I have thought about Snape's hair. It is greasy. It is black. It is shoulder-length. Snape is not handsome and he 'has better things to worry about than whether his hair has bounce.' (![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
the_iscariot - though I may not have remembered the wording perfectly.)
On the other hand he values precision and diligence and strikes me as fastidious, with his buttons and black. Potions is an exacting discipline. Given his diction, vocabulary, posture and stiff formality, he has worked hard to overcome the class and place in which he grew up. I have him tutored by the Malfoys in what they regard as basic civilisation. As he moves among the death-eaters from the pureblood families with their exacting social dance, indeed even watches, listens and interprets as a spy, he must have learned well.
He is not going to indulge himself in slovenly personal hygiene. I have him suffering this as a boy, with lack of opportunity for cleanliness. His mother does not value it, or he would have been better cared-for on the train, would have had reasonable clothing, even if it was old. Abusive parents would not tolerate a child less than well-scrubbed unless they really didn't care about it for themselves either. I also have him hating this and jealous. A father unwilling to pay for hot water, a mother too lazy to clean the bathroom or wash the towels.
He would do all he could to put this behind him. He is proud, hates it when others laugh at him, look down on him. He is desperately embarrassed by his grey underclothes. He is not going to neglect washing. I see him as scrupulous.
Yet his hair is greasy.
Why? I think the answer is simple - it is a direct result of his profession. He has spent years bending over steaming, smoking cauldrons, permeating himself in a complex and ever-changing miasma of damp air. His hair is going to suffer. It is going to become weighed down with sweat and moisture, it is going to become infused with the vapours of so many ingredients, some poisonous, some foul, most of them extraordinary and selected to produce magical effects of one type or another.
It is certainly possible, and even likely that such a condition would be relatively unaffected by washing in the usual way. Even the usual spells of cleansing might be insufficient in such a case of mixed and varied magic and combinations of dilute magical components.
He appears to have greasy hair. But in my writing it is clean and he is also clean. While he is not going to spend any time creating new potions and spells to ensure it has bounce, he certainly washes regularly. I have him bathing more frequently than others, having been deprived of cleanliness in his childhood and having more need due to his chosen if noxious working conditions.
the_iscariot - though I may not have remembered the wording perfectly.)On the other hand he values precision and diligence and strikes me as fastidious, with his buttons and black. Potions is an exacting discipline. Given his diction, vocabulary, posture and stiff formality, he has worked hard to overcome the class and place in which he grew up. I have him tutored by the Malfoys in what they regard as basic civilisation. As he moves among the death-eaters from the pureblood families with their exacting social dance, indeed even watches, listens and interprets as a spy, he must have learned well.
He is not going to indulge himself in slovenly personal hygiene. I have him suffering this as a boy, with lack of opportunity for cleanliness. His mother does not value it, or he would have been better cared-for on the train, would have had reasonable clothing, even if it was old. Abusive parents would not tolerate a child less than well-scrubbed unless they really didn't care about it for themselves either. I also have him hating this and jealous. A father unwilling to pay for hot water, a mother too lazy to clean the bathroom or wash the towels.
He would do all he could to put this behind him. He is proud, hates it when others laugh at him, look down on him. He is desperately embarrassed by his grey underclothes. He is not going to neglect washing. I see him as scrupulous.
Yet his hair is greasy.
Why? I think the answer is simple - it is a direct result of his profession. He has spent years bending over steaming, smoking cauldrons, permeating himself in a complex and ever-changing miasma of damp air. His hair is going to suffer. It is going to become weighed down with sweat and moisture, it is going to become infused with the vapours of so many ingredients, some poisonous, some foul, most of them extraordinary and selected to produce magical effects of one type or another.
It is certainly possible, and even likely that such a condition would be relatively unaffected by washing in the usual way. Even the usual spells of cleansing might be insufficient in such a case of mixed and varied magic and combinations of dilute magical components.
He appears to have greasy hair. But in my writing it is clean and he is also clean. While he is not going to spend any time creating new potions and spells to ensure it has bounce, he certainly washes regularly. I have him bathing more frequently than others, having been deprived of cleanliness in his childhood and having more need due to his chosen if noxious working conditions.
greasy-clean
That, however, is only my opinion and is not, imo, his 'most usual' method of operation, but only under particularly extreme circumstances.
Your essay is very well thought out and very clearly, concisely stated. Well done. (adds to memories)
He is exactly the sort of person who would work so hard he would miss meals, fall asleep red-eyed over his work, fail to wash.
And afterwards I think he would eat and bathe. To prove he was as good as anyone else, that he was not his parents and that he was sane.
I think his childhood/teenage years abused by his peers definitely made an impression on him for his adult years; but at the same time, given his fairly secluded life as a professor, I don't think he would care that much about making himself especially desirable in any particular area. But washing every day, yes, as part of a daily regiment and an ordered life. Same reason he probably makes sure his cauldrons, ingredients, tools, and general work area is in spotless condition every day.
Just one point: On the other hand he values precision and diligence and strikes me as fastidious, with his buttons and black.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure buttons are only seen on Alan Rickman.
-lavinialavender on LJ
Yes. I don't think he would try to make himself desirable. For whom he would do that, I honestly don't know. But I still imagine he would be clean, as his tools would be clean, his things organised.
Thank you for reading and commenting!
I do disagree a bit, however, about the clothing. The buttons are movie-verse. And I always thought all black was a combination of two things: the first, that all black is immensely practical when it comes to hiding stains from ingredients, etc. The second, all black can be intimidating.
The following is, of course, far more thought than Rowling put into it, but...a lot of guys seem to go through a phase as a late teen/early adult, in which they love all black clothing, and Snape would be too stubborn to switch once he had adopted it. Plus, of course, he would love the intimidation factor. There's a reason that some cop units dress their drug dog handlers in all black, and it's not to hide stains. ;-) Our highway patrol units sometime ago experimented with switching to all black uniforms. The younger troopers LOVED them, and the older, calmer guys rolled their eyes at them. They ended up switching back to the traditional uniforms for all but the drug guys. ;-)
Thank you for wording it so concisely and perfectly!