Pride and Prejudice (and more Jane Austen!)

[Wanda Sherratt]

No: HPFGUIDX 76776

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "bluesqueak" <pipdowns at e...> 
wrote:
> I hesitate to call Snape Mr Darcy ::blinks in vague horror:: but 
> Snape starts off with Lily in pretty much the same way Darcy 
starts 
> off with Elizabeth in the Assembly Rooms. He insults her. He's 
> prejudiced against her because of her background. Again, it's anti-
> Wickham, not Wickham (who is a flatterer).

Snape/Lily does follow the Darcy/Elizabeth pattern, but, 
interestingly enough, so does the Snape/Harry relationship.  If we 
take it out of the romantic sphere, their interaction follows a 
similar path, with Snape immediately categorizing and dismissing 
Harry, and Harry reacting with repulsion and dislike.  Their 
relationship is the more important one, as we can trace it through 
all the books so far.  We haven't yet had any breakdown on Snape's 
side, but Harry has had his convictions shaken by his glimpse into 
the Pensieve, just as Elizabeth had to re-evaluate her opinion of 
Wickham and Darcy after reading the explanatory letter Darcy sent 
her.  It's also obvious to the reader that these two characters 
belong on the same side, and that their hostility is hampering both 
of them from accomplishing what they're capable of.

But another Jane Austen parallel occurred to me while thinking this 
over; Mansfield Park is also a good match for HP.  Harry is poor, 
downtrodden Fanny, who is magically whisked away from a life of 
drudgery and finds happiness in the big mansion far away.  Of 
course, his life isn't perfect, but he eventually finds that he 
belongs at Hogwarts, despite its hardships.  He even has his yearly 
trips back to Privet Drive, just as Fanny returns to her family at 
Portsmouth, just to underline how unhappy and out of place he is in 
his original surroundings.  And as Fanny ends up being the moral 
center of Mansfield Park, Harry stands as the bulwark against 
encroaching evil at Hogwarts.  And if all that fails, Mansfield Park 
even has the original Mrs. Norris!  (Though I always thought it was 
a dirty trick to name even a scrawny cat after such a despicable 
woman.)

Wanda