I get nostalgic for Canon Snape sometimes, considering the ways people spin his character on the forums or feel the need to spread the Snape-Hate around. Luckily many artists understand book-Snape perfectly because they aren't in denial about what actually happens in Deathly Hallows.
Edited to Add: I intended this post to be some quick escapist fan art, and didn't realize I was expressing myself so badly.
After reading many of your comments, I realize that my view of Canon Snape may be somewhat different from the norm. I was actually referring to people who hate Snape's character in general and are stuck in the past around PoA when his character still seemed like a cardboard villain. I talk to people like that every day on the forums. They want to dwell on the dark side of his character rather than the redeemed man he became by the end of the series (with apologies to Mary J ~ we'll have to agree to disagree on that fact).
I don't know why fans of "Dark Snape" have a monopoly on the term "Canon Snape." I disagree with their view of Snape in the canon because I don't think of "Canon Snape" as just mean and cunning, and I shouldn't have used such a charged phrase. To me that is what Snape haters say when they accuse Snape fans of glossing over his faults - that we are missing Canon Snape and only seeing a romantic hero.
BUT ~ I see Canon Snape as a mixture of good and bad, with a bitter personality due to a tragic childhood. He's angry and he has a temper, but he's not a sadist. I can see the good side of Snape in the canon too - his willingness to protect Harry, his courage, and his healing ability.
These are some pictures from DeviantArt that have touched me lately. Follow the links to see more from each artist. And of course, all these are much better seen at full size, so check that out also. The first one especially may be one of the best fan art pics ever done. Cheers to Vizen for her brilliant use of color, the blurry plaid on McGonagall's clothing, thhe sense of humor, Dumbledore's cocktail glass with a tiny umbrella, and Snape's spectacular nose.
Pictured Intensive for those on dial-up. No Slash.
The Banes of Her Existence by *Vizen on deviantART
Childhood Dreams by ~LadySarah on deviantART
Young Severus by ~NinjaaKarii on deviantART
Snape in the Kitchen by *liska-rediska on deviantART
DH In the Forest - Collab by =lilyhbp on deviantART
HP DH spoiler - Broken by ~DraconisCrescendo on deviantART
The Death of Serverus Snape by ~RJBaudouin on deviantART
Middle Name by *Gin-kyo on deviantART
The Snape-Haters say they see him that way, but in reality they want to believe Harry's view of his least-favorite teacher. There's a guy I know who continually says that Snape "whipped" Harry with a lash and pushed him to the ground at the end of HBP just for the enjoyment of it. I don't see that at all - but it's the allegedly the same canon.
So to me, Canon Snape is the guy in the books with his many faults and his good points. In my opinion, he is a sympathetic character by the end of the series, and not just a baddie or a mean old schoolteacher. He's a well-rounded character, and a very complex character, which is why we are still talking about him years later.
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She does a great lip curl. :)
Oh yes, I agree. He's obviously enjoying life after death. :)
I know - *sigh* It's really beautiful.
I disagree with you here. I look at canon as text only and I don’t think that every picture you posted is canon. We were never given a portrait of Snape. I also don’t think that there is a ‘perfect’ way to understand Snape either. We all have our own interpretation and I don’t think one is more valid than the other.
Oh - and it isn't really canon that he's dead, either! That's my only consolation.
I hate DH. My two cents!
Well, clearly no two Snape fans are going to see this exactly the same way. I accept the ending of the book and believe Snape is dead. I don't enjoy the fact and I regret that it ended that way. If I had written it, he wouldn't have died, especially in such a violent and lonely way, with Harry and Hermione standing there doing nothing and not caring. It was cold.
But I also believe that Snape was redeemed by everything he did, and that Harry knew it right after he died. I don't care what JKR said about him after the book came out.
Everyone else may believe whatever they please.
But I also believe that the way the canon is set up throughout the books, Snape should have had a portrait. I think JKR almost cursed her own book by not putting his portrait in there since everyone expected it on the wall next to Dumbledore's. Every other Headmaster has a portrait, even the worst in history like Phineas Nigellus. JKR has a way of breaking her own rules, but that was a biggie. Once the truth about Snape was out, I see no reason why he wouldn't have a portrait.
BTW, who says that Phineas Nigellus was the worst headmaster in history? He was the least popular. That doesn't make him the worst. My elementary school principle was an awe-inspiring figure to us kids; we were all scared of him and certainly would have said we didn't like him. But he did a very good job, making sure the school was a safe, justly-administered place. Dumbledore certainly didn't do either of those things! Maybe Phineas Nigellus did. ;)
That's just my point, Mary J. ~ who is to judge the best and worst of the Headmasters? In hindsight I wouldn't call Dumbledore the greatest Headmaster in history, although Harry might. I personally loved Phineas Nigellus, but the other Headmaster Portraits didn't seem to like him - probably some prejudice against Slytherins going on there. For JKR to say that the other portraits or the castle itself wouldn't recognize Snape is ridiculous, since there must have been lots of Headmasters who were tyrants or worse (the chains in the dungeon had been there a long time, I'm sure).
We'll just have to disagree about the redemption question because I don't want to argue about it. Your opinion is as valid as mine. I was also horrified by Snape's death, but I think The Prince's Tale vindicates him and shows his growth as a human being.
If he does have a portrait, it could certainly have a resemblance to the one shown.
Ms. A: Yes, that's how I feel about it. Right after Snape's death all the portraits are empty, and Harry assumes they are elsewhere watching the battle. One of those empty frames could have been Snape's and the parallel is with Phineas in OotP when his frame is all Harry sees at first.
When Harry comes back at the end of the story, he only notices Dumbledore's portrait. At that point, I personally wanted to know if Snape's painting was there also, but Harry only had eyes for Dumbledore, and he was distracted with fixing his wand.
J. K. Rowling did not make sense when she said that Snape had "abandoned" his post. He barely left the Hogwarts grounds, and he was driven away by the other teachers who didn't know his true character. How is that different from Dumbledore being attacked by Fudge and the Aurors in OotP? He also "left his post" to Umbridge, even though the office closed itself to her. But she wasn't truly the Headmistress either, but an appointed High Inquisitor.
And the main reason it doesn't make sense is because all the portraits in the office were privy to Snape's conversations with Dumbledore, unless we are to believe that Snape used "Muffliato" at all times, which would be absurd, since he had privacy. The portraits are bound to follow the orders of the Headmaster, and Phineas knew all about the sword and Dumbledore's planning with Snape. From all of those clues, I would assume the painting was there, and for me it is there. :)
I was about to agree with you, but after looking at it more closely I think she is wearing a little girl's ballet costume.
I'm not sure what you mean by this -- in denial about his death? (I still am :P ) His backstory with Lily?
Usually when people say "I miss canon Snape" what they mean is they miss a genuinely mean and cunning interpretation, but that doesn't seem to be your point here, so I'm confused.
Well, obviously I didn't express myself well in the opening post and should have written more. I was actually referring to people who hate Snape's character in general and are stuck in the past around PoA when his character still seemed like a cardboard villain. I talk to people like that every day on Chamber of Secrets forum.
I don't know why they have a monopoly on the term "Canon Snape." I disagree with their view of Snape in the canon because I don't think of "Canon Snape" as just mean and cunning, and I shouldn't have used such a charged phrase. To me that is what Snape haters say when they accuse Snape fans of glossing over his faults - that we are missing Canon Snape and only seeing a romantic hero.
BUT ~ I see Canon Snape as a mixture of good and bad, with a bitter personality due to a tragic childhood. He's angry and he has a temper, but he's not a sadist. I can see the good side of Snape in the canon too - his willingness to protect Harry, his courage, and his healing ability.
The Snape-Haters say they see him that way, but in reality they want to believe Harry's view of his least-favorite teacher. There's a guy I know who continually says that Snape "whipped" Harry with a lash and pushed him to the ground at the end of HBP just for the enjoyment of it. I don't see that at all - but it's the allegedly the same canon.
So to me, Canon Snape is the guy in the books with his many faults and his good points. In my opinion, he is a sympathetic character by the end of the series, and not just a baddie. He's a well-rounded character.
Ahh, okay. I see what you mean, although I rather disagree that the character that started to get revealed in PoA was "a cardboard villain"! That might be a reasonable assessment of the PS and CoS Severus (although "red herring" might be more accurate, particularly in PS, I think), but everyone started to get more depth in PoA, Severus included. No one flips out like he does in the Shrieking Shack and hospital wing scenes out of plain random "bad-guy-ness"; there has to be something else there, even if the series were to stop there and it never got explained.
There's a guy I know who continually says that Snape "whipped" Harry with a lash and pushed him to the ground at the end of HBP just for the enjoyment of it. I don't see that at all - but it's the allegedly the same canon.
I assume the "for the enjoyment of it" is the part under contention there, because the effect of the spell is described as a "hot, whiplike something" and Harry "was slammed backwards into the ground". Of course, Harry had just taunted him by calling him a coward; with one thing and another it reads to me like Severus either overreacted or consciously didn't pull his punch. He probably meant to show Harry a thing or two, but that's not the same as "for the enjoyment of it". I'd say it was more likely a reaction of the childish kind of temper we've seen him display at other points.
Oh, I don't think he was a cardboard villain even in Book One, because we are told by both Dumbledore and Voldemort that he is on Harry's side. But people will say that because Snape was treating Neville so badly in PoA that he was horrible (although McGonagall probably treats Neville worse in that book).
There's just always going to be people who don't like Snape. I've accepted that.
I agree with you about HBP - Snape hates being called a coward, especially after forcing himself to kill Dumbledore or die himself due to the Unbreakable Vow. But Snape also saved Harry from the Crucio and the other Death Eaters, and he doesn't want to fight with him anymore, so he gets rough and pushes him down as they are leaving. Perfectly understandable, as far as I'm concerned.
I've edited my first post to try and clear a few things up.
I believe the word "Cannon" is often misunderstood. I always took it to refer only to what existed in the literal text: that is such things as actual names, dates, actions, and all the issues that can be described literally by the words used in the books.
Everything beyond that and the impressions those things add up to are personal interpretation. Thus, there can be two or three interpretations of the same "canon" elements.
I wouldn't think "canon Snape" can be "condemned" because that is a judgment made by the reader according to their own personal rules. They might condemn him in their own reading, and that is fine. Also, it is not "canon Snape" that might have come to care for Harry, and found a greater purpose in life- but it is fine to some to interpret this for themselves based on those last moments based on the things that "canon Snape" did.
Then there is the issue that this story isn't told from Snape's POV. So the very description of his character is based on another character's at times- youthful, misled, and often flawed, ever changing perspective and narration.
The beauty of Severus Snape's character is how he is written in such a way that canon really tells us very little about his interior workings. Snape's "canon" reveals very little about his past, his actions, his own thoughts, his own motives... even the words he uses in the dialogue are often written in such an ambiguous manner they are open to interpretation.