry, however, she can't be 
bothered with rhetorical questions.  Instead, her speech becomes 
quite pointed:  "If you must know, Minerva, I have seen that poor 
Professor Lupin will not be with us for very long. [. . . ]  He 
positively fled when I offered to crystal gaze for him –"  Another 
example of Professor Trelawney losing her cool with Hermione:  "I am 
sorry to say that from the moment you have arrived in this class, my 
*dear* it has been apparent that you do not have what the noble art 
of Divination requires.  Indeed, I don't remember ever meeting a 
student whose mind was so hopelessly mundane."  

When she is making a prediction, on the other hand, she is given to 
long, "stream of consciousness" sentences that include many 
ellipses:  "I was saying that Saturn was surely in a position of 
power in the heavens at the moment of your birth . . . . Your dark 
hair . . . your mean stature . . . tragic losses so young in 
life . . . I think I am right in saying, my dear, that you were born 
in midwinter."  Indeed, in the scene where Trelawney sees the Grim in 
the crystal ball, she first manages 3 ellipses in a paragraph, then 
has a spat with Hermione in which she communicates her thoughts 
without a single ellipse, and then, when discussing her prediction 
that Hermione would leave around Easter, reverts back to her more 
rambling, ellipses-filled style.

Subtle, but it all worked for me!

Cindy (noting that all but two of Sir Cadogan's lines end with an 
exclamation point, and one of these is a question!!!)