Remember how Hermione constantly nags Harry and Ron to brush up on Hogwarts: A History? “Bathilda’s Notebook” is the place to find out more about the real history behind Hogwarts’ creation. Writing with cutting-edge literary analysis of the series, Bathilda explores the literature and ideas that have most inspired Rowling, from Shakespeare to Sherlock Holmes.
Dr. Beatrice Groves teaches Shakespeare at Oxford University and is the author of Literary Allusion in Harry Potter, which is available now.
- “Potter” and “Python” – Part 2: “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (October 5, 2019) - To mark the 50th anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus", Dr. Beatrice Groves is exploring links between "Potter" and "Python". In this second article in a two-part series, she writes about how "Potter" echoes "Holy Grail".
- “Potter” and “Python” – Part 1: “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” (October 4, 2019) - To mark the 50th anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus", Dr. Beatrice Groves is exploring links between "Potter" and "Python". In this first article in a two-part series, she writes about how "Potter" echoes "Life of Brian".
- The Sword Until Recently Known as Gryffindor’s (March 20, 2019) - Dr. Beatrice Groves dissects the moral challenge of the goblin perspective on the ownership of Gryffindor's sword, which is strongly linked to our popular understanding of Marxism.
- Rowling’s Goblin Problem? (March 19, 2019) - With the opening of an exhibition, "Jews, Money, Myth", at the Jewish Museum London, Dr. Beatrice Groves ponders whether the depiction of goblins in "Harry Potter" is anti-Semitic.
- The Alchemical Symbolism of the Deathly Hallows in “Crimes of Grindelwald” (November 14, 2018) - How do alchemical and Masonic symbolism overlap? Dr. Beatrice Groves explores this connection, links it to the quest for the Hallows, and finds an astonishingly vivid parallel between "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" and "The Man Who Would Be King."
- “The Crimes of Grindelwald”, Kipling, and the Origins of the Deathly Hallows Symbol (November 13, 2018) - The Deathly Hallows symbol has been at the center of most of the promotional content for "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald". Dr. Beatrice Groves looks at how the Deathly Hallows was influenced by Masonic symbolism.
- “It’s Just Like Waking Up, Right?”: “Crimes of Grindelwald”, Kipling, and Shakespeare’s Midsummer Dreaming (November 12, 2018) - Dr. Beatrice Groves explores the links between Rowling's wizarding world and the "Green World" in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and examines how Kipling's works influenced "Harry Potter".
- Lethal White Horses (September 16, 2018) - What if the white horse clues Rowling has been dropping about "Lethal White" aren't about animals... but about places?
- Odi et amo: Rowling, Strike, and Roman Poetry (August 2, 2018) - Expert literary sleuth Dr. Beatrice Groves examines what Rowling's recent Latin tweet tells us about the upcoming "Lethal White".
- A Shakespearean Source for the Four-Point Character Conflict in “Harry Potter”? (April 23, 2018) - In honor of William Shakespeare's birthday, Dr. Beatrice Groves explores the parallels between the characters in "Harry Potter" and "Henry IV, Part 1".
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