Defending the 12th century since the 14th; blogging since the 21st.

Catholicism, Conservatism, the Middle Ages, Opera, and Historical and Literary Objets d'Art blogged by a suburban dad who teaches law and writes stuff.


"Very fun." -- J. Bottum, Editor, FIRST THINGS

"Too modest" -- Elinor Dashwood

"Perhaps the wisest man on the Web" -- Henry Dieterich

"Hat tip: me (but really Cacciaguida)" -- Diana Feygin, Editor, THE YALE FREE PRESS

"You are my sire. You give me confidence to speak. You raise my heart so high that I am no more I." -- Dante

"Fabulous!"-- Warlock D.J. Prod of Didsbury

Who was Cacciaguida? See Dante's PARADISO, Cantos XV, XVI, & XVII.


E-mail me

 
The Snape of Things to Come -- III

Continuing the comment dialogue from the first such post:

Whatever it is that drives the Girls-for-Snape phenomenon (and you should have seen some of the slogans that were available on ladies' undergarments at CafePress until quite recently), I, as a non-girl, see the Snape mystique (apart from its purely esthetic aspects) as that of someone who has made a right pig's ear of his life but who nonetheless displays courage and cunning in working against the bad guys.

Not for him the celebrity status of Harry (mixed blessing though that is), nor the multiple high offices of Dumbledore (though these come and go), nor the Order of Merlin (see PoA). To be saving the world from Voldemort while being hated by most of it is his more-or-less chosen destiny.

Assuming he really is anti-Voldy, I still can't see him being happy even if the good guys win absolutely. That's why a heroic death, perhaps with its heroism not known until long after, is his most appropriate end.

Does he have baggage we haven't learned about yet? To introduce a whole new exculpating back-story in the last book would be cheating; but a marker was laid down in OotP about his parents, and more was added about his mother in HBP. Frankly, the "abused as a child" thing has been done to death; it's now a cheap cliche used to explain characters who might otherwise be interesting or mysterious. (Cf. just about any review of the more recent "Hannibal" books.) So I hope we don't get merely more of Tobias Snape harassing Eileen and young Severus.

Still, mothers are an important theme in the cycle: Lily's death protected Harry, and continues to do so; Narcissa actually loves Draco -- who else possibly could? -- and this may yet save him, the git; Merope's bad decisions influenced Voldemort; Sirius's rebellion against his mother, though understandable, seems to have sealed his fate as a wanderer; and Molly is the ideal Everymom. As I say, I don't want to hear too much more about Tobias Snape, but we could hear more about Eileen Prince.



Toad-time for Toby?

EDITED TO ADD: Or -- "Toad-time for Toby and Severus...."
posted by Cacciaguida at 1:34 PM