Ginny and the unicorn tapestry

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 187344

Bookworm:
> I saw the new Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince last night and I thought the symbolism the director used was interesting. In at least two of the scenes, Ginny is depicted in front of the famous medieval unicorn and woman tapestry. All sorts of parallels could be drawn there. Ginny is really Ginevra, the Italian form of the name Guinevere, and maybe is intended to represent a queen to Harry's king.

Ceridwen:
If I recall correctly, the woman in that tapestry is used to distract the unicorn so it can be slain/captured.  It is after this that the unicorn is depicted in its fencing.

I always thought that giving Ginny the Italian form of Guinevere and then having her as Arthur's daughter re-imagined this part of the legend and got rid of that pesky triangle between Guinevere, Arthur and Lancelot, which erases the unhappy ending of their relationships.

Bookworm:
> The unicorn is an allegory for the Christ figure and Harry is arguably a Christ figure in the last book, willingly sacrificing himself. Dumbledore sacrifices himself in this movie. 

Ceridwen:
Nice catch.  In the tapestries, the unicorn stops to un-poison a fountain even though it is pursued.

Bookworm:
> Or maybe the director just thought it was a really cool backdrop for the Ginny/Harry scenes. 

Ceridwen:
Or he might have been thinking about the unicorn in relation to virgins.  Young girls, even these days, are thought of as innocents, virgins or novices to life.  And it does send a subtle message of Ginny as Harry's intended.

Ceridwen.