Meta: Snape and the Prince Nickname
Source: Snape and the prince nickname
No seriously I can’t stop thinking about Snape being the half blood prince. Him stealing away a little nickname for himself, perhaps to bolster him when life gave him its ass to kiss. A secret little bit of pride he could hold on to when he was constantly reminded of how he lacked. But Snape’s status as Prince wasn’t just a moniker he adopted, a nickname he gave himself, it was something he simply was, something he was born as. His birthright/claim to Prince is validated not by the characters acknowledging him as such but by the text itself, with chapters centring him referring to him as Prince e.g. “The Flight of the Prince” or “The Prince’s Tale.” Of all the characters, the legions of aristocratic, pure blood, upper crust characters crawling around this universe, the Prince is this strange little man who lived a wretched life, a life defined by cruelty and bitterness but also bravery and selflessness, a Prince from humblest origins.
There’s something about the title “The Prince’s Tale” that really gets me. It sounds like the legend of some historical or mythical figure–someone fantastical, larger than life, a knight in shining armor–but then you read it and it’s the story of a broken man. And really just that, a man–not this foreboding, almost inhuman figure we thought Snape was for so long. “The Prince’s Tale” is the chapter that peels back those layers of mystery and legend surrounding him, removes that forbidding exterior and reveals the child who wished for a better life–perhaps wished to be that Prince–and just wanted love–that core aspect of Snape’s being that pulled him out of the darkness in the end. It’s the chapter where we finally see him (almost the culmination of his final “Look at me”)–and the book validates that, in all this sorrow and heartbreak and humanity, he is the Prince.
I will always find it fascinating that young Severus didn’t just call himself The Prince. I mean, we have pretentious allusions to Machiavelli right there. But no, he (or JKR) specifically chose the Half-Blood Prince, despite it being the sort of nickname you’d expect his enemies to throw at him, to mock him with, signifying “not good enough” and “impure.” Not only does it not ignore his status as a half-blood, it emphasizes it - i.e., he’s half-Muggle, something we’re led to assume he rejects as a follower of pureblood ideology. Yet he claims it as part of his secret, daydreaming identity as a teenager. It’s his superhero title. He projects onto both sides of his heritage, unites them in one name, and the implication is that he finds it empowering, romanticized the way adolescent self-creation often is.
Yet we never see it reflected in Snape’s day-to-day behavior. It almost seems out of character for him to recognize his Muggle “half.” So what did it mean to him? How did he imagine himself reconciling - living up to - both sides of the Half-Blood Prince?
I always read that as teen Snape acknowledging that he was a Half-Blood and his origins, but emphasizing his magical half and rejecting his muggle half. He’s embracing his mother, and rejecting his father. He isn’t emphasizing he’s half muggle, he’s emphasizing that he’s half wizard.
As an adult the name represents something different I’d say. It’s Snape the inventor, the genius, the prodigy. It’s why he only brings it up in reference to his inventions.
At least that’s my take on it. I’d be interested in other interpretations.
Paraphrasing here, because it is a more refined version of my interpretation :
"It's a title that's meant to remind of him of what he wants to aspire to and the possibilities of his aspirations given his blood (The Prince), but also to never forget his origins and what he actually is (half-blood). Given that the moniker is private and what he used to invent his spells and modify potions, I see the nickname as a sort of reminder to himself, that despite him being a half-blood, he is more than enough. He is worth of the title of a Prince because he's got 'loads of magic 'as he told Lily, and is extremely skilled in it. I think the oxymoronic nature of the nickname would have also been amusing to him.
This nickname is associated with a lot of pride for Snape, given that he used it to strain the limits of magic and succeeded as a teenager. It was also a reclamation of it as an adult as mentioned above, taking it back from taint of being used by James Potter's son."
He wanted something which he would have had, if not for Eileen making the bad decision to move to the muggle world and then being entangled with Tobias. It reminded him of what he could have been but also that what he was. A half-blood of the Prince line, a neglected and ill-treated boy who had nothing except his pride. And he didn't particularly hate muggles or muggleborns, which many Snaters claim that he did. He had to pay lip service while being with his pureblood peers in Slytherin. That made him susceptible to uttering the dreaded "Mudblood" slur. Though, his disdain towards his muggle father was justified because that wastrel wasn't worthy of being called a father.
Quote from Naaga on December 31, 2023, 12:43 amSource: Snape and the prince nickname
No seriously I can’t stop thinking about Snape being the half blood prince. Him stealing away a little nickname for himself, perhaps to bolster him when life gave him its ass to kiss. A secret little bit of pride he could hold on to when he was constantly reminded of how he lacked. But Snape’s status as Prince wasn’t just a moniker he adopted, a nickname he gave himself, it was something he simply was, something he was born as. His birthright/claim to Prince is validated not by the characters acknowledging him as such but by the text itself, with chapters centring him referring to him as Prince e.g. “The Flight of the Prince” or “The Prince’s Tale.” Of all the characters, the legions of aristocratic, pure blood, upper crust characters crawling around this universe, the Prince is this strange little man who lived a wretched life, a life defined by cruelty and bitterness but also bravery and selflessness, a Prince from humblest origins.
There’s something about the title “The Prince’s Tale” that really gets me. It sounds like the legend of some historical or mythical figure–someone fantastical, larger than life, a knight in shining armor–but then you read it and it’s the story of a broken man. And really just that, a man–not this foreboding, almost inhuman figure we thought Snape was for so long. “The Prince’s Tale” is the chapter that peels back those layers of mystery and legend surrounding him, removes that forbidding exterior and reveals the child who wished for a better life–perhaps wished to be that Prince–and just wanted love–that core aspect of Snape’s being that pulled him out of the darkness in the end. It’s the chapter where we finally see him (almost the culmination of his final “Look at me”)–and the book validates that, in all this sorrow and heartbreak and humanity, he is the Prince.
I will always find it fascinating that young Severus didn’t just call himself The Prince. I mean, we have pretentious allusions to Machiavelli right there. But no, he (or JKR) specifically chose the Half-Blood Prince, despite it being the sort of nickname you’d expect his enemies to throw at him, to mock him with, signifying “not good enough” and “impure.” Not only does it not ignore his status as a half-blood, it emphasizes it - i.e., he’s half-Muggle, something we’re led to assume he rejects as a follower of pureblood ideology. Yet he claims it as part of his secret, daydreaming identity as a teenager. It’s his superhero title. He projects onto both sides of his heritage, unites them in one name, and the implication is that he finds it empowering, romanticized the way adolescent self-creation often is.
Yet we never see it reflected in Snape’s day-to-day behavior. It almost seems out of character for him to recognize his Muggle “half.” So what did it mean to him? How did he imagine himself reconciling - living up to - both sides of the Half-Blood Prince?
I always read that as teen Snape acknowledging that he was a Half-Blood and his origins, but emphasizing his magical half and rejecting his muggle half. He’s embracing his mother, and rejecting his father. He isn’t emphasizing he’s half muggle, he’s emphasizing that he’s half wizard.
As an adult the name represents something different I’d say. It’s Snape the inventor, the genius, the prodigy. It’s why he only brings it up in reference to his inventions.
At least that’s my take on it. I’d be interested in other interpretations.
Paraphrasing here, because it is a more refined version of my interpretation :
"It's a title that's meant to remind of him of what he wants to aspire to and the possibilities of his aspirations given his blood (The Prince), but also to never forget his origins and what he actually is (half-blood). Given that the moniker is private and what he used to invent his spells and modify potions, I see the nickname as a sort of reminder to himself, that despite him being a half-blood, he is more than enough. He is worth of the title of a Prince because he's got 'loads of magic 'as he told Lily, and is extremely skilled in it. I think the oxymoronic nature of the nickname would have also been amusing to him.
This nickname is associated with a lot of pride for Snape, given that he used it to strain the limits of magic and succeeded as a teenager. It was also a reclamation of it as an adult as mentioned above, taking it back from taint of being used by James Potter's son."
ALL OF THIS!!! <3 I feel the him taking on the title "Half-Blood Prince" is him trying to give himself some power, purpose and shedding anything that makes him feel the opposite. It's Severus stating: "No matter how many times you may try to kick me down, I'm still worthy as a person, even as a Half-Blood."
