Hogwarts Houses: The Veiled Virtues and Vices (an essay project)
I have stared an essay project at the HPN and thought I could mirror it here for a backup copy (and to end the LJ silence for a change). Those (very few) who aren't registered at the HPN (or who prefer LJ for some reason) are of course most welcome to comment here.
This post contains a draft outline and introduction, both already partly outdated and to be rewritten in the end of the project.
Hogwarts Houses: The Veiled Virtues and Vices
Work in progress
(Draft) Outline
1. Introduction
2. House qualities, their ideal and perverted forms
3. Significance of secondary (and tertiary) house choices
4. Leadership qualities of different houses
5. Slipping to the Dark Side?
6. Personalities and temperaments - do they have anything to do with the Houses?
1. Introduction
There is an aspect in Rowling's world that is, in my opinion, not as elaborately developed as it could be. Others have also noted, in various discussions, certain stereotypical treatments of the Hogwarts Houses and virtues associated with them. I recall many were disappointed with the Slytherin role in the final battle, for example.
Gryffindor courage is presented as something inherently positive, whereas Slytherin ambition would be something to frown upon and very likely to result in peril. Ravenclaw wit and Hufflepuff loyalty remain rather superficial curiosities most of the time. In this essay, I
attempt to explore the qualities associated with each house a bit further, theorising what they could entail and imply beyond the 'canonical' evidence.
I start by (re)defining the 'virtues' or 'qualities' associated with each House, and by presenting the ideal as well as perverted forms of each. I then discuss the significance of students' 'secondary' houses in defining their individual characters: it is heavily implied that each individual embodies characteristics from several houses to an extent that sometimes the choice is not straightforward at all. This concludes the general part (or an excessively long preamble) of the essay.
The second part of the essay deals with the implications of the combination of different House qualities associated with an individual character: for example, what kind of leaders can emerge from each house, where a student from a particular house could possibly excel in (apart from the obvious) or what can possibly lead a character to the perverted side instead of the ideal.
The third part, if I ever get that far, can deal with miscellaneous topics that are related to the House qualities - such as personality types and different temperaments.
This post contains a draft outline and introduction, both already partly outdated and to be rewritten in the end of the project.
Hogwarts Houses: The Veiled Virtues and Vices
Work in progress
(Draft) Outline
1. Introduction
2. House qualities, their ideal and perverted forms
3. Significance of secondary (and tertiary) house choices
4. Leadership qualities of different houses
5. Slipping to the Dark Side?
6. Personalities and temperaments - do they have anything to do with the Houses?
1. Introduction
There is an aspect in Rowling's world that is, in my opinion, not as elaborately developed as it could be. Others have also noted, in various discussions, certain stereotypical treatments of the Hogwarts Houses and virtues associated with them. I recall many were disappointed with the Slytherin role in the final battle, for example.
Gryffindor courage is presented as something inherently positive, whereas Slytherin ambition would be something to frown upon and very likely to result in peril. Ravenclaw wit and Hufflepuff loyalty remain rather superficial curiosities most of the time. In this essay, I
attempt to explore the qualities associated with each house a bit further, theorising what they could entail and imply beyond the 'canonical' evidence.
I start by (re)defining the 'virtues' or 'qualities' associated with each House, and by presenting the ideal as well as perverted forms of each. I then discuss the significance of students' 'secondary' houses in defining their individual characters: it is heavily implied that each individual embodies characteristics from several houses to an extent that sometimes the choice is not straightforward at all. This concludes the general part (or an excessively long preamble) of the essay.
The second part of the essay deals with the implications of the combination of different House qualities associated with an individual character: for example, what kind of leaders can emerge from each house, where a student from a particular house could possibly excel in (apart from the obvious) or what can possibly lead a character to the perverted side instead of the ideal.
The third part, if I ever get that far, can deal with miscellaneous topics that are related to the House qualities - such as personality types and different temperaments.