About Arlene Schulman Expertise I have loved Shakespeare all my life, and as a Stage Director and Actor for over twenty-five years I have had the opportunity to study his work in intimate detail. I would be happy to share my knowledge of his plays. I can also help with acting Shakespeare, working with blank verse, character development, script analysis and interpretation. I don`t have as much knowledge in the area of his sonnets, but I can help to understand their meaning and language. I also have some knowledge of his life and of the Globe theatre where he performed his plays, as well as the Royal Shakespeare Company and his birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon, and can point you in the direction of some wonderful websites on the subjects as well.
Experience
Organizations SSDC - associate member The Shakespeare Institute (MA Candidate - "Shakespeare & Theatre)
Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas
The Shakespeare Association of America
Question Hi, for my english class I was asked to find how a seventeenth century audience pronounced the name "Hermione". I know now that it is pronounced as... Her - my - oh - knee, but supposedly it was pronounced differently back then. I have been having a hard time finding the answer. If you could help, I would greatly appreciate that. Thank you.
Jason
Answer Hi Jason,
I'm not sure if you are asking how "Hermione" was actually pronounced by ordinary people who lived in the seventeenth century, or how it was pronounced in Shakespeare's "A Winter's Tale". If it is the former, then I have no idea (and I'm not sure if anyone alive today really knows). English in those days was pronouced (and actually often spelled) very differently then than it is today both in England and in other English speaking countries.
However, if you are asking how it is pronounced in Shakespeare's plays, that's another question. Much of the pronunciation in Shakespeare's plays is determined by the way it scans into his iambic pentameter of his verse.
The excellent book, "ALL THE WORDS ON STAGE, A Complete Pronunciation Dictionary for the plays of William Shakespeare" by Louis Scheeder and Shane Ann Younts lists the name "Hermione" (normally pronounced just as you said) as scanning to... Her-MEYE-nee (or as you wrote it... Her MY-knee). In other words, making the two last syllables into one quick syllable.
However, I'm pretty sure that the difference is strictly a question of fitting into the verse rather than any real difference in pronunciation between the 17th century and now.
Hope this helps. If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to try to answer them for you.
