Sexuality as a theme in HP (long) (long Jungian take)

[antoshachekhonte]

No: HPFGUIDX 119644


> > Alla:
<snip>
> > In light of "cruciatus attempt" I guess I have a question  - what
> > about Bella? What does she represent if we go with this
> > interpretation?
> 
> Kethryn now -
> If you go with the sexual interpretation and say that Snape represents the
> darker side of sex (I think that's a bit too broad, I would narrow it down
> to say that he represents the darker side of desire that he has to fight),
> then Bella represents a dominatrix.  And, like all good doms, she plays sub
> as well, sub to Voldemort for sure...maybe sub to Lestrange as well
> (although I tend to doubt that).
> 
> Kethryn who has a calculus final in *EEEK* an hour.  I will expand on this
> idea if there is interest.

Like you, I've got too much to say on this subject to actually pull together in a post. >.<

On the general subject: I think it is interesting and illuminating to look at the sexual 
themes in the books. Some of them are--well, explicit isn't exactly the right word, but 
STATED. Sexual attraction--at age-appropriate levels--is part of the books from CoS 
(Ginny's crush) on. These are coming-of-age books, and any coming-of-age books that 
don't acknowledge the romantic/sexual feelings of the adolescent characters is going to 
be much less interesting than the HP series is. (CS Lewis's kids stop coming to Narnia once 
the opposite sex starts looking interesting.... Just a thought.)

I think some of the implicit symbolism is very much of interest as well. A Freudian analysis 
of the books is very revealing. What's the driving force, say, of CoS? Once again, Ginny's 
crush. What power does this crush unleash? A huge, deadly snake that the object of 
Ginny's affection must tame in order for her to survive. Go, Sigmund.

Having said that, I'd rather take a more Jungian view: that the books--like all good 
stories--are myth-making, that they are rites of passage for the characters, and for the 
readers. The journey that Harry is undertaking is clearly one towards integration. For him 
to be a whole person at the end of the story--whether he survives on-page or not--he 
needs to recognize and accept all of the deep, repressed STUFF in his own self, what Jung 
called the Subconscious. This stuff gets projected out onto the people around him. There's 
all of the negative impulses that Harry, being a Good Person, tries to shove down--this is 
what Jung calls the Shadow. He recognizes these urges in the people around him--
particularly Dudley, Malfoy, Voldemort and of course Snape. He wouldn't hate these people 
if they didn't represent something he can't stand in himself. There's the negative self-
image down in the shadow as well--the idea propounded by the Dursleys that Harry is 
clumsy, stupid and worthless.  This has been projected onto Neville, whom Harry is 
constantly trying to redeem, even though he's exasperated by his friend. But look what's 
happening to Neville! He's suddenly blooming into the kind of hero that Harry himself 
would like to be. I think Harry's realization of his father's imperfections--his father having 
been, to that point, an idealized hero figure--is, in a way, a step towards beginning to 
integrate his own negative side into his personality.

Then, of course, there's the image of the opposite sex, what Jung called (in males) the 
Anima. This is the accumulation of all of the parts of you that you perceive as being 
inappropriate in your own gender. There are two aspects of this--positive and negative. 
Now, Harry has one ideal woman: his mom. She is the image of what Harry believes the 
female should be--loving, loyal, fiercely protective. Look at the women Harry cares about 
in the series--Molly Weasley, Ginny, Hermione. All share Lily's traits to a certain extent. I 
think Harry is initially attracted to Cho because he thinks that's who she is. Well, she's a 
perfectly lovely young woman, but she doesn't exactly turn out to match Harry's ideal, and 
they both end up disappointed in each other. Luna stands outside the ideal in some ways 
as well. And yet I am curious to see where JKR takes Harry's relationship with her.

There is also, of course, the negative ideal, the Wicked Stepmother, if you will. In Harry's 
case, this is represented by Petunia and Umbridge, but I think, as Harry matures, it will be 
represented more by Bellatrix, who represents the negative side of everything his mother 
stood for. She is hateful, spiteful, and cruel. For a mid-adolescent boy, this is no longer 
merely a Bad Mom, this is Bad Woman, and so, yes, she has a powerful negative sexual 
edge to her, like the slinky villainesses in so many film noir classics. I think her dom-ness 
is just part of what makes Harry so compelled to despise her.

You know, I'm sort of looking forward to her trying to go after Neville.

Whew. Long answer for a short punchline. Anyway, it seems to me that the books will have 
to conclude with Harry coming to grips not only with his own heroic nature--which is very 
real--but with his darker nature as well, in terms of his own natural urges for both sex 
and power.

Antosha, who should really stop reading Jungian stuff.