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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