Snape, Snape, Loverly Snape...and authorial intent

[leslie41]

No: HPFGUIDX 148227

A lot is being made of Rowling's interpretation of Snape.

It sounds radical, but Rowling's impression of her own characters 
doesn't really matter all that much.  Authors are notoriously bad 
sources of information as to what to make of their own characters and 
books.  

Now, if Rowling were hinting about plot details she was going to 
reveal, etc., that might be something else.

But in the realm of literary criticism, Rowling's opinion is not the 
trump card.  Not at all.  It just tells you what SHE thinks of her 
work, not what's necessarily there.