“The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore” The ambiguity of the wizard archetype in the Harry Potter series
Natália Alves | 2017
The wizard has been a central figure in literature since the Middle Ages. Their complex personalities allow them to assume several important roles in the narratives; sometimes playing the role of the hero, the counselor or the menacing villain. Regardless of the role they play within a given story, wizards have several common elements and characteristics that typify them. This work aims to analyze the character Dumbledore of the Harry Potter series, films and books, and investigate the ambiguity in his personality, his actions, his characterization and his relationships with other characters. This study seeks to understand how the character fits in the wizard archetype by using the theories of Frye and Campbell. The study also aims to show Dumbledore’s literary adaptation, based on Linda Hutcheon’s Theory of Adaptation and focusing particularly on the characterization of the Wizard. The analysis showed that the character Dumbledore, for being often ambiguous, can lose some characteristics of the archetype. However, a deeper analysis of the character could be made in relation to his actions towards the hero of the story.