Wonderful essay! And great comments, too. :) This does so much to clear up where JKR got all of these dated ideas and ideals, for me. And goes a long way to answering "why" as well.
Her books are so opposite what she says in interviews (and so opposite what she seems to think she's actually written), that I've long been frustrated trying to figure out the breakdown. That JKR never rewrote explains a lot. And is also stunning. But, thanks to your examples, I can see how she borrowed the tropes of well-loved classics without thinking through the implications.
Though... I don't know, a part of me still thinks she's also revealing a personal world-view that she isn't fully aware of. A sense of "us" vs. "them" where anyone "them" is bad without question, no need to think about reasons, etc. Which would, I think, explain why some of the uglier politics of the 19th century literature stuck, while some of the kinder ideas expressed were left by the wayside. I agree this wasn't "the message she intended to convey," but it think it is telling that this is what she gleaned from her own readings and regurgitated in her series.
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Her books are so opposite what she says in interviews (and so opposite what she seems to think she's actually written), that I've long been frustrated trying to figure out the breakdown. That JKR never rewrote explains a lot. And is also stunning. But, thanks to your examples, I can see how she borrowed the tropes of well-loved classics without thinking through the implications.
Though... I don't know, a part of me still thinks she's also revealing a personal world-view that she isn't fully aware of. A sense of "us" vs. "them" where anyone "them" is bad without question, no need to think about reasons, etc. Which would, I think, explain why some of the uglier politics of the 19th century literature stuck, while some of the kinder ideas expressed were left by the wayside. I agree this wasn't "the message she intended to convey," but it think it is telling that this is what she gleaned from her own readings and regurgitated in her series.