Editing Severus Snape (section)

==Reception==
The secretive attitude and gradual unfolding of Snape's character was broadly admired, with [[Stephen Fry]], narrator of the UK audiobooks, saying in 2003: "Most characters like Snape are hard to love but there is a sort of ambiguity—you can't quite decide—something sad about him—lonely and it's fascinating when you think he's going to be the evil one..., then slowly you get this idea he's not so bad after all."<ref name="Royal Albert 2">{{cite web |title=Interview with Stephen Fry at Royal Albert Hall |url=http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2003/0626-alberthall-fry.htm |year=2003 |access-date=3 September 2007 |archive-date=23 April 2011 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110423234917/http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2003/0626-alberthall-fry.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> [[David Yates]], who directed the final four films of the series, also expressed his views on the character, saying: "A character like Snape, where you're not really sure if he's a good guy or a bad guy, that gives you a latent tension... I think the coolest thing you can do with an audience is deny them a little bit of information."<ref name="David Yates">{{cite web |title=Director 'denies' Potter audience... just a little| website=[[NBC News]]| url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna19734081| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070717131212/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/19734081/| url-status=live| archive-date=17 July 2007|date=13 July 2007 |access-date=14 March 2008}}</ref> Rowling herself described Snape as "a gift of a character".<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.half-bloodprince.org/snape_jkr.php |title=Rowling on Snape |publisher=half-bloodprince.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726135809/http://www.half-bloodprince.org/snape_jkr.php |archive-date=26 July 2011 |access-date=3 November 2012}}</ref> Despite being less than kind, Snape quickly gained popularity within fandom to a level that surprised Rowling herself.<ref name="Book Festival"/> Joyce Millman suggests in her essay "To Sir with Love" in the book ''Mapping the World of Harry Potter'', that Snape is derived from a tradition of [[Byronic hero]]es such as ''Wuthering Heights''{{'}} [[Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights)|Heathcliff]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Mapping the World of Harry Potter |editor=Mercedes Lackey |publisher=BenBella Books, Inc. |year=2006 |pages=39–52 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sKRkzVIK3foC&q=snape++wuthering-heights+byronic+snape&pg=PT13 |access-date=30 July 2008 |isbn=978-1-932100-59-4 |archive-date=2 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102215321/https://books.google.com/books?id=sKRkzVIK3foC&q=snape++wuthering-heights+byronic+snape&pg=PT13 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Jenny Sawyer from ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'' commented on the character's development in the series.<ref name="Jenny Sawyer">{{cite journal |title=Missing from 'Harry Potter' |journal = Christian Science Monitor|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0725/p09s02-coop.html?page=1 |date=25 July 2007 |access-date=23 June 2008 |archive-date=6 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080606052204/http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0725/p09s02-coop.html?page=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> She claimed that Snape is the only [[protagonist]] who genuinely has a choice to make and who struggles to do the right thing, hence the only one to face a "compelling inner crisis". She believed the popularity of the character is due to the moral journey and inner conflict that Snape undergoes within the series, as it is the hero's struggle and costly redemption that really matter: "[Snape's] character ached for resolution. And it is precisely this need for resolution—our desire to know the real Snape and to understand his choices—that makes him the most compelling character in the Potter epic."

The final revelation of Snape's loyalty in ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' was viewed positively by fans and critics alike. [[Daniel Radcliffe]], who portrays Harry Potter in the movie series, expressed his delight, saying he was pleased to see that his theory that Snape would end up being a sort of [[tragic hero]] came through.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Daly |first=Steve  |date=July 27, 2007 |title=Daniel Radcliffe Talks 'Deathly Hallows' |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20044270_20044274_20048635,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926152330/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20044270_20044274_20048635,00.html |archive-date=26 September 2014 |access-date=18 March 2008 |magazine=EW.com}}</ref> [[Elizabeth Hand]] from ''[[The Washington Post]]'' wrote, "The much-maligned loner Snape does not come onstage until the latter part of "Deathly Hallows," but when he does the book becomes his: Snape's fate, more than Voldemort's, perhaps more even than Harry's, is the most heartbreaking, surprising and satisfying of all of Rowling's achievements."<ref>{{cite news |title=Harry's Final Fantasy: Last Time's the Charm |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/21/AR2007072101025.html |author=Elizabeth Hand |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=22 July 2007 |access-date=18 March 2008 |archive-date=21 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021033007/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/21/AR2007072101025.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[IGN]] listed Snape as their 4th top ''Harry Potter'' character, saying that he makes "quite an impact in the ''Harry Potter'' series",<ref name="IGN Top">{{cite web |url=http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/100/1002569p5.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090719051740/http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/100/1002569p5.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 July 2009 |title=Top 25 Harry Potter Characters |author1=Brian Linder |author2=Phil Pirrello |author3=Eric Goldman |author4=Matt Fowler |date=14 July 2009 |work=[[IGN]] |access-date=3 April 2011 }}</ref> and IGN's Joe Utichi called Snape his favourite ''Harry Potter'' character and praised his character development.<ref name="Joe Top">{{cite web |url=http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/113/1132181p2.html |title=The Top 10 Harry Potter Characters |author=Joe Utichi |date=3 November 2010 |work=[[IGN]] |access-date=3 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101106133737/http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/113/1132181p2.html |archive-date=6 November 2010 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Shortly after the release of the final film, [[MTV]] held a public poll for fans to vote for the best character in the series, and Snape was voted #1.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-harrypotter-poll-idUSTRE76D1FC20110714|title=Snape voted greatest "Potter" character in MTV poll|author1=Jill Serjeant|author2=Bob Tourtellotte|date=14 July 2011|work=Reuters|access-date=25 July 2011|archive-date=6 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306074015/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-harrypotter-poll-idUSTRE76D1FC20110714|url-status=live}}</ref> Around the same time, [[Empire (magazine)|''Empire'' magazine]] held a public poll for fans to vote for the 25 greatest characters in the series, and Snape once again came in at #1.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 25 Greatest Harry Potter Characters |url=http://www.empireonline.com/features/greatest-harry-potter-characters/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130216100037/http://www.empireonline.com/features/greatest-harry-potter-characters/ |archive-date=16 February 2013 |access-date=18 July 2013 |website=Empire}}</ref> In May 2011, Snape was again voted as the No. 1 favourite Harry Potter character in a public poll held by the [[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury publishing]] house.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/8733295/Snape-wins-favourite-Harry-Potter-character.html|title=Snape wins favourite Harry Potter character|website=Telegraph.co.uk|date=31 August 2011 |access-date=2016-04-18|archive-date=28 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928005811/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/8733295/Snape-wins-favourite-Harry-Potter-character.html|url-status=live}}</ref>