Q: why readers love Snape (Was:Draco/ Snape parallels)

[anavenc]

No: HPFGUIDX 33276

Eloise wrote:

> What really intrigues me, though, and perhaps some of you other 
Friends of 
> Snape out there can help me out on this one, is just *why* do some 
of us have 
> sympathy for this horrible man, want to find excuses or reasons for 
his 
> behaviour, whilst most of us seem to feel nothing but antipathy for 
Draco, 
> who is after all only a child.
> 
> Is Snape striking some chord, does he have other literary parallels? 
Any 
> thoughts?

I almost started answering to Eloise's post, but finally thought I'd 
better leave it to people who are knowledgeable in literature and 
theory of writing. Maybe Tabouli, Elisabeth Dalton, Cindy(sphinx) and 
all you other literary experts, whose thought-provoking posts never 
fail to impress me, would like to reply to this one.

However, I couldn't resist a temptation to throw in a very closely 
related question which I have been asking myself for a while:

Snape is not only sympathised with, but much, much more. A large part 
of HP fandom consists of people who are simply infatuated with him.  
Meanwhile, it seems like JKR so far hasn't planned on readers loving 
him--at least not yet :). She keeps repeating in interviews that Snape 
is horrible and seems surprised when readers show signs of affection 
to him. Well, she obviously planned on making him intriguing, who 
would doubt it after reading the famous hospital scene in the end of 
GOF. But definitely not loveable. Inspite of this, Snape, probably 
more than any other HP character, mysteriously got out of JKR's hand 
and acquired a life of his own in readers' minds. For example, from 
JKR's point of view, nobody "would want him to fall in love with her", 
but *ahem* consider the huge amount of on-line discussions and 
especially fanfiction about his love life.  
So, I guess, my question is: why readers so badly want Snape to be 
different from the fellow we see in Rowling's books? Especially that 
the original character is so fascinating in his own right?

Ana.