 Get started

Severus Snape: The …

Severus Snape: The Perfect

Byronic Hero

345 3

Learn about Prezi

Sarah McSparrin
SM Tue May 27 2014

Outline 16 frames

View

View

View

View

View

View

View

View

View

10

View

11

View

12

View

13

View

14

View

15

View

16

View

Reader view

A Conflicted Hero
Snape was a man who was
appallingly cruel to his
students. A man who should
have been filled to the brim
with empathy and yet never
showed a trace of it. He was a
hypocrite and petty beyond
all reason. He became a
Death Eater, served
Voldemort, and wasted no
time before running off to his
master with the news of a
prophesized child who might
prove a threat. Snape’s
behavior cannot be excused
by his poor upbringing, nor
can it be excused by his
torment at the hands of
James and Sirius. But the fact
that Snape loved Lily Evans
so deeply that after her death
(which he considered himself
responsible for), he spent the
rest of his life protecting her
son and engaging in a deadly
game of deception with
Voldemort, is unbelievable,
(Katie J).

Always.
The Byronic Hero
Works Cited
Elizagolightly. ": Character
Break-Down: A Defense of
Snape."

Web log post. Fabulous

35mm-"Does This Make My
Film Look Fat?" N.p., 12 July
2011. Web. 25 May 2014.

Germain, Bronte. "Dark Horse:

Byronic Heroes Are Back in
Popular

Culture." Newfangled
BiWeekly. N.p., 17 Oct. 2013.
Web. 21 May 2014.

Harry Potter and the Deathly

Hallows: Part 2. Dir. David
Yates. Perf.

Daniel Radcliffe, Alan

Rickman, Michael Gambon,
and Geraldine Somerville.
Warner Bros. Entertainment
Inc., 2011. Film.

Katie J. "Severus Snape: A

Tragic Hero." Weblog post.
The Blue Parrot

Blog. N.p., 29 July 2012. Web.

25 May 2014.

Lawson, Wyshona D. "The

Byronic Hero Lives as
Severus Snape!"

Romanticism and Revolution,

Romanticism and War.
WordPress, 6

Nov. 2011. Web. 22 May 2014.

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter

and the Deathly Hallows.
New York:

Scholastic, 2007. Print.

Severus Snape
Angsty. Mysterious.
Irresistible.

The world-famous double-

agent, Severus Snape, is the
perfect Byronic hero. From
day one, Snape is so
incredibly mysterious (partly
due to Dumbledore’s
fabulously vague hints) that it
is impossible for him to be
anything other than Byronic.
(Germain).

Snape’s brutal death at the

fangs of Nagini was so
creepy and sudden and
totally unnecessary.
Voldemort kills Snape in the
Shrieking Shack because he
believes this will give him
power over the Elder Wand.
There was nothing shocking
about Voldemort doing such
a thing, even though he still
believed Snape was truly
loyal. It probably never even
crossed his mind that you
don’t actually have to kill your
opponent to gain control of
their wand; you just have to
disarm them. It’s Voldemort,
after all, someone who’s split
his soul so many times that
even the vaguest sense of
goodness no longer resides
anywhere inside. He’s not the
sort who would stop and say,
“Hmmm…do I really have to
kill Snape? There must be
another way, right? Oh yeah…
disarming him would
probably work.”

Snape’s murder by Voldemort

isn’t surprising; it’s the sheer
quietness of the scene.
Snape doesn’t go out in a
blaze of glory. He’s killed for
the sake of convenience,
entirely separate from the
battle of Hogwarts. He
doesn’t even know anyone
other than Voldemort
witnessed his death until
Harry, Ron, and Hermione
come out of hiding. Though
he can barely speak, one
almost gets the sense that
Snape’s hatred of Harry melts
away right here, that he’s
seeing clearly for the first
time. He doesn’t waste his
breath on anything trivial,
(Katie J).

A Byronic Hero
A Broken Friendship
Dark; handsome in
appearance
Brilliant
Cynical
Self-destructive
Deeply flawed
Internal conflicts are
heavily romanticized
Haunted by some secret
sin or crime, that
sometimes hints at a
forbidden love (AKA Lily)
Attitudes/Actions may
be considered immoral
Stands apart, yet
appeals to society

Wounded or unrewarded, yet

superior

(Lawson)

Rowling describes James in

comparison to Snape:

"...slight, black-haired like

Snape, but with that
indefinable air of having been
well-cared for, even adored,
that Snape so conspicuously
lacked" (DH 671).

Snape craved loved, and he

found it when he met Lily. But
their friendship began
deteriorating due to Snape’s
fascination with the Dark Arts
and Voldemort, not to
mention the shady people
with whom he’d been
hanging around. But the final
nail in the coffin for Lily was
Snape’s burst of anger in
which he called her a
Mudblood, (only because he
was being harassed by
James and Sirius). He knew
instantly it was a mistake. He
tried to apologize and was
desperate for her
forgiveness, but Lily had had
enough, (Katie J).

“Look...at...me..." he
whispered. The green eyes
found the black, but after a
second, something in the
depths of the dark pair
seemed to vanish, leaving
them fixed, blank, and empty.
The hand holding Harry
thudded to the floor, and
Snape moved no more.” (DH
658)

Originally, I’d thought Snape’s

last words were connected
with the memories he had
just given Harry. Take this to
the pensieve, watch my
memories, see who I really
am, look at me. Later, I
realized there was a deeper
meaning. Snape literally
meant look at me so the last
thing I see before I die can be
Lily’s eyes...

Homelife
Snape could never shake the
hatred for the person that not
only treated him worse than
garbage but also stole the
love of his life from him.
Therefore, when a newly
spawned version of James
walks into Hogwarts, it's no
surprise that Snape reacts
negatively towards him. Harry
looks just like Snape's old
nemesis, and he does break
the rules like James, leading
Snape to believe he is just
like his father. And of course,
Snape projects a lot of his
own anger onto Harry. It's not
fair of him to do that, but
Harry doesn't usually make it
easier on Snape, either. Yet
despite their differences
Snape continuously protects
Harry. He was bitter and
destroyed; Harry was like all
his regrets, his mistakes, and
the memory of the woman he
lost to his greatest enemy
personified. There was so
much conflict within Snape
every time he interacted with
Harry, and yet he risked his
life every single day to keep
doing it. (Eliza)

Snape had a terrible home

life as a child. His parents
fought all the time and his
father was critical and
hateful. He couldn't wait to
get out of the house so he
didn't have to be around
them anymore. This was a
child that was not brought up
being loved or tended to
properly. He had shabby
clothes, he wasn't well put
together because his parents
didn't give him the attention
he needed, (Eliza).

"How are things at your

house?" Lily asked.

"Fine," he said.

"They're not arguing

anymore?"

"Oh yes, they're arguing," said

Snape. "But it won't be that
long and I'll be gone."

"Doesn't your dad like

magic?"

"He doesn't like anything,

much," said Snape. (DH667)

There was nothing for him to

gain from this. Lily was gone;
it wasn’t as though he could
impress her or win her love.
He did it because it was the
last thing he could do for her,
because nobody else could,
and because he never
stopped loving her. True, it
took the trauma and horror of
her death for Snape to turn
against Voldemort and
become possibly the bravest
hero in the series. But
without that death, he would
never have risked his life to
take down the Dark Lord.
Snape was selfless and
brave, and the fact that he
would risk everything for Lily,
makes him the perfect
Byronic Hero, (Katie J).

Final Words
Characteristics
The Story Of Snape

Hide full text

Prezi

Products

Company

Support

Languages


© 2023 Prezi Inc. Terms & Privacy

Policy