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On January, one of the world’s most romantic actors, Alan Rickman, died. His death has depressed the avid fans of the Harry Potter series since Rickman was best known for his role as Professor Snape, who had a cold, sarcastic and controlled exterior expression covering deep emotion. Snape’s character develops gradually and the peak of his true emotion reveals in the final installment of the movie series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” Underneath his cold exterior, he truly loved Harry’s mother, Lily Potter and the quote above comes from the scene where Snape shows this true love. This devoted romanticism of Professor Snape bear resemblance to the real life of Alan Rickman.
Rickman’s own love story is just as heartwarming as Snape’s. When he was 19, he met 18-year-old Rima Horton, an economist working for the Labour party council for Kensington. They lived together for about 50 years near London from 1977 until Rickman’s death. He said that his love was just as messy and complex as any other couple, but he showed true respect for Horton. They secretly married in 2012, 47 years after they had met. Because they already knew that they had strong intimacy with each other, they thought a large ceremony of marriage was unnecessary. Instead, they held in a small and private place to make their marriage more meaningful. His feelings of true love towards Horton allowed Rickman to understand that Professor Snape was not a truly evil figure, but also had a warm hearted side.
Author, J.K Rowling explained the secret meaning beneath the quote; “After all this time? And I will say, “Always” by saying, “He knew very early on that he had been love with Lily since he needed to understand the bitterness toward this character.” Consequently, Rickman’s portrayal of the intense love of Professor Snape kept beneath the icy and cold exterior was praised by critics including actors and audiences alike. A truly romantic character, Rickman was a warm hearted figure who had a more dramatic love story in his real life. Avid fans of Professor Snape will surely remember this man’s icy but intense emotion. In people’s heart and mind, Alan Rickman would be remembered as a passionate actor and both as a romantic figure of the man who loved his wife for 50 years, “Always.”
Jee yeon Rim
11th grade
Chadwick International School