Romanticism and love in HP (was Re: Fiction type)

[Ebony AKA AngieJ]

No: HPFGUIDX 24763

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., becky at m... wrote:
> This may have been posted before- I have been reading the back 
> messages but it is a rather daunting task.  At any rate- all the 
> discussion of sex and innocence has brought to mind a new thought.  
> At heart, the Harry Potter books are at least in part romantic 
> fiction.  

Thanks for reiterating this, Becky.  I posted about this, but it was 
nearly a year ago now.

Anyone who knows anything about romanticism as a literary movement 
knows that modern fantasy (and dark fantasy, also called "horror") 
has many characteristics of that genre.  Think of 
Coleridge's "Christabel" or "Phantom" or "The Rime of the Ancient 
Mariner".  Think of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein".

Romanticism in English literature didn't just include love 
narratives.  It also included themes of individual freedom and 
spontaneity, an emphasis on nature, glorification of the commonplace, 
the supernatural and the "dangers of beauty", infinite striving, 
apocalyptic expectations (because of the French Revolution, 
intellectuals in early 19th century England expected the same to 
happen in their country--but it never came), and an emphasis on the 
importance of the emotions.

ALL of these themes are found in the HP books, even the "dangerous 
beauty" one.

I don't know why people are so down on the idea of "love", though.  
Not only is there nothing wrong with romantic love (what the Greeks 
called "eros"), every type of love *save* the kind a million songs 
have been written about is in the books already.  We've seen 
friendship in two generations, the love of parents for their 
children, and even sacrificial, unconditional love.  I really think 
that increasing anti-romantic sentiment represents a general malaise 
and cynicism in our society.  We have gotten so very warped until we 
don't even have a clear idea of what love is.

Someday soon I am going to compose that post splicing the Harry 
Potter series with C.S. Lewis' tome "The Four Loves".  Whatever you 
might think of Lewis, I like the way he dichotomizes love.  Other 
languages have different words for the various kinds of loves... 
since we only have the one, it is natural for people to focus on the 
most "showy" of the loves (eros) and ignore phileos, storge, and the 
others.

>This brings me to my point- when building literature, based to some 
extent, on authors such as Bronte and Austen, as well as the classic 
children's literature which she read as a child- could she even 
concieve to include sex as a prominent aspect of the plot?  
Particuarly, as she has said, she has such an easy time slipping back 
to her 12 year old state and, at least when I was twelve (not that 
long ago), I considered sex a rather vaugue odditity and based my 
daydreams on romantic ideals where the steamiest scenes involved boys 
throwing pebbles at my window and then serenading me.<

LOL!  No, I don't think that sex will be crucial to the plot in the 
Harry Potter books.  We see only a fraction of what goes on at 
Hogwarts... just like we don't follow the characters to the loo or 
even knew they bathed until GoF, we don't have to necessarily see the 
awkward, rushed fumblings of teenagers onstage.  Not only is it most 
likely not crucial to the narrative, there's nothing interesting 
about it IMO unless it's played for laughs... and JKR's sense of 
humor might not extend that far.

What I do believe is that issues arising from adolescence very well 
might be crucial to the plot.  JKR has also said the characters will 
not stay 12 forever.  

--Ebony AKA AngieJ