Severus Snape
Severus Snape is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series written by J. K. Rowling. In the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, he is one of the primary antagonists. As the series progresses, Snape's character becomes more complex, and Rowling does not fully reveal the details of his true loyalties until the end of the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Snape appears in all seven novels of the series.
Snape teaches Potions, and later Defence Against the Dark Arts, at Hogwarts. Rowling has described him as "a gift of a character".
In an interview Rowling described Snape's character as an "anti hero". She said that she drew inspiration for Snape's character from a disliked teacher from her own childhood, and described Snape as a horrible teacher: "the worst, shabbiest thing you can do as a teacher is to bully students." However she does suggest in the books that he is generally an effective teacher. For Snape's surname, Rowling borrowed the name from the village of Snape in the English county of Suffolk. In a 1999 interview, and again in 2004, Rowling singled out Snape as one of her favourite characters to write.
Snape is described as hook-nosed, with sallow skin, black eyes, uneven yellow teeth, and greasy, shoulder-length black hair. His build is described as tall and thin, adorning black-robes; appearing "like an overgrown bat". The youthful Snape is described as having a "stringy, pallid look", being "round-shouldered yet angular", having a "twitchy" walk "that recalled a spider" and "long oily hair that jumped about his face".
Snape is generally depicted as having an intense personality. He is cold, calculating, precise, sarcastic, bitter, and displays a strong dislike of Harry and often insults him by insulting his father, James Potter. As the series progresses, it is revealed that his treatment of Harry stems from Snape's bitter rivalry with James when they were in school together. Rowling further described the young Snape as insecure and vulnerable.
All seven novels show Snape to be a very powerful wizard and to have been outstanding while a student. He specialises in potion making and has talent and passion for the Dark Arts. Also as a student, Snape shows a rare gift for creating new spells, ranging from non-verbal Levicorpus and Liberacorpus to more dangerous Sectumsempra.
The character of Severus Snape follows the pattern of the Byronic Hero/Gothic Hero archetype.
A Byronic Hero is a kind of hero found in several of the works of Lord Byron. Like Byron himself, a Byronic hero is a melancholy and rebellious young man, distressed by a terrible wrong he committed in the past.
The Byronic hero has the following characteristics:
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conflicting emotions, bipolar tendencies, or moodiness
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self-critical and introspective
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struggles with integrity
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a distaste for social institutions and social norms
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being an exile, an outcast, or an outlaw
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a lack of respect for rank and privilege
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a troubled past
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being cynical, demanding, and/or arrogant
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often self-destructive
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troubles with sexual identity
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loner, often rejected from society
