For remarkable contributions to the field of Snapeology...

The Harry Potter for Grownups list is so high-traffic I can't always keep up with it, but one thing that always pricks up my ears is when the topic of Severus Snape pops up, as it does often. Hardly anyone's neutral about this character. For such a nasty bastard, he has a huge fan-following (I'm a member, duh!) - and occasionally someone just has to stir the cauldron by asking why.

The ever-erudite Porphyria just posted an excellent theory I had never quite seen voiced in quite this way before, so I asked her permission to quote it here for further discussion.

For starters, my whole reply is predicated on the belief that, very often, people prefer characters with whom they identify. This can be positive or negative; we like characters who embody the characteristics we wish to have, and we feel deep empathy for characters who embody our own faults.

Well, I'm sure some people *hate* characters who embody their own faults, but I for one love them quite pathetically, and I know I'm not alone.

I would also like to add, re GulPlum's question about sexual fantasies, that infatuation with literary characters has *nothing to do* with sexual attraction in its simplest sense. These characters have no physical presence; they do not infect us with their pheromones or put the moves on us. They are only as attractive as we imagine them. Our impression of them is rooted purely in language, which means it is symbolic and analyzable.

Otherwise, we'd all have hopeless crushes on Gilderoy Lockhart, which does not seem to be the case. :-) Snape, in particular, *is supposed to be ugly, * so there must be something *else* going on with his legion of female crushers for them to feel as they do.

The following is only one theory among many for Snape's appeal, but I think it's worth giving a shot: Snape is the cast-off animus of an individual who has been socialized as female. OK, plain English: Snape appeals to some women because he is exactly what a woman cannot be if she is to be recognized as "feminine" in our society.( Read more... )

Brilliant, Porphyria. Thank you!

I would add that the very fact of Snape's physical description in the books adds to this: as seen from Harry's POV, he's painted to be quite ugly and to have dubious personal hygiene habits. Women, far more than men, are judged on this basis constantly (by other women even more harshly than by men). How refreshing it would be sometimes to be kind of ugly and skanky and not have to care!

Oh there's more, much more, and this thread went on for a while in other interesting directions. What do all y'all think?

For remarkable contributions to the field of Snapeology...

The Harry Potter for Grownups list is so high-traffic I can't always keep up with it, but one thing that always pricks up my ears is when the topic of Severus Snape pops up, as it does often. Hardly anyone's neutral about this character. For such a nasty bastard, he has a huge fan-following (I'm a member, duh!) - and occasionally someone just has to stir the cauldron by asking why.

The ever-erudite Porphyria just posted an excellent theory I had never quite seen voiced in quite this way before, so I asked her permission to quote it here for further discussion.

For starters, my whole reply is predicated on the belief that, very often, people prefer characters with whom they identify. This can be positive or negative; we like characters who embody the characteristics we wish to have, and we feel deep empathy for characters who embody our own faults.

Well, I'm sure some people *hate* characters who embody their own faults, but I for one love them quite pathetically, and I know I'm not alone.

I would also like to add, re GulPlum's question about sexual fantasies, that infatuation with literary characters has *nothing to do* with sexual attraction in its simplest sense. These characters have no physical presence; they do not infect us with their pheromones or put the moves on us. They are only as attractive as we imagine them. Our impression of them is rooted purely in language, which means it is symbolic and analyzable.

Otherwise, we'd all have hopeless crushes on Gilderoy Lockhart, which does not seem to be the case. :-) Snape, in particular, *is supposed to be ugly, * so there must be something *else* going on with his legion of female crushers for them to feel as they do.

The following is only one theory among many for Snape's appeal, but I think it's worth giving a shot: Snape is the cast-off animus of an individual who has been socialized as female. OK, plain English: Snape appeals to some women because he is exactly what a woman cannot be if she is to be recognized as "feminine" in our society.( Read more... )

Brilliant, Porphyria. Thank you!

I would add that the very fact of Snape's physical description in the books adds to this: as seen from Harry's POV, he's painted to be quite ugly and to have dubious personal hygiene habits. Women, far more than men, are judged on this basis constantly (by other women even more harshly than by men). How refreshing it would be sometimes to be kind of ugly and skanky and not have to care!

Oh there's more, much more, and this thread went on for a while in other interesting directions. What do all y'all think?