Austen Parallels and Snape

[elfundeb2]

Heidi wrote:

> I'm off to deal with 14 year olds who are responding to my draco-
> darcy comparison by saying that they think Harry and Ginny are 
going 
> to get together later, like in Emma with Emma and Mr Knightly. 
> 
Nothing like Austen to drag me out of lurkdom; Heidi, you can just 
tell them that that can't be right because Hermione is Emma <g> -- 
pleased with her successes and oblivious to her failures. And Ginny 
is Fanny Price -- timid, acts too young for her age, and fantasizes 
about someone she shouldn't.  Or, at least she used to be Austen's 
Fanny, before OOP turned her into the Patricia Rozema version.

My theory, such as it is, is that JKR drew extensively from Austen in 
drawing all of her major characters, with some parallels more obvious 
than others.  However, I'm not at all convinced that she's pulled her 
plotlines from Austen, especially the romantic ones.

> Should I go explain to them my extensive *Emma* theory involving 
> James as Emma, Lily as Knightly, Sirius as Frank and Remus as Jane 
> Fairfax?

Wait a minute!  I've been thinking of Remus as Jane Fairfax!  I 
hadn't thought of Lily as Knightley, but her defense of Snape in his 
memory definitely gives her some knightly credentials.  And who is 
Snape?  Mr. Elton?  I have problems seeing James as Emma, though.  
James is not blind to the effect of his actions, and Emma is not a 
bully. 

Which brings me to Amanda's point about the parallel between James' 
treatment of Snape and the QWC:

> I had completely missed this, and found it chilling, especially the 
> similarity of treatment of the victim. I'm at work now, can't 
analyze 
> much, but I was stunned that I'd totally missed this and wanted to 
> get other thoughts. Thoughts?

I did see this parallel.  I had rather suspected before reading OOP 
that Sirius and James might be bullies, but the cruelty they 
displayed in the pensieve scene really surprised me, and the QWC 
parallel brought it home.  I can see why Sirius might want to choose 
Snape as a target -- Snape acts like Mrs. Black would find him a much 
better son than Sirius himself, and therefore Snape provokes a strong 
emotional reaction from Sirius.  His antipathy for Snape, while ugly, 
is an honest, if misguided emotion.  But the worst behaviour in this 
scene seems to come from James, which the QWC parallel particularly 
highlights.  We don't get the sense of any gripe James might have 
against Snape, just as the DEs have no gripe against the Robertses.  
Insead, we see James elevating arrogance to a level that disgusted me 
as much as it did Harry -- picking on Snape because he *exists* and 
his appreciation for Pettigrew's sycophancy -- his fatal flaws, 
methinks.  I'm beginning to see the Prank as the defining "come to 
Jesus" moment of James' life, when he finally realizes that bullying 
can be deadly (and if we take JKR's hints, perhaps in more ways than 
one).

After reading this scene, one can really appreciate Snape's need to 
start attempting to squelch any arrogant tendencies of Harry's the 
minute he first lays eyes on him.  

Debbie