Hero types was Re: Another Snape thread/ Snape as hero

[leslie41]

No: HPFGUIDX 152101

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Joe Goodwin wrote:

 
> Snape is, in my regional phrase, as ugly as a busted blister. 
> Greasy hair, yellow teeth, sallow skin. Yeah Harry doesn't like 
> Snape but that doesn't mean he doesn't get an accurate view of 
> him. Harry also doesn't like Draco but few think Draco is ugly 
> based on Harry's POV.

Well, we could argue about this but I think that Grandpre's 
illustrations are really the best indication of what Snape looks 
like.  She's illustrated all the books, and no doubt Rowling would 
not continue to use her if she didn't approve.

Here's one from PoA:

http://www.veritaserum.com/media/2004/10/30/hpdrawing27.jpg

To me here he looks threatening, and commanding, and certainly he 
has sharp features, but even though he is lit from underneath 
(typical unflattering horror lighting), he most definitely does not 
look "ugly."  No "uglier" than Lupin does in an illustration from 
the same book:

http://www.veritaserum.com/media/2004/10/30/hpdrawing29.jpg

In the illustration of him in HBP, *I* think Snape looks positively 
handsome with his goatee (which becomes him).

In general, I certainly don't think Rowling intends him to be 
strikingly good looking, but neither do I think that dispassionate 
observers are supposed to perceive him as hideous.  His attitude, in 
general, tends to inform how we see him.  

Lupin, for example, is ever described as being attractive.  He 
looks "ill and exhausted" when we first see him, wearing shabby 
clothes, and seeming older than he really is.

With Lupin as well, his attitude and his personality affect how we 
see him.

Leslie