Of Mudbloods and Bathtubs

[oneandthetruth]

Author’s note: This essay offers a Watsonian explanation for certain things in the Potterverse. It ignores any Doylist explanations for those things, including Rowling’s.

In reply to my DH sporking, chapter 29, maidofkent wrote in part,

You're right that it seems pretty hypocritical to joke about Snape running away from shampoo, when the male

Comments

[terri_testing]

Oh, that's clever

[annoni_no]

Bathing wasn't merely a question of religious impropriety or arrogance, it was considered a vital health issue. The predominant medieval medical theory (Miasma Theory) held that disease was caused by foul humors in the air. Bathing opened the pores to these infectious fumes, increasing the risk of illness and epidemics. Even the injunction against bathing as an expression of the sin of Vanity was rooted in concern for public health. Sinning invited the Wrath of God which could take the form of plague or other natural disasters, any of which would be devastating for the community

[hwyla]

Just a note - Hogwarts is supposedly founded in the late 10th century - 1000 years before the 1990s. Not 'quite' 11th century. I rather like the idea that a famous poem about a particular battle, which featured a Godric (actually 2 Godrics), marks the time just before Hogwarts. It's the Battle of Maldon, which occurred in 991. Very close, but since 11th Century could mean up to 110 years later, I thought I would point it out.

[for_diddled]

"Bathing wasn't merely a question of religious impropriety or arrogance, it was considered a vital health issue. The predominant medieval medical theory (Miasma Theory) held that disease was caused by foul humors in the air. Bathing opened the pores to these infectious fumes, increasing the risk of illness and epidemics."

And (although it's not often remembered) public bathhouses were actually quite unhygienic. After all, the baths were all communal, and they didn't have any mechanisms yet for replacing water, so before long you'd essentially be wallowing in other people's filth. There's a reason why Galen advised that people with open wounds shouldn't go to the bathhouses.

[hwyla]

Could make sense easily. In support, I'll mention Tonk's comment about not trusting people who keep things TOO clean when she helps Harry pack in bk5. This is to be considered a comment about Petunia. And I must admit that I do think Petunia's overly clean kitchen is a symptom of her need for control in a world in which magic exists

[terri_testing]

RE Weasley cleanliness, Ginny picks a maggot out of Harry's hair at the breakfas6 table (Kreacher's gift) and no one leaves the table hastily....

[dorea_ysleen]

Well, yes, but then again they're all used to dissecting Flobberworms and what-not in Potions, so I don't think a lack of hysterics over a single maggot is an indicator of inferior personal hygiene.

[mary_j_59]

Standards of cleanliness - this is one of those false myths about, particularly, the early and high Middle Ages. There are a couple of links I could point you to. Briefly, baths were popular among the upper classes, and even the very poor knew to wash their hands and faces daily. People only got really dirty in the late Middle Ages through early modern times.

Still, early modern times = the time of separation. So your theory might work for that period, but I don't think it does for Salazar. It's not as if wizards were so very clean, anyway. Good Heavens, look at Harry!

(My theory, for what it's worth, is that Muggle-born wizards were hated and feared because they disproportionately became Dark Lords. Voldemort, after all, was essentially Muggle-raised.)

[for_diddled]

"People only got really dirty in the late Middle Ages through early modern times."

Indeed. It's often struck me how many negative stereotypes about the Middle Ages are actually Renaissance/Early Modern things which got backdated onto the poor old Mediaeval Period...

[hwyla]

I'll add another one. We just discussed in one of the recent posts. Aberforth's bar is rather unkempt, altho' I don't recall him being particularly so. Except for the bit about dirty glasses? As in the ones he wears? He isn't an actual muggleborn, but his mother was. But I think we are also discussing whether the Gryffs took on the dirtyness as well.

Personally, however, I think it enough that they feared the muggle families of the muggleborns. Tho" I still like the idea that mudblood comes somewhat from mud. Yet I think we also need to take into consideration that magic (in general, not actually stated in JKRs canon) has golems, which are generally made from mud - tho" I vaguely remember some story with one made from bread? No idea where!

[oryx_leucoryx]

Did you attempt to post a link?