Psychoanalysis of CoS (long)

[olivierfouquet2000]

No: HPFGUIDX 83372

This is quite long, sorry !

I have thought for some time about writing this post and was finally convin=
ced by the 
back-page of my edition of OoP (see end of the post). I first want to menti=
on that I 
am not a professional psychologist nor even a student in this academic fiel=
d, so many 
members might very well poke holes in what follows, I had fun anyway. I als=
o want to 
apologize for the english mistakes, english is not my first language.

My point is that a major theme of CoS is sexuality, more precisely the anxi=
ous 
feelings children are experiencing when they first encounter sexuality, bef=
ore being 
mature enough. Here follows some hints, some obvious some rather subtle. Al=
l 
references below are from the english edition of CoS. 

Among the most obvious signs are all connected to Gilderoy Lockhart. Both M=
olly 
Weasley and Hermione are depicted as seduced by Lockhart, but in a slightly=
 puerile 
way (witch is normal for Hermione but is emphasized by the fact Molly react=
s the 
same way). Both blushes when confronted to this fact (Ch.3 p.32 for instanc=
e "Mum 
fancies him"), both try to rationalize their reaction ("he knows its househ=
old pests all 
right", Ch.6 p.80 "look at all the amazing thing he's done"). In fact, in t=
he whole HP 
cycle, Hermione has never been so wrong about someone.  The Lockhart 
engrossment culminates in Ch.13, where Hermione actually sleeps with the 
completely uninteresting get-well card from Lockhart. Considering that she'=
s twelve 
at the time, this one of the clearest way JKR could evoke sexual situation =
without 
being flamed.

Parallel to the Lockhart/Hermione couple, there is a Harry/Ginny one. I wil=
l not go 
into details there because in my opinion they satisfy the exact same symbol=
ic 
function : immature fantasy.

Then comes the "Percy situation." Ch.3 p.28 "Percy has been acting very odd=
ly this 
summer [...]. He has been [...] spending a load of time shut up in his room=
... I mean, 
there's only so many times you can polish a prefect badge." That I think is=
 the most 
blatant allusion to masturbation JKR could allow herself in a book intended=
 to 9-13 
year-old children. Further, Ch.16 p.212 "Well, er, if you must know, Ginny,=
 er, walked 
in on me the other day when I was - well, never mind - the point is , she s=
aw me 
doing something and I, um, I asked her not to mention it to anybody." It ha=
s already 
been pointed out on this list (by Dave iirc) that adult readers are here in=
clined to 
suppose that Ginny has indeed caught Percy masturbating. To end the part on=
 Percy, 
remember that in fact he tries to hide that is going out with Penelope. His=
 attitude is 
clearly not mature, something coherent with the whole theme.

If Percy is the symbol of the immature boy sexuality, Moaning Myrtle is his=
 female 
counterpart. First of all, she seems to be doomed for ever to live in this =
particularly 
horrible moment in the life of  girl we french call "âge ingrat" (ungratefu=
l age literally, 
I don't know how it translates). She lives in a toilet, a place children te=
nd to associate 
with sexuality (for obvious reasons), she fancies Harry (even Ron is capabl=
e of 
noticing this) and invites him to "share [her] toilet Ch.17 p.240." She is =
extremely 
mean to Hermione during the polyjuice incident (but we will comeback to thi=
s), 
something that could be jealousy. Last but not least, I have always been ra=
ther 
suspicious to the death of Myrtle. Let me quote (Ch.16 p.221) "it was dread=
ful, she 
said with relish[...]. I remember it so well. I'd hidden because [snip] was=
 teasing me. 
[...] I heard somebody come in. They said something funny. Anyway what real=
ly got 
me was that it was a boy speaking.[...]. I just remember seeing a pair of b=
ig yellow 
eyes. My whole body sort of seized up and then I was floating away ... She =
looked 
dreamily at Harry." Now I don't know how you interpret this, but it does so=
und like 
either the coming of the first menstruation or (and it is even more perturb=
ing) the 
first sexual experience : she's alone, a boy comes in, something funny happ=
ens, 
something that "really got [her]", her whole body sort of "seized up", all =
in all it was 
dreadful but she tells it with relish and it makes her look at Harry "dream=
ily". Not to 
mention it was a big snake that took her and the last thing she remembers i=
s "a pair 
of big yellow eyes." Not surprisingly, the next time Harry and Myrtle meet,=
 Harry is 
naked.

Until now, we have seen rather obvious instances. What follows is more spec=
ulative. 
First of all, there is the very perturbing polyjuice event. Let us look at =
it : Hermione - 
a 12-year-old girl - enters a bathroom to transform herself. Something goes=
 
unpredicted so she refuses to come out (under much mockery from Moaning Myr=
tle). 
Her two boy friends are puzzled. We finally discover she has become furry. =
Restated 
like this, the situation sounds completely obvious. Add to this the fact th=
at Harry 
recalls this event in Occlumency three years afterward as a very embarrassi=
ng 
thought. This scene ties perfectly with the theme of puzzlement and angst i=
n front of 
sexuality.

Then comes the scene in the chamber of secrets, and the discussion between =
Tom 
and Harry.
As it has already been pointed out, Tom gloats over an unconscious Ginny as=
 if he 
had raped her Ch.17 p.228 and following "it's very boring, having to listen=
 to the silly 
little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl [...] Ginny simply loved me [...=
] I have always 
been able to charm the people I need [...] I made Ginny [...] come down her=
e to wait 
[...] She struggled and cried and became very boring." This is a 17-year-ol=
d boy 
speaking about a shy 11-year-old girl lying at his feet at the moment. It i=
s also quite 
interesting that Mr.Weasley is very critical of her when he learns the stor=
y : "Haven't I 
taught you anything ?" Ch.18 p.242 like maybe to keep away from mysterious =
young 
adults that she sees in private ?

I would like to end this discussion with a comment on the title. Once one s=
tarts to 
read CoS following this theme, it appears that it is absolutely brilliant. =
What is, for a 
normal 12-year-old the Chamber of Secrets ? And what secrets are to be foun=
d in a 
chamber if not sexuality ?

One last, I would like to answer in advance two likely counter-arguments. F=
irst, I 
am not saying this is the only theme of CoS, just one of the main, of cours=
e many 
other reading strategy are possible. Second, doesn't this rely a bit to muc=
h on 
dubious psychology ? Well, as I said, it is OoP that convinced me. On the b=
ack-page 
of my edition there is a picture of JKR in front of a bookshelves. Now, if =
it were me, I 
would insist on appearing in front of books I actually like considering the=
 fact that 
million of people will see there. Among the books I can recognize is one fr=
om Joyce, 
one from Jane Austen, one from Adrian Mole, a book on the Metropolitan muse=
um 
and one from Freud. So I assumed that she has at least an interest in psych=
ology. 

Hope you found it interested. I might write something about PoA one day too=
.

All the best, Olivier

PS : For references on the approach I used, I recommend a critical reading =
of Uses of 
Enchantment by Bruno Bettelheim.