J. K. Rowling's Severus Snape in the 'Harry Potter' Series. Anti-Hero or Tragic Hero in Literature?

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2018 im Fachbereich Anglistik - Literatur, Note: 1,7, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: This paper tries to answer the question: 'what kind of literary hero is Severus Snape? Anti-hero or tragic hero?'. J.K. Rowling is one of the most famous authors of our time and she gained this fame by writing the Harry Potter books. They are about the life of a young wizard that has to defeat the most powerful and dark wizard of all time - Lord Voldemort, as it has been said in a prophecy. And this wizard is Harry Potter. He is a student in Hogwarts, a school for wizardry and witchcraft where he learns to control his magical powers. One of his professors is Severus Snape, the poison master. From the first day on, he is unfriendly and unfair to Harry and his friends. Snape is one of the most ambiguous characters in the Harry Potter series, because it is hard to see through his actions that are contradictory most of the time. In the end, after Snape has died, it is revealed he had been on Harry's side all along. In the wizarding world he his celebrated as a hero, because he risked his own life and spied for Dumbledore to help Harry.