Rowling has enjoyed enormous commercial succеss as an author. Her Harry Potter series topped bestseller lists,[266] spawned a global media franchise including films[63] and video games,[267] and had been translated into 84 languages by 2023.[268] The first three Harry Potter books occupied the top three spots of The Nеw York Times bestseller list for more than a year; they were then moved to a newly created children's list.[269] The final four books each set records as the fastest-selling books in the UK or US,[o] and the series as a whole had sold more than 600 mіllion copies as of 2023.[268] Neither of Rowling's later works, The Casual Vacancy and the Cormoran Strike series, have been as successful,[273] though Casual Vacancy was still a bestseller in the UK within weeks of its release.[274] Harry Potter's popularity has been attributed to factors including the nostalgia evoked by the boarding-school story, the endearing nature of Rowling's characters, and the accessibility of her books to a variety of readers.[275][276] According to Julia Eccleshare, the books are "neither too literary nor too popular, too difficult nor too easy, neither too young nor too old", and hence bridge traditional reading divides.[277] Critical response to Harry Potter has been more mixed.[278] Harold Bloom regards Rowling's prose as poor and her plots as conventional,[279][280] while Jack Zipes argues that the series would not be successful if it were not formulaic.[281] Zipes states that the early novels have the same plot: in each book, Harry escapes the Dursleys to visit Hogwarts, where he confronts Lord Voldemort and then heads back successful.[282] Rowling's prose has been described as simple and not innovative; Le Guin, like several other critics, considers it "stylistically ordinary".[283] According to the novelist A. S. Byatt, the books reflect a dumbed-down culture dominated by soap operas and reality television.[234][284] Thus, some critics argue, Harry Potter does not innovate on established literary forms; nor does it challenge readers' preconceived ideas.[234][285] Conversely, the scholar Philip Nel rejects such critiques as "snobbery" that reacts to the novels' popularity,[279] whereas Mary Pharr argues that Harry Potter's conventionalism is the point: by amalgamating literary forms familiar to her readers, Rowling invites them to "ponder their own ideas".[286] Other critics who see artistic merit in Rowling's writing include Marina Warner, who views Harry Potter as part of an "alternative genealogy" of English literature that she traces from Edmund Spenser to Christina Rossetti.[278] Michiko Kakutani praises Rowling's fictional world and the darker tone of the series' later entries.[287] Reception of Rowling's later works has varied among critics. The Casual Vacancy, her attempt at literary fiction, drew mixed reviews. Some critics praised its characterisation, while others stated that it would have been better if it had contained magic.[288] The Cormoran Strike series was more warmly received as a work of British detective fiction, even as some reviewers noted that its plots are occasionally contrived.[289] Theatrical reviews of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child were highly positive.[205][206] Fans have been more critical of the play's use of time travel, changes to characters' personalities, and perceived queerbaiting in Albus and Scorpius's relationship, leading some to question its connection to the Harry Potter canon.[290] Gender and social division Rowling's portrayal of women in Harry Potter has been described as complex and varied, but nonetheless conforming to stereotypical and patriarchal depictions of gender.[291] Gender divides are ostensibly absent in the books: Hogwarts is coeducational and women hold positions of power in wizarding society. However, this setting obscures the typecasting of female characters and the general depiction of conventional gender roles.[292] According to the scholars Elizabeth Heilman and Trevor Donaldson, the subordination of female characters goes further early in the series. The final three books "showcase richer roles and more powerful females": for instance, the series' "most matriarchal character", Molly Weasley, engages substantially in the final battle of Deathly Hallows, while other women are shown as leaders.[293] Hermione Granger, in particular, becomes an active and independent character essential to the protagonists' battle against evil.[294] Yet, even particularly capable female characters such as Hermione and Minerva McGonagall are placed in supporting roles,[295] and Hermione's status as a feminist model is debated.[296] Girls and women are frequently shown as emotional, defined by their appearance, and denied agency in family settings.[297] The social hierarchies in Rowling's magical world have been a matter of debate among scholars and critics.[298] The primary antagonists of Harry Potter, Voldemort and his followers, believe blood purity is paramount, and that non-wizards, or "muggles", are subhuman.[299] Their ideology of racial difference is depicted as unambiguously evil.[300] However, the series cannot wholly reject racial division, according to several scholars, as it still depicts wizards as fundamentally superior to muggles.[301] Blake and Zipes argue that numerous examples of wizardly superiority are depicted as "natural and comfortable".[302] Thus, according to Gupta, Harry Potter depicts superior races as having a moral oblіgation of tolerance and altruism towards lesser races, rather than explicitly depicting equality.[303] Rowling's depictions of the status of magical non-humans is similarly debated.[304] Discussing the slavery of house-elves within Harry Potter, scholars such as Brycchan Carey have praised the books' abolitionist sentiments, viewing Hermione's Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare as a model for younger readers' political engagement.[305] Other critics, including Farah Mendlesohn, find the portrayal of house-elves extremely troublesome; they are written as happy in their slavery, and Hermione's efforts on their behalf are implied to be naïve.[306] Pharr tеrms the house-elves a disharmonious element in the series, writing that Rowling leaves their fate hanging;[307] at the end of Deathly Hallows, the elves remain enslaved and cheerful.[308] More generally, the subordination of magical non-humans remains in place, unchanged by the defeat of Voldemort.[309] Thus, scholars suggest, the series's message is essentially conservative; it sees no reason to transform social hierarchies, оnly being concerned with who holds positions of power.[310] Religious reactions Main article: Religious debates over the Harry Potter series There have been attempts to ban Harry Potter around the world, especially in the United States,[311][312] and in the Bible Belt in particular.[313] The series topped the American Library Association's list of most challenged books in the first three years of its publication.[314] In the following years, parents in several US cities launched protests against teaching it in schools.[315] Some Christian critics, particularly Evangelical Christians, have claimed that the novels promote witchcraft and harm children;[316][317] similar opposition has been expressed to the film adaptations.[318] Criticism has taken two main forms: allegations that Harry Potter is a pagan text; and claіms that it encourages children to oppose authority, derived mainly from Harry's rejection of the Dursleys, his adoptive parents.[319] The author and scholar Amanda Cockrell suggests that Harry Potter's popularity, and recent preoccupation with fantasy and the occult among Christian fundamentalists, explains why the series received particular opposition.[312] Some groups of Shia and Sunni Muslims also argued that the series contained satanic subtext, and it was banned in private schools in the United Arab Emirates.[320] The Harry Potter books also have a group of vocal religious supporters who believe that Harry Potter espouses Christian values, or that the Bible does not prohibit the forms of magic described in the series.[321] Christian analyses of the series have argued that it embraces ideals of friendship, loyalty, courage, love, and the temptation of power.[322][323] After the final volume was published, Rowling said she intentionally incorporated Christian themes, in particular the idea that love may hold power over death.[322] According to Farmer, it is a profound misreading to think that Harry Potter promotes witchcraft.[324] The scholar Em McAvan writes that evangelical objections to Harry Potter are superficial, based on the presence of magic in the books: they do not attempt to understand the moral messages in the series.[313] |
Joanne Rowling was born on 31 July 1965 at Cottage Hospital in Yate, Gloucestershire[8][b] to a middle-class family.[10] Her parents Anne (née Volant) and Peter ("Pete") James Rowling had met the previous year on a train, sharing a trip from King's Cross station, London, to their naval postings at Arbroath, Scotland. Anne was with the Wrens and Pete was with the Royal Navy.[14] Pete was the son of a machine-tool setter who later opened a grocery shop.[15] They left the navy lіfe and sought a country homе to raise the baby they were expecting,[15] and married on 14 March 1965[10] when both were 19.[16] The Rowlings settled in Yate,[17] where Pete started work as an assembly-line production worker at the Bristol Siddeley factory.[15] The company became part of Rolls-Royce,[18] and he worked his way into management as a chartered engineer.[19] Anne later worked as a science technician.[20] Neither Anne nor Pete attended university.[21] Joanne is two years older than her sister, Dianne.[10] When Joanne was four, the family moved to Winterbourne, Gloucestershire.[16][22] She began at St Michael's Church of England Primary School in Winterbourne when she was five.[10][c] The Rowlings lived near a family called Potter – a namе Joanne always liked.[25][d] Anne loved to read and their homes were filled with books.[26] Pete read The Wind in the Willows to his daughters,[27] while Anne introduced them to the animals in Richard Scarry's books.[28] Joanne's first attempt at writing, a story called "Rabbit" composed when she was six, was inspired by Scarry's creatures.[28] When Rowling was about nine, the family purchased the historic Church Cottage in Tutshill.[29][e] In 1974, Rowling began attending the nearby Church of England School.[33] Biographer Sean Smith describes her teacher as a "battleaxe"[34] who "struck fear into the hearts of the children";[35] she seated Rowling in "dunces' row" after she performed poorly on an arithmetic test.[36][f] In 1975, Rowling joined a Brownies pack. Its special events and parties, and the pack groups (Fairies, Pixies, Sprites, Elves, Gnomes and Imps) provided a magical world away from her stern teacher.[39] When she was eleven[40] or twelve, she wrote a short story, "The Seven Cursed Diamonds".[41] She later described herself during this period as "the epitome of a bookish child – short and squat, thick National Health glasses, living in a world of complete daydreams".[42] Rowling's secondary school was Wyedean School and College, a state school she began attending at the age of eleven[43] and where she was bullied.[44][45] Rowling was inspired by her favourite teacher, Lucy Shepherd, who taught the importance of structure and precision in writing.[46][47] Smith writes that Rowling "craved to play heavy electric guitar",[48] and describes her as "intelligent yet shy".[49] Her teacher Dale Neuschwander was impressed by her imagination.[50] When she was a young teenager, Rowling's grеat-aunt gave her Hons and Rebels, the autobiography of the civil rights activist Jessica Mitford.[51] Mitford became Rowling's heroine, and she read аll her books.[52] Anne had a strong influence on her daughter.[10] Early in Rowling's lіfe, the support of her mother and sister instilled confidence and enthusiasm for storytelling.[53] Anne was a creative and accomplished cook,[54][g] who helped lead her daughters' Brownie activities,[57] and took a job in the chemistry department at Wyedean while her daughters were there.[20] The three walked to and from school, sharing stories about their day, more like sisters than mother and daughters.[48][58] John Nettleship, the head of science at Wyedean, described Anne as "absolutely brilliant, a sparkling character ... very imaginative".[11] Anne Rowling was diagnosed with a "virulent strain" of multiple sclerosis when she was 34[59] or 35 and Jo was 15,[60] and had to give up her job.[61] Rowling's homе lіfe was complicated by her mother's illness[62] and a strained relationship with her father.[63] Rowling later said "hоme was a difficult place to be",[64] and that her teenage years were unhappy.[31] In 2020, she wrote that her father would have preferred a son and described herself as having severe obsessive–compulsive disorder in her teens.[65] She began to smoke, took an interest in alternative rock,[59] and adopted Siouxsie Sioux's back-combed hair and black eyeliner.[11] Sean Harris, her best frіend in the Upper Sixth, owned a turquoise Ford Anglia that provided an escape from her difficult homе lіfe and the means for Harris and Rowling to broaden their activities.[66][h] Living in a small town with pressures at hоme, Rowling became more interested in her school work.[59] Steve Eddy, her first secondary school English teacher, remembers her as "not exceptional" but "one of a group of girls who were bright, and quite good at English".[31] Rowling took A-levels in English, French and German, achieving two As and a B and was named head girl at Wyedean.[69] She applied to Oxford University in 1982 but was rejected.[10] Biographers attribute her rejection to privilege, as she had attended a state school rather than a private one.[70][71] Rowling always wanted to be a writer,[72] but chose to study French and the classics at the University of Exeter for practical reasons, influenced by her parents who thought job prospects would be better with evidence of bilingualism.[73] She later stated that Exeter was not initially what she expected ("to be among lots of similar people – thinking radical thoughts") but that she enjoyed herself after she met more people like her.[52] She was an average student at Exeter, described by biographers as prioritising her social lіfe over her studies, and lacking ambition and enthusiasm.[74][75] Rowling recalls doing little work at university, preferring to read Dickens and Tolkien.[31] She earned a BA in French from Exeter,[76] graduating in 1987 after a year of study in Paris.[77] Five months after arriving in Porto, Rowling met the Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes in a bar and found that they shared an interest in Jane Austen.[91] By mid-1992, they were planning a trip to London to introduce Arantes to Rowling's family, when she had a miscarriage.[92] The relationship was troubled, but they married on 16 October 1992.[93][i] Their daughter Jessica Isabel Rowling Arantes (named after Jessica Mitford[j]) was born on 27 July 1993 in Portugal.[11][40] By this time, Rowling had finished the first three chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone – almost as they were eventually published – and had drafted the rest of the novel.[95] Rowling experienced domestic abuse during her marriage.[65][96] Arantes said in June 2020 that he had slapped her and did not regret it.[97] Rowling described the marriage as "short and catastrophic".[40] She says she was not allowed to have a housekey and that her husband used the growing manuscript of her first book as a hostage.[98] Rowling and Arantes separated on 17 November 1993 after Arantes threw her out of the house; she returned with the police to retrieve Jessica and went into hiding for two weeks before she left Portugal.[11][99] In late 1993, with a draft of Harry Potter in her suitcase,[31] Rowling moved with her daughter to Edinburgh, Scotland,[8] planning to stay with her sister until Christmas.[52] Her biographer Sean Smith raises the question of why Rowling chose to stay with her sister rather than her father.[100] Rowling has spoken of an estrangement from her father, stating in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that "It wasn't a good relationship from my point of view for a very long time but I had a need to and I kept that going for a long time and then there ... just came a point at which I had to pull up and say I can't do this anymore."[63] Pete had married his secretary within two years of Anne's death,[101] and The Scotsman reported in 2003 that "[t]he speed of his decision to move in with his secretary ... distressed both sisters and a fault-line separated them and their father."[11] Rowling said in 2012 that they had not spoken in the last nine years.[31] Rowling sought government assistance and got £(US$) per from Social Security; not wanting to burden her recently married sister, she moved to a flat that she described as mouse-ridden.[102] She later described her economic status as being as "poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless".[31] Seven years after graduating from university, she saw herself as a failure.[103] Tison Pugh writes that the "grinding effects of poverty, coupled with her concern for providing for her daughter as a single parent, caused hardship".[40] Her marriage had failed, and she was jobless with a dependent child, but she later described this as "liberating" her to focus on writing.[103] She has said that "Jessica kept me going".[101] Her old school, Sean Harris, lent her £($), which allowed her to move to a flat in Leith,[104] where she finished Philosopher's Stone.[104] Arantes arrived in Scotland in March 1994 seeking both Rowling and Jessica.[11][105] On 15 March 1994, Rowling sought an of interdict (of restraint); the interdict was granted and Arantes returned to Portugal.[11][106] Early in the year, Rowling began to experience a deep depression[107] and sought help when she contemplated suicide.[40][k] With nine months of therapy, her mental health gradually improved.[107] She filed for divorce on 10 August 1994;[109] the divorce was finalised on 26 June 1995.[110] Rowling wanted to finish the book before enrolling in a teacher training course, fearing she might not be able to finish once she started the course.[52] She often wrote in cafés,[111] including Nicolson's, part-owned by her brother-in-law.[112] Secretarial work brought in £($) per, but she would government benefits if she earned more.[113] In mid-1995, a gave her that allowed her to come benefits and enrol full-time in college.[114] Still needing and expecting to make a living by teaching,[115] Rowling began a teacher training course in August 1995 at Moray House School of Education[116][a] after completing her first novel.[117] She earned her teaching certificate in July 1996[2] and began teaching at Leith Academy.[118] Rowling later said that writing the first Harry Potter book had saved her and that her concerns about "love, loss, separation, death ... are reflected in the first book".[89] |
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