Sexuality as a theme in HP (long)
pippin_999
foxmoth at qnet.com
Thu Dec 9 16:37:52 UTC 2004
No: HPFGUIDX 119578
--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "arrowsmithbt"
<arrowsmithbt at b...> wrote:
>
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com,
olivier.fouquet+harry at m... wrote:
> > Some read HP books as mysteries, other like to see them as
of the adventure and fantasy genre, and some as fairy-tales.
There are even readers that see in them deep christian or
symbolic meaning. In this post, I try to explore the way I read
them: as the journey from boyhood to manhood, with an explicit
reference to sexuality. Just as a forewarning, I insist that the
following will deal with adult theme.
> > Other posts on this subjects include #47966, #83372,
#101297 and #101335.
> >
> snip>
>
> Interesting indeed....
>
> I won't dispute with the symbology nor the logic. The choice
and use of each is the prerogative of the one presenting the
argument.
> But....
> This is (one of) your interpretations of HP.
> Do you think that this symbology is part of the authors intention
from the outset or could it be an unconscious, accidental or
unintentional theme on her part? Or even an inevitability given
that it follows a boy through adolescence to adulthood?
>
Pippin:
I think the sexual symbolism is itself a metaphor for power. After
all, Hermione and Cho can do the patronus charm, but their
femininity is not in question.
I would say Snape and Lupin both symbolize repression with
Lupin being the more dangerous because he pretends his
desires are innocent--he represses his guilt instead. He speaks
of the Marauder outings as the happiest times of his life, though
he admits he should have felt guilty about them.
Though Snape's occlumency lessons did not solve the
ostensible problem of the dreams, they did solve the
psychological problem which was posed at the beginning of the
book--Harry's experience with Voldemort had left him with a taste
for sadism, as shown by his attack on Dudley. By the end of the
book this desire has been successfully repressed, and Harry is
unable to perform the cruciatus curse.
Pippin
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