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Harry Potter influences and analogues

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Writer J. K. Rowling cites a number of writers as influences in her creation of her bestselling Harry Potter series. A number of commentators, writers, journalists and critics have noted that the books have a number of analogues; a wide range of literature, both classical and modern, which Rowling has not openly cited as influences. These similarities have led some to label the books as derivative, or even plagiarised. Others have argued she is merely drawing upon traditional sources which have been used by many other authors in the past. Only one person to date, the American onetime author Nancy Stouffer, has brought a case against Rowling for plagiarism. Stouffer's case was thrown out, and she was fined for having perpetrated a fraud.[1] For details of the case see Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series.

Influences

Rowling has never openly credited any single author with inspiration, saying, "I haven't got the faintest idea where my ideas come from, or how my imagination works. I'm just grateful that it does, because it gives me more entertainment than it gives anyone else."[2] However, she has mentioned a number of favourite authors as influences in her creation of Harry Potter. Order is roughly chronological.

William Shakespeare

Rowling has cited Shakespeare's Macbeth as an influence. In an interview with The Leaky Cauldron and MuggleNet, when asked, "What if [Voldemort] never heard the prophecy?", she said, "It's the “Macbeth” idea. I absolutely adore “Macbeth.” It is possibly my favorite Shakespeare play. And that's the question isn't it? If Macbeth hadn't met the witches, would he have killed Duncan? Would any of it have happened? Is it fated or did he make it happen? I believe he made it happen."[3] On her website, she referred to Macbeth again in discussing the prophecy: "the prophecy (like the one the witches make to Macbeth, if anyone has read the play of the same name) becomes the catalyst for a situation that would never have occurred if it had not been made." [4]

Jane Austen

Rowling cites Jane Austen as her favourite author and a major influence. "My attitude to Jane Austen is accurately summed up by that wonderful line from Cold Comfort Farm: 'One of the disadvantages of almost universal education was that all kinds of people gained a familiarity with one's favourite books. It gave one a curious feeling; like seeing a drunken stranger wrapped in one's dressing gown.'"[2] The Harry Potter series is known for its twist endings, and Rowling has stated that, "I have never set up a surprise ending in a Harry Potter book without knowing I can never, and will never, do it anywhere near as well as Austen did in Emma."[2][5]

E Nesbit

Rowling frequently mentions E. Nesbit in interview, citing her "very real" child characters.[6] In 2000, she said, "I think I identify with E Nesbit more than any other writer", and described Nesbit's The Story of the Treasure Seekers' as, "Exhibit A for prohibition of all children's literature by anyone who can not remember exactly how it felt to be a child."[2]

Paul Gallico

Rowling is also a fan of Paul Gallico,[7] "especially Manx Mouse. That's a great book. Gallico manages the fine line between magic and reality so skillfully, to the point where the most fantastic events feel plausible."[8]

CS Lewis

Rowling has also claimed to have been a fan of the works of C. S. Lewis as a child, and cites the influence of his Narnia chronicles on her work: "I found myself thinking about the wardrobe route to Narnia when Harry is told he has to hurl himself at a barrier in Kings Cross Station - it dissolves and he's on platform Nine and Three-Quarters, and there's the train for Hogwarts."[8]

She is, however, at pains to stress the differences between Narnia and her world: "Narnia is literally a different world," she says, "whereas in the Harry books you go into a world within a world that you can see if you happen to belong. A lot of the humour comes from collisions between the magic and the everyday worlds. Generally there isn't much humour in the Narnia books, although I adored them when I was a child. I got so caught up I didn't think CS Lewis was especially preachy. Reading them now I find that his subliminal message isn't very subliminal." [8]

Elizabeth Goudge

In an interview in The Scotsman in 2002, Rowling described Elizabeth Goudge's The Little White Horse as having, "perhaps more than any other book . . . a direct influence on the Harry Potter books. The author always included details of what her characters were eating and I remember liking that. You may have noticed that I always list the food being eaten at Hogwarts."[9]

TH White

Rowling also cites the work of T. H. White, a grammar school teacher, and the author of the well-known children's classic saga, The Once and Future King, which tells the story of King Arthur of Britain, from childhood to grave. Perhaps the best-known book from this saga is The Sword in the Stone (the first book) which was made into an animated movie by Disney Studios. Arthur, (called Wart) is a small scruffy-haired orphan, who meets the wizard Merlin (who has an owl, Archimedes, and acts, much like Dumbledore, in the manner of an "absent-minded professor"[10]) who takes him to a castle to educate him. As writer Evelyn Perry notes, "Dumbledore resembles Merlin both personally and physically; he is an avid lover of books and wisdom who wears flowing robes and a long, white beard."[11] Rowling describes Wart as "Harry's spiritual ancestor."[12]

Jessica Mitford

In the Scotsman interview, she described civil rights activist Jessica Mitford as "my most influential writer", saying, "I love the way she never outgrew some of her adolescent traits, remaining true to her politics - she was a self-taught socialist - throughout her life."[9] In a review of Decca--The letters of Jessica Mitford, she went further saying, "Jessica Mitford has been my heroine since I was 14 years old, when I overheard my formidable great-aunt discussing how Mitford had run away at the age of 19 to fight with the Reds in the Spanish Civil War," and claims what inspired her about Mitford was that she was "incurably and instinctively rebellious, brave, adventurous, funny and irreverent, she liked nothing better than a good fight, preferably against a pompous and hypocritical target."[13]

Other favourites

In 1999, while Rowling was on a tour of the United States, a bookseller handed her a copy of I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, saying she would love it. The book became one of her all time favourites. Rowling says that, "it is the voice of the narrator, in this case 17-year- old Cassandra Mortmain, which makes a masterpiece out of an old plot."[2] [14] Many of Rowling's named favorites decorate the links section of her personal webpage. The section is designed to look like a bookcase, and includes I Capture the Castle, The Little White Horse and Manx Mouse, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma, and a book of fairy tales by E. Nesbit, but also other titles such as The Commitments and The Van by Roddy Doyle, a biography of Dorothy L. Sayers and a book by Katherine Mansfield.[15].

Analogues

There are a number of authors to which Rowling has been repeatedly compared in the media. Some of these she has herself mentioned, others have been mentioned by internet sites, journalists, critics or other authors. Order is roughly chronological.

Tom Brown's Schooldays

The Harry Potter series draws upon a long tradition of boarding school-set children's literature in English. This school story genre originated in the Victorian era with Tom Brown's Schooldays, by Thomas Hughes. Tom Brown's Schooldays laid down a basic structure which has been widely imitated, for example in Anthony Buckeridge's 1950s Jennings books.[16][17]

Both Tom Brown's Schooldays and Harry Potter involve an average eleven-year old, better at sport than academic study, who is sent to boarding school. Upon arrival, the boy gains a best friend (In Tom's case, East, in Harry's case, Ron Weasley) who helps him adjust to the new environment. They are set upon by an arrogant bully — in Tom Brown's case, Flashman, in Harry's case Draco Malfoy. Stephen Fry, who both narrates the British audio adaptations of the Harry Potter novels and has starred in a screen adaptation of Tom Brown, has commented many times about the similarities between the two books. "Harry Potter - a boy who arrives in this strange school to board for the first time and makes good, solid friends and also enemies who use bullying and unfair tactics," notes Fry, "then is ambiguous about whether or not he is going to be good or bad. His pluck and his endeavour, loyalty, good nature and bravery are the things that carry him through - and that is the story of Tom Brown's Schooldays".[18]

The Lord of the Rings

Fans of author JRR Tolkien have drawn attention to the similarities between his novel The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series; specifically Tolkien's Wormtongue and Rowling's Wormtail, Tolkien's Shelob and Rowling's Aragog, Rowling's Dementors and Tolkien's Nazgûl, The Whomping Willow and Old Man Willow and similarities between both authors' antagonists, Tolkien's Dark Lord Sauron and Rowling's Lord Voldemort (both of whom are sometimes within their respective continuties unnamed due to intense fear surrounding their names).[19] Rowling maintains that she hadn't read The Hobbit until after she completed the first Harry Potter novel (though she had read The Lord of the Rings as a teenager) and that any similarities between her books and Tolkien's are "fairly superficial. Tolkien created a whole new mythology, which I would never claim to have done. On the other hand, I think I have better jokes."[20] Tolkienian scholar Thomas Shippey has maintained that no "modern writer of epic fantasy has managed to escape the mark of Tolkien, no matter how hard many of them have tried".[21]

Roald Dahl

Many have drawn attention to the similarities between Rowling's works and those of Roald Dahl, particularly in the depiction of the Dursley family, which echoes the nightmarish guardians seen in many of Dahl's books, such as the Wormwoods from Matilda, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker from James and the Giant Peach, and Grandma from George's Marvelous Medicine.[22][23] Rowling acknowledges that there are similarities, but believes that at a deeper level, her works are different from those of Dahl; in her words, more "moral." [24]

The Dark is Rising

Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising sequence of stories (commenced with Over Sea, Under Stone in 1965 and now more commonly bound in a single volume) have been compared to the Harry Potter series. The sequence's second volume, also called The Dark is Rising, features a young boy named Will Stanton who, much like Harry Potter, discovers on his eleventh birthday that he is in fact imbued with magical power; in Will's case, that he is the last of the Old Ones, beings empowered by the Light to battle the Dark. The books open in much the same way, with Will finding that people are telling him strange things and that animals run from him.[25][26]

A Wizard of Earthsea

The basic premise of Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea (1968), in which a boy with unusual aptitude for magic is recognised, and sent to a special school for wizards, resembles that of Harry Potter.[27] The hero encounters Jasper, a typically unpleasant Draco-like rival, in the Flashman tradition.[28] Le Guin has claimed that she doesn't feel Rowling "ripped her off," but that she felt that the books were overpraised for supposed originality, and that Rowling "could have been more gracious about her predecessors."[29]

The Worst Witch

Many critics have noted that Jill Murphy's The Worst Witch series (first published in 1974), is set in a school for girls, "Miss Cackle's Academy of Witchcraft", remarkably reminiscent of Hogwarts.[30][31] The school is hosted in an ancient castle on a remote hill surrounded by a forest. Classes include potions, chants and broomstick flying. Though the headmistress is kind and understanding, the hooknosed Potions mistress is harsh and unpleasant. She is particularly cruel towards the protagonist, a young witch named Mildred Hubble - but Mildred's nemesis is her pet student.[32]

Charmed Life

In Diana Wynne Jones' Charmed Life (1977), two orphaned children receive magical education while living in a castle. The setting is a world resembling early 1900 Britain, where magic is commonplace. Diana Wynne Jones has stated in answer to a question on her webpage: "I think Ms Rowling did get quite a few of her ideas from my books - though I have never met her, so I have never been able to ask her. My books were written many years before the Harry Potter books (Charmed Life was first published in 1977), so any similarities probably come from what she herself read as a child. Once a book is published, out in the world, it is sort of common property, for people to take ideas from and use, and I think this is what happened to my books." [33]

Discworld

Before the arrival of J. K. Rowling, Britain's bestselling author was comic fantasy writer Terry Pratchett. His Discworld books, beginning with The Colour of Magic in 1983, satirise and parody common fantasy literature conventions. Pratchett is repeatedly asked if he "got" his idea for his magic college, the Unseen University, from Harry Potter's Hogwarts, or if the young wizard Ponder Stibbons, who has dark hair and glasses, was inspired by Harry Potter. Both in fact predate Rowling's work by several years; Pratchett jokingly claims that yes he did steal them, though "I of course used a time machine."[34] The BBC and other British news agencies have emphasised a supposed rivalry between Pratchett and Rowling,[35][36][37] but Pratchett has said on record that, while he doesn't put Rowling on a pedestal, he doesn't consider her a bad writer, nor does he envy her success.[38] Claims of rivalry were due to a letter he wrote to The Sunday Times, about an article published declaring that fantasy "looks backward to an idealized, romanticized, pseudofeudal world, where knights and ladies morris-dance to Greensleeves". [39] In actual fact, he was protesting the ineptitude of journalists in that genre, many of whom did not research their work and, in this case, contradicted themselves in the same article.[40]

Young Sherlock Holmes

Chris Columbus, who directed the first two Harry Potter film adaptations, has cited the 1985 film Young Sherlock Holmes, which he wrote, as an influence in his direction for those films. "That was sort of a predecessor to this movie, in a sense," he told the BBC in 2001, "It was about two young boys and a girl in a British boarding school who had to fight a supernatural force."[41] Scenes from Young Sherlock Holmes were subsequently used to cast the first Harry Potter film.[42]

Troll

The Charles Band-produced low-budget horror/fantasy film Troll, directed by John Carl Buechler and starring Noah Hathaway, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Sonny Bono, features a character named "Harry Potter Jr." In an interivew with M. J. Simpson, Band claimed, "I've heard that JK Rowling has acknowledged that maybe she saw this low-budget movie and perhaps it inspired her."[43] However, a search of Accio Quote, the largest searchable online archive of JK Rowling interviews, produces no evidence in support, and Rowling has said on record multiple times that the name "Harry Potter" was derived in part from a childhood friend, Ian Potter, and in part from her favourite male name, Harry.[44][45][46]

The Books of Magic

Fans of the comic book series The Books of Magic, by Neil Gaiman (first published in 1990 by DC Comics) have cited similarities to the Harry Potter story. These include a dark-haired English boy with glasses, named Timothy Hunter, who on his twelfth birthday discovers his potential as the most powerful wizard of the age upon being approached by magic-wielding individuals, the first of whom makes him a gift of a pet owl. Similarities led the British tabloid paper the Daily Mirror to claim Gaiman had made accusations of plagiarism against Rowling, which he went on the record denying, saying the similarities were either coincidence, or drawn from the same fantasy archetypes. "I thought we were both just stealing from T.H. White", he said in interview, "very straightforward."[47]

Wizard's Hall

In 1991, the author Jane Yolen released a book called Wizard's Hall, which bears resemblance to the Potter series and its characters. The main protagonist, Henry and not Harry (AKA Thornmallow), is a young boy who joins a magical school for young wizards.[48] Yolen has been very critical of Rowling's work, and has complained publicly that she believes she stole her ideas. In an interview with the magazine Newsweek, Yolen said that "I always tell people that if Ms. Rowling would like to cut me a very large check, I would cash it."[49]

The Secret of Platform 13

Eva Ibbotson's The Secret of Platform 13 (first published in 1994) features a gateway to a magical world located on an underground railway platform. The protagonist belongs to the magical world but is raised in our world by a rich family who neglect him and treat him as a servant, while their fat and unpleasant biological son is pampered and spoiled. Amanda Craig is one example of a journalist who has written about the similarities: "Ibbotson would seem to have at least as good a case for claiming plagiarism as the American author currently suing J. K. Rowling [i.e. Nancy Stouffer], but unlike her, Ibbotson says she would "like to shake her by the hand. I think we all borrow from each other as writers."[50]

References

  1. ^ "SCHOLASTIC, INC., J.K. ROWLING, and TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY, L.P., Plaintiffs/Counterclaim Defendants, -against- NANCY STOUFFER: UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK". 2002. Retrieved 2007-06-12.
  2. ^ a b c d e JK Rowling (2000). "From Mr Darcy to Harry Potter by way of Lolita". Sunday Herald. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accesssdate= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Melissa Anelli and Emerson Spartz (2005). "The Leaky Cauldron and Mugglenet interview Joanne Kathleen Rowling: Part Three". Retrieved 2007-06-26.
  4. ^ "What is the significance of Neville being the other boy to whom the prophecy might have referred?". J.K.Rowling Official Site. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
  5. ^ Boquet, Tim. "J.K. Rowling: The Wizard Behind Harry Potter". Reader's Digest. Retrieved 2006-10-10.
  6. ^ JK Rowling. "JK Rowling at the Edinburgh Book Festival". Retrieved 2006-10-10.
  7. ^ "Edinburgh "cub reporter" press conference". Retrieved 2006-10-10.
  8. ^ a b c Renton, Jennie. ""The story behind the Potter legend: JK Rowling talks about how she created the Harry Potter books and the magic of Harry Potter's world"". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2006-10-10.
  9. ^ a b "Fraser, Lindsay. "Harry Potter - Harry and me,"". The Scotsman. November 2002.
  10. ^ "Real Wizards: The Search for Harry's Ancestors". Channel4.com. 2001. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  11. ^ Evelyn M Perry. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Novel". Retrieved 2007-06-01. {{cite web}}: Text "work-Farmingham State College" ignored (help)
  12. ^ "What Jo says about...Harry Potter". Accio Quote!. Retrieved 2007-05-10.
  13. ^ JK Rowling (2006). "The first It Girl". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2007-06-27.
  14. ^ Lindsey Fraser (2004). "J K Rowling at the Edinburgh Book Festival, Sunday, August 15, 2004". Retrieved 2007-05-10.
  15. ^ "JK Rowling's Official Site". Retrieved 2007-06-10.
  16. ^ JK Rowling at contemporarywriters.com
  17. ^ Nicholas Tucker (1991). "Happiest Days: The Public Schools in English Fiction by Jeffrey Richards; English Children and Their Magazines, 1751-1945 by Kirsten Drotner". History of Education Quarterly. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
  18. ^ Ian Wylie. "Stephen Fry's Schooldays". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 2006-10-10.
  19. ^ Monroe, Caroline. "How Much Was Rowling Inspired by Tolkien?". GreenBooks. TheOneRing.net. Retrieved 2006-05-21.
  20. ^ "About the Books: transcript of J. K. Rowling's live interview on Scholastic.com". Scholastic.com. October 2000.
  21. ^ Thomas, Shippey (2000). J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century. Harper Collins.
  22. ^ Sally Blakeney (1998). "The Golden Fairytale". The Australian. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
  23. ^ John Shirley (2001). "Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". LocusOnline. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
  24. ^ Feldman, Roxanne. "The Truth About Harry". School Library Journal. Retrieved 2006-10-10.
  25. ^ Anne Pelrine. "The Christian Guide to Fantasy: The Dark is Rising". Retrieved 2007-05-17.
  26. ^ "The Ottery: Rereading "The Dark is Rising"". Retrieved 2007-05-17.
  27. ^ Ben Patrick Johnson (2001). "Rowling's Magic Spell: Two Parts Fantasy, One Part Familiar?". CultureKiosque. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
  28. ^ "Novel Reflections: A Wizard of Earthsea". 2001. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
  29. ^ Maya Jaggi. "The magician". Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2006-10-10.
  30. ^ Polly Shulman (1999). "The Harry Potter series". slate.com. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accesdate= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  31. ^ David Aaronovitch (2003). "We've Been Muggled". The Observer. Retrieved 2007-05-10.
  32. ^ Jonas Ramstein. "Harry Potter Similarities to Worst Witch, Accusations of Plagiarism, J RK Rowling Same as Worst Witch Some Say". Retrieved 2006-10-10.
  33. ^ Wynn Jones, Diana. "DIANA'S ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS". Diana Wynne Jones: Official Site. Retrieved 2006-10-10.
  34. ^ "The Last Hero". The Annotatted Pratchett File. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  35. ^ KAREN MCVEIGH and LESLEY WALKER (2002). "Pratchett casts a bitter spell on rivals". TheScotsman. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
  36. ^ "Pratchett wins first major award". BBC News. 2002. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
  37. ^ "Pratchett takes swipe at Rowling". BBC News. Retrieved 2006-10-16.
  38. ^ "Mystery lord of the Discworld". The Age. Retrieved 2006-10-10.
  39. ^ "Rowling Hogwarts And All". Time. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  40. ^ "Terry Pratchett clarifies J.K. Rowling remarks". Wizard News. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  41. ^ "Potter director's Brit passion". BBC news. 2001. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  42. ^ Brian Linder. "Trouble Brewing with Potter Casting?". Filmforce. Retrieved 2006-10-11.
  43. ^ MJ Simpson. "Charles Band (Part 2)". Retrieved 2007-05-06. {{cite web}}: Text "Charles Band (Part 2)" ignored (help)
  44. ^ Danielle Demetriou. "Harry Potter and the source of inspiration". Retrieved 2007-05-06.
  45. ^ JK Rowling. "JK Rowling: Autobiography". Retrieved 2007-05-06.
  46. ^ ""J.K. Rowling Discusses the Surprising Success of 'Harry Potter'," Larry King Live". 2000. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
  47. ^ Linda Richards. "Interview: Neil Gaiman". January Magazine. Retrieved 2006-12-22.
  48. ^ Stephen Richmond (2005). "Before there was Harry Potter, there was Thornmallow!". Retrieved 2006-10-27.
  49. ^ Karen Springen (2005). "Writing Dynamo". Newsweek magazine. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
  50. ^ Amanda Craig. "Eva Ibbotson". Retrieved 2006-10-11.

Bibliography

  1. Pat Pincent, "The Education of a Wizard: Harry Potter and His Predecessors" in The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives in a Literary Phenomenon. Edited with an Introduction by Lana A. Whited. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2002.
  2. Amanda Craig, "Harry Potter and the art of lifting ideas", The Sunday Times, July 17, 2005.

See also

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