Harry Potter = Modern Renaissance Tale

Before I started reading Harry Potter again, I was trying to figure out if I remember any thing from the book that would relate back to the Renaissance time period. I knew there were magic and wizards and witches but other than that, I wasn’t too sure. The school of Hogwarts reminded me of an old time castle but it wasn’t enough for me to write a paper on the architect.
I started reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and as soon as the description of Harry came, I thought “HA! This is Red Crosse in modern day clothes!” It was too perfect. Harry was wearing over sized clothes and is an awkward eleven year old with odds already against him before the real adventure begins. Red Crosse from The Faerie Queene was first introduced wearing oversized armor and to me was very awkward. He wasn’t the typical hero type that we would expect. Both characters were the underdog and the audience would naturally root for them to win even though strong forces are against them.
There were so much similarities of both stories that made me believe that J.K. Rowling outlined Harry Potter after The Faerie Queene. But then as I looked more closely to the other Renaissance stories we read, most of the similarities were universal themes and human nature. Both Red Crosse and Harry Potter were trying to find their identity in life. Both had no idea who they really were. But then you can look at other themes that were throughout both stories. There was the very cliché theme of good versus evil. This was the main theme in Doctor Faustus. Greed and the idea of trying to achieve the impossible was also a theme, which was a theme in the Sorcerer’s Stone with the idea of living forever and trying to defeat death. And then there was the theme that tied most of the stories together and that was “things aren’t what they seemed to be”. Professor Quirrell seemed to be the good guy to the reader and to Harry Potter while Snape was just so evil. In the end, Professor Quirrell wanted Harry dead while Snape was saving Harry. In The Faerie Queene, there were many disguises especially dealing with Archimago and Fidessa. Dealing with Faustus, the deed was not what he wanted but he didn’t do anything about it. In the Witch of Edmonton, the evil one was not the “witch” but the rich people but the “witch” died while the “good” ones lived.
Themes from all story including Harry Potter connected everything together from class. It was nice to see that a modern day story was bringing back Renaissance ideas, morals, and a colorful tale filled with magic and superstitions.