Severus Snape as a Tragic Hero in the Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

In the Harry Potter series, Severus Snape can be considered a modern day tragic hero, Severus was the son of a wizard and a muggle, or a regular person. Thus, in the wizarding world, Severus was considered a “mudblood,” which means “dirty blood.” Because of this, Severus certainly did not come from high status and faced many challenges that most wizards did not have to face. He also grew up as an awkward boy who was often made fun of, which further supports the notion that he faced many challenges and did not come from high status.

Severus‘ tragic flaw is his love for Lily Potter, who is killed by Voldemort, along with her husband James. Although Severus made a questionable decision to join Voldemort’s forces as a Death Eater, it is his love for Lily that leads him down the path of becoming a double agent.

While Voldemort believes Snape is acting as a spy for him by becoming Albus Dumbledore’s right»hand man, Snape is actually acting as a spy for Dumbledore.

He becomes a spy for Dumbledore in exchange for protection for Lily, which ultimately fails, Although Lily and James are both murdered, their son Harry survives. Again, out of his love for Lily, Snape agrees to watch over Harry and to protect him from Voldemort. This situation as a double-agent eventually leads to Snape’s demise. After Snape kills Dumbledore to gain Voldemort’s trust, he is killed by Voldemort. This is because Dumbledore was the owner of the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand that existed in the wizard world, and the wizard who defeated the owner of the Elder Wand was supposed to become the owner of it.

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To obtain the Elder Wand’s allegiance, Voldemort kills Shape, although it is revealed that Shape was not its true owner. Snape realizes he is doomed as he is left to die, so he gives Harry part of his memories, which contained something that Harry needed to know to be able to defeat Voldemort. Although there are many moments of catharsis for Snape, the same scene where he is dying is the most significant, As he suffers, the reader realizes that although Snape seemed like a bad person throughout the series, he is actually the most courageous and self-sacrificing person in the story. Severus Snape follows the path of a tragic hero because he has a tragic flaw that ultimately leads to his demise. Because he does not come from high status, he should definitely be considered as a modern day tragic herol