Half-Blood Prince

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 183772

 "Jen Reese" <stevejjen at ...> wrote:
>
> I'm still not clear why young Snape chooses the nickname 'Half-Blood
> Prince'.  Is he motivated by pride in his heritage?  Does the name
> indicate a tinge of bitterness or regret?  Is it a symbolic attempt 
to
> cut his Muggle father out of the picture?  Well, maybe not the last
> one since he claims half-blood status, unlike Voldemort.
> 
> Assuming Half-Blood Prince Snape is a 6th year the same as Harry, or
> thereabouts given JKR's maths situation, he's already on the road to
> following Voldemort.   Wouldn't he downplay his blood status instead
> of glorifying in it?  Because he sounds proud of the name when
> revealing he's the Half-Blood Prince to Harry.  Maybe he chooses the
> name as a private reminder of where he came from, a hint of regret 
for
> where he's heading.
> 
> For every answer I come up with, a counter argument pops into my 
head!
> 
> Mystified!Jen


Mystified!Potioncat:
We don't know that Severus chose the nickname. Maybe it was Lucius's 
name for him. Certainly it wasn't widely used, because Lupin didn't 
recognise it. Remus might have been pretending, but I don't see that 
was any reason in this case.

It seems to me the Purebloods of the Marauders' generation may have 
been more tolerant than the Purebloods of Harry's day. It's hard to 
imagine Umbridge being so accepting of a Half-blood. Then again, 
Umbridge may have protested too much--may have had her own Muggle 
skeletons in her closet. Even though he's Half-blood, he's accepted 
by the Malfoys and rises quite high in the DEs.

We also don't know when or why Snape wrote the name. A somewhat 
bitter young man, taking potions with his one true love, may have 
written it as a bit of sarcasm towards himself. As Jen was 
suggesting, was he regretting choosing his friends over Lily?

That horrible bit of diaglogue, "It was I, the Half Blood Prince!" 
(or something close to that, I really don't want to look it up.) 
could have been simply Snape's taunting of Harry at that last moment 
before Snape left Hogwarts. This name for himself, just as much as 
SWM, may have reminded him of what he gave up.

The thing is, I can't see Severus enjoying the name or its meanings. 
For example I could imagine Sirius calling himself the "Black sheep 
of the family" and making that word play. I really can't see Severus 
doing it. (Sirius never did that in canon, I'm just making an example)

OTOH, I think JKR had lots of fun with "the Half-Blood Prince." It 
drove us crazy before the book came out. It can be taken so many 
ways, even after we know who it is.

Potioncat, just as mystified, offering more thoughts.