Dumbledore, Love, and Sexuality in Harry Potter

[gray_imagination]

Note: spoilers for the series.

I'm one of those crazy Harry Potter fans, and, since I'm also asexual, here's a rambling mixing the two:

J. K. Rowling shocked many people when she stated that Albus Dumbledore, wise headmaster of Hogwarts, was gay. I was surprised as well. A lot of fans have speculated (and written graphic fanfics) about the sexuality of just about every character in the Harry Potter universe. I'd never gone that far, but, at one point I had started a fic starring our famous headmaster when he was young, and, while the story never went very far, I had intended him to have a close relationship with a rather independent and fiery amazon, simply because such a character came into my mind when I was dreaming up my version of albus's early life (which, incidentally, was waaaaaay off). When I was reading Deathly Hallows, I noticed something, however. In the letter to Grindelwald that Rita Skeeter obtained, Albus' word choice at the end reminded me very much of something I had actually said to someone I fancied in a rather obsessive way. Despite that, I was still surprised that Dumbledore turned out to be gay.

One of the first things I wondered though, was: was Dumbledore gay or asexual? This was not the forefront question in most people's minds after the announcement, but, being asexual, it was pretty natural I think for me to wonder. I didn't wonder about it too much though, because, either way I found that his affection for Grindelwald terribly tragic and enriching to his character. However, recently, J. K. Rowling has said a bit more about the sexuality of Dumbledore and it's made me think about it again.

Addressing how Dumbledore became gay (from a writing standpoint), she's said that she always knew he had considered racial domination and power in his youth, but, he was still a really good person. “it just seemed to come to me, I thought 'I know why he did it, he fell in love.' And whether they physically consummated this infatuation or not is not the issue. The issue is love. It's not about sex.” (link). On the one hand, if Dumbledore was sexually attracted to Grindelwald, it would add to the swept away sort of situation he was in. His friendship with Grindelwald made him lose track of his true principles and values, and some hormones could certainly have helped him along. But, on the other hand, sexual attraction is not needed for one to make a fool of oneself over someone.

There is catalyst enough in the story to explain Dumbledore's departure from his real ideals. Dumbledore was a very lonely person, in a way. He had friends at Hogwarts, Elphias Dodge at the very least, but as Dodge points out, Albus was always in the spotlight. It isn't all the notoriety that caused Dumbledore's isolation, but his brilliance. Grindelwald was just as intelligent and above average as Dumbledore was, even though he was drawn to abuse his talents, and this provided Albus with the chance for a relationship he'd never had before. As much as he may have liked his other friends, Gellert Grindelwald provided him with something wholly different. Most people would love to have a friend, or lover, or whatever, that understood them and could be a true partner to their interests and endeavors. I know Dumbledore is not the first person to jump enthusiastically at the chance for that kind of relationship only to find that their excitement and desire blinded them to the fact that the person they hoped to share so much with was ultimately not compatible with them. In fact, I've made that same mistake myself.

Next, Rowling says, “And it's relevant only in so much as he fell in love and was made an utter fool of by love. He lost his moral compass completely when he fell in love and I think subsequently became very mistrusting of his own judgment in those matters so became quite asexual. He led a celibate and bookish life.” There are two things to be said about that, of course. Firstly, some asexuals may cry out “don't confuse asexuality and celibacy!”. The ambiguity there may indeed be the result of her ignorance of the asexual community, but, either way, it serves her purpose in keeping the sexual attraction as an irrelevant, undefined point. Which is the other thing to be said about this quote, she's quite right. The story has absolutely nothing to do with Dumbledore's sexuality. He can be gay or bisexual or homoromantic or biromantic depending on how the reader choses to consider it, in fact, if you don't pay attention to the media and just read the books, he could even be straight! As she says, to the story, it's not the sex that's important, it's the infatuation, which, could have been completely platonic and unromantic. But, instead, Rowling had him fall in love and yet, not scorn love. Despite his early mistake and the disastrous results, Dumbledore doesn't decide love is evil, which is interesting. He may have vowed never to let himself fall in love again as he doesn't seemed to have ever done so again. But, he remains the sole character to extol the virtue and power of love. He tells Harry not to pity the dead, but, to pity those who live without love. Of course, Dumbledore was aware of the different kinds of love at work in the world.

One other character who suffered a tragic love was Severus Snape. He's another character that, asexual or sexual, proves that love and sex can be separated. Whether or not he was sexually attracted to Lily (which he may very well have been), he continued to act out of love for her love after she had married another man and then even died. On the one hand, he seems to have fallen in love with Lily at a very young age, so his initial attraction to her may not have been sexual. Once they reached puberty, this may have changed, but, his core feelings for her were a different sort of desire completely. And once she died, and whatever way he wanted her, she was quite beyond her reach, he allowed Dumbledore to use him to protect Harry even though Harry was a constant and terribly painful reminder of the choices and their consequences that separated Snape and Lily.

It's just interesting to consider the role that sexuality played in the books, and its relationship to love. Sexuality, while not ignored, doesn't really play a major role in the series, despite the ages of the main characters (and likely because of the wide range of ages in the audience), love and sexuality are not portrayed as inseparable, and there sexuality isn't defined in black and white leaving a lot of room for thought, discussion, and progress in the way sexuality is portrayed and understood in popular fiction.

[Eli_Diallo]

Interesting analysis.

I've found it kind of odd how much discussion/speculation there has been about sexuality of the HP characters. That may be partially because I forget that it's "odd" for someone to not have an apparent romantic life, but I also think that it's pretty standard for the genre to have characters for which only the professional and not the personal life is shown. I've read a decent amount of young adult adventure fiction, and my recollection is that sexuality is brought up only for the main characters and when people (usually parents) happen to be married. Maybe this is because the books I read are somewhat older, from a time when people didn't discuss their personal lives as much. (How noticeable is sexuality in the Lemony Snicket series?) Or maybe kids, the intended audience, just don't care.

(If you're interested, I'm basing this mainly on Lloyd Alexander's Prydian chronicles, Philip Pulman's trilogy and some Robin McKinley books. All are quite good.)

[gray_imagination]

Interesting analysis.

I've found it kind of odd how much discussion/speculation there has been about sexuality of the HP characters. That may be partially because I forget that it's "odd" for someone to not have an apparent romantic life, but I also think that it's pretty standard for the genre to have characters for which only the professional and not the personal life is shown. I've read a decent amount of young adult adventure fiction, and my recollection is that sexuality is brought up only for the main characters and when people (usually parents) happen to be married. Maybe this is because the books I read are somewhat older, from a time when people didn't discuss their personal lives as much. (How noticeable is sexuality in the Lemony Snicket series?) Or maybe kids, the intended audience, just don't care.

(If you're interested, I'm basing this mainly on Lloyd Alexander's Prydian chronicles, Philip Pulman's trilogy and some Robin McKinley books. All are quite good.)

I think it's more that people are sensitive about what tey write in books for a younger audience than that kids don't care. It depends on the kid and their age, you may have some who don't like the "kissing books" (hehehe Princess Bride) but I was interested in the love lives of the characters, and, to a point, what that all meant. I've always been frustrated with the way sexuality is (or more often) isn't presented in youth literature, not because I think we need more sex in kids books, but because I think kids are a bit over protected and thus their ideas about sex and sexuality are from questionable sources rather than being presented with it as just part of life.

Harry's sexuality had to take a back seat to his story not just because parents or kids might not like more info, but, because there wasn't a lot of room for it between everything else that was happening. And, I suppose it might have taken something away if instead of that strange chest creature in the 6th book growling and purring about Ginny we were just told "and Harry started thinking about her breasts and what she'd look like naked" or " and then Harry's loins burned with desire". Somehow that wouldn't fit the story too well, and he was very distracted by like...Voldemort.

There wasn't a lot of sexuality in the Series of Unfortunate Events, but, I thought what there was was kinda of well done.

(I spent most of the Prydian chronicles wishing there was more going on between Taran and Elwony....but I may have been about 13 and sort of fixated on romance.... His Dark Materials though, I thought the romance was terminally adorable.)

:)

[DaniTheGirl]

I don't have anything to add, except, wow! awesome analysis. I haven't had time for analysing HP as a series since the last book came out. It was awesome t hear an asexual take on it :D

[Nonz16]

that's an impressive theory...

[Eli_Diallo]

I think it's more that people are sensitive about what tey write in books for a younger audience than that kids don't care.

Good point. I think my statement was heavily biased by the fact that I didn't really care as a kid.

(I spent most of the Prydian chronicles wishing there was more going on between Taran and Elwony....but I may have been about 13 and sort of fixated on romance.... His Dark Materials though, I thought the romance was terminally adorable.)

I still haven't read anything Lloyd Alexander other than the Prydain chronicles. I really need to get myself to a library to do that.

Any other suggestions in this genre? It's one that I quite enjoy despite being way past the intended audience age.