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

[anavenc]

No: HPFGUIDX 33320

Eloise wrote: (on readers liking Snape but not Draco)

> Is Snape striking some chord, does he have other literary parallels? 
                
Ana wrote:

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 fanfic about his love life.
              

Cassie wrote:

> Actually, I started loving the surly Potions master even before I 
joined this list and started getting into the complexity of the man.  
after that  I like him because he's cruel, sarcastic, and domineering. 
But I think the good handful of us who are in love/lust with Sevi 
(or any  fictional character for that matter) make him out to be more 
than he 
is and dream up perfect fantasies about him simply because we know 
we'll 
never run  the risk of being disappointed by the real thing. ^-^ 
 
Ana again:

It's just I find it deeply ironic (well, if honestly, hilarious) that 
the author wants  her character to look repulsive, both inside and 
outsite, but nonetheless, readers en masse fall in love with him, 
never mind greasy hair and hatred of children.
I suspect that's what happened here: Rowling endowed Snape with lots 
of vampire attributes for the reasons we don't know yet.  Maybe, he 
really is one, or maybe just looks like that, so MMVP start the rumour 
Snape-vampire and ruin his life.  But vampire falls into that dark, 
brooding, charismatic, tormented archetype which is also associated, 
say, with the image of Byronic lover.  So Snape in readers' minds got 
associated with Byronic lovers and for many of them became a great 
romantic hero, much to his creator's surprise. Just an inadvertent 
result of vampire overtones in his characterization. This also answers 
Eloise's question about the chord Snape strikes. 

I didn't want to answer Eloise's post first because I thought somebody 
more literate than I would do it much better, but finally couldn't 
keep my mouth shut.