# Hermione: Sir, spare your threats (Hermione’s trial) > What is happening, what every line means, how to perform it, and how to use it in an audition, with the full text. - URL: https://www.offbook.com/monologues/sir-spare-your-threats - Last updated: 2026-10-08 From [The Winter’s Tale](https://www.offbook.com/plays/the-winters-tale) by William Shakespeare, Act 3, Scene 2. ## What is happening Leontes, King of Sicilia, has suddenly convinced himself, with no evidence, that his pregnant wife Hermione has slept with his oldest friend, Polixenes, King of Bohemia, and that she plotted with the lord Camillo against his life. When Polixenes and Camillo fled together, he took it as proof. He took their young son Mamillius away from her and sent her to prison, where she gave birth to a daughter. Then he ordered the baby carried off and left in some remote, deserted place to live or die. Soon after the birth, before she has her strength back, Hermione is brought before a public court, in the open air, charged with adultery and treason. Leontes has also sent two lords to the oracle of Apollo at Delphos, and they have just returned with its sealed answer. Hermione has already defended herself at length, calmly and carefully. Leontes answers that her “brat” has been thrown out and that she can expect nothing less than death. This speech is her reply. When she finishes, the oracle is read: Hermione is chaste and Leontes a jealous tyrant. Leontes calls it false; at once news comes that Mamillius has died, and Hermione collapses and is carried out. Her friend Paulina returns to say that the queen is dead. - Lines: 26 - Words: 203 - At 150 words a minute: 1.4 minutes - Form: Verse ## The speech, beat by beat The full text in 7 beats. Under each beat: what it means in plain English, and a note for playing it. ### Lines 1–3: I want death 1. Sir, spare your threats: 2. The bug which you would fright me with I seek. 3. To me can life be no commodity: **In plain English:** Sir, save your threats. The bogeyman you are trying to frighten me with is the very thing I am looking for. Life can be worth nothing to me now. **Acting note:** She opens by taking away his only weapon. This is calm, not showy defiance: she means it. ### Lines 4–6: First: your love 4. The crown and comfort of my life, your favour, 5. I do give lost; for I do feel it gone, 6. But know not how it went. My second joy **In plain English:** The crown and comfort of my life, your love, I count as lost. I can feel that it is gone, but I don’t know how it went. Then, in the middle of line 6, she begins the count again: my second joy. **Acting note:** “But know not how it went” is the most painful thing she says to him. It is not an accusation; she truly does not understand what happened to him. ### Lines 7–11: Second and third 7. And first-fruits of my body, from his presence 8. I am barr’d, like one infectious. My third comfort, 9. Starr’d most unluckily, is from my breast, 10. The innocent milk in its most innocent mouth, 11. Haled out to murder: myself on every post **In plain English:** My son, the first fruit of my body, I am kept away from as if I had a disease. My third comfort, born under an unlucky star, has been torn from my breast, the innocent milk still in its innocent mouth, and dragged away to be murdered. **Acting note:** She believes her baby is dead. Don’t rush the milk line: it is the image that should make the whole court flinch. ### Lines 12–16: Shamed in public 12. Proclaimed a strumpet: with immodest hatred 13. The child-bed privilege denied, which ’longs 14. To women of all fashion; lastly, hurried 15. Here to this place, i’ the open air, before 16. I have got strength of limit. Now, my liege, **In plain English:** I have been proclaimed a whore on every public post. With shameless hatred I have been refused the rest after childbirth that women of every rank are allowed, and last of all I have been hurried here, into the open air, before I have got my strength back. **Acting note:** Now the list is about her own body and her good name. The outdoor trial is part of the humiliation, and she is still physically weak. ### Lines 17–18: So proceed 17. Tell me what blessings I have here alive, 18. That I should fear to die? Therefore proceed. **In plain English:** Now, my lord, tell me what blessings I have left alive that I should be afraid to die. So go ahead. **Acting note:** The top of the count. “Therefore proceed” can be quiet: she is daring him. The 60-second cut on this page ends here. ### Lines 19–24: But my honor 19. But yet hear this: mistake me not; no life, 20. I prize it not a straw, but for mine honour, 21. Which I would free, if I shall be condemn’d 22. Upon surmises, all proofs sleeping else 23. But what your jealousies awake, I tell you 24. ’Tis rigour and not law. Your honours all, **In plain English:** But hear this, and don’t misunderstand me. My life I don’t value at all, not a straw. My honor I do, and I want it cleared. If I am condemned on suspicion, with no proof except what your jealousy dreams up, I tell you, that is cruelty, not law. **Acting note:** The second half has a different job: not grief but argument. “’Tis rigour and not law” is the line the court should remember. ### Lines 25–26: To Apollo 25. I do refer me to the oracle: 26. Apollo be my judge! **In plain English:** My lords, I put my case to the oracle. Let Apollo be my judge! **Acting note:** She turns from Leontes to the whole court. The last line is short; let it ring out and hang in the silence before anyone answers. ## Hard words | Word | Line | Meaning | | --- | --- | --- | | *bug* | 2 | bugbear, bogeyman: a thing used to frighten someone | | *commodity* | 3 | something of value, an asset | | *give lost* | 5 | give up as lost | | *first-fruits of my body* | 7 | my first child (her son Mamillius) | | *Starr’d most unluckily* | 9 | born under a most unlucky star | | *Haled* | 11 | dragged | | *on every post* | 11 | on every post where public notices are put up | | *strumpet* | 12 | whore | | *child-bed privilege* | 13 | the rest a woman is allowed after giving birth | | *’longs* | 13 | belongs | | *of all fashion* | 14 | of every rank | | *strength of limit* | 16 | the strength that returns after the usual time of rest following childbirth | | *surmises* | 22 | guesses, suspicions | | *rigour* | 24 | harshness, cruelty | | *refer me to the oracle* | 25 | submit my case to the oracle | ## How to perform it - Play the objective, not the suffering. She is not begging for her life; she has given it up. What she wants is her honor cleared by a fair judge. That gives the speech its spine and its dignity. - Count the losses. “The crown and comfort of my life,” “My second joy,” “My third comfort,” “lastly”: the speech is built as a numbered list that climbs to “Tell me what blessings I have here alive.” A study guide on Crossref-it notes how this list moves with growing grief to that climax. Let each item weigh more than the last. - Pick up the mid-line starts. Many of her new thoughts begin halfway through a line (“My second joy,” “My third comfort,” “Now, my liege,” “Your honours all”). Don’t stop at the line end before them; drive through, so the argument sounds continuous and controlled. - Restraint is her strength. The same guide points out that her measured tone and carefully organized sentences show her dignity, in sharp contrast to Leontes’s furious outbursts. She calls him “Sir” and “my liege.” Let the feeling press against that control rather than burst through it. - Remember her body. She has only just given birth, has not got her strength back, and is standing outdoors in front of the whole court. That cost can show in her breath and stillness without making her weak. - Common mistakes: weeping all the way through, which makes her only a victim; shouting, which makes her sound like Leontes; and letting the energy drop after line 18. The honor section and the appeal to Apollo are where the speech is heading. ## Using it in an audition Acting Coach Scotland lists this among the seven most popular Shakespeare monologues for women at drama school auditions, so panels will know it; clarity and stillness will set you apart more than big emotion. It suits adult actors who can carry authority, since Hermione is a queen and the mother of a young son. The full speech runs about 1.4 minutes at 150 words a minute. The 60-second cut on this page ends at line 18, “Therefore proceed,” a strong, defiant stop; it loses the turn to honor and the call to Apollo, so play “proceed” as a last challenge if you use it. If a panel wants more, her first defense earlier in the same scene (“Since what I am to say must be but that”) is 33 lines of argument. Pair it with something light and quick, such as Rosalind’s “And why, I pray you?” or Helena’s “How happy some o’er other some can be!” Hermione, The Winter’s Tale, Act 3, Scene 2. William Shakespeare. Public domain text. ## How long it runs | Pace | Words a minute | Run time | | --- | --- | --- | | Deliberate | 130 | 1.6 minutes | | Conversational | 150 | 1.4 minutes | | Brisk | 170 | 1.2 minutes | These are speech times before pauses. To time your own run, paste the text into the [monologue timer](https://www.offbook.com/tools/monologue-timer). Cut points that stop at a full sentence: near 60 seconds (after line 18). ## Practice it: first-letter version Each word is cut to its first letter. Say the whole line from the letters, then check the text. Make cues from any script with the [first-letter memorizer](https://www.offbook.com/tools/first-letter-memorizer). ```text S, s y t: T b w y w f m w I s. T m c l b n c: T c a c o m l, y f, I d g l; f I d f i g, B k n h i w. M s j A f-f o m b, f h p I a b, l o i. M t c, S m u, i f m b, T i m i i m i m, H o t m: m o e p P a s: w i h T c-b p d, w ’l T w o a f; l, h H t t p, i’ t o a, b I h g s o l. N, m l, T m w b I h h a, T I s f t d? T p. B y h t: m m n; n l, I p i n a s, b f m h, W I w f, i I s b c U s, a p s e B w y j a, I t y ’T r a n l. Y h a, I d r m t t o: A b m j! ``` More lists: [Shakespeare monologues](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/shakespeare), [Monologues for women](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/for-women), [Comedic monologues](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/comedic). ## Sources - [Act III, Scene ii | The Winter’s Tale Study Guide (Crossref-it.info)](https://crossref-it.info/textguide/the-winters-tale/10/1136) - [Hermione | The Winter’s Tale Study Guide (Crossref-it.info)](https://crossref-it.info/textguide/the-winters-tale/10/1184) - [Hermione’s Monologue from The Winter’s Tale, Act 3, Scene 2: “Sir, spare your threats” (Acting Coach Scotland)](https://actingcoachscotland.co.uk/hermiones-monologue-from-act-3-scene-2-of-the-winters-tale) - [The Most Overdone Shakespeare Monologues for Drama School Auditions (Acting Coach Scotland)](https://actingcoachscotland.co.uk/blog/most-over-done-shakespeare-monologues-drama-school-auditions/) - [The Winter’s Tale - Act 3, scene 2 | Folger Shakespeare Library](https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/the-winters-tale/read/3/2/) ## Questions actors ask ### How long is Hermione’s Sir, spare your threats (Hermione’s trial) speech? 26 lines and 203 words. At 150 words a minute it runs about 1.4 minutes; a slower, more deliberate delivery at 130 takes about 1.6 minutes. Pauses add time, so time a full run out loud. ### Is it a good audition monologue? Acting Coach Scotland lists this among the seven most popular Shakespeare monologues for women at drama school auditions, so panels will know it; clarity and stillness will set you apart more than big emotion. It suits adult actors who can carry authority, since Hermione is a queen and the mother of a young son. The full speech runs about 1.4 minutes at 150 words a minute. The 60-second cut on this page ends at line 18, “Therefore proceed,” a strong, defiant stop; it loses the turn to honor and the call to Apollo, so play “proceed” as a last challenge if you use it. If a panel wants more, her first defense earlier in the same scene (“Since what I am to say must be but that”) is 33 lines of argument. Pair it with something light and quick, such as Rosalind’s “And why, I pray you?” or Helena’s “How happy some o’er other some can be!” ### What is the fastest way to memorize it? Learn it in sense units, not line by line: say each thought out loud until you can do it without looking, then add the next. The first-letter version below keeps the shape of every line in view while you test yourself. ## How we count Counts are computed from the full text of the [Standard Ebooks edition](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/william-shakespeare/the-winters-tale) (public domain; retrieved 2026-10-08). Words are every spoken word, with stage directions removed. Lines are verse lines as printed, plus prose at 10 words a line, because prose has no fixed line breaks; editions differ, so other sources give slightly different line counts. Time is words at 140 words a minute, before pauses and stage business. A role is counted in a scene when it speaks there. To count a script that is not in the library, paste it into the [script line counter](https://www.offbook.com/tools/script-line-counter).