Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin.
As most of us know, these are the four house of Hogwarts from the Harry Potter stories.
They are also a reflection of the classic literary device of the four humors.
Often in stories, when groups of four a present, each of their personalities reflects four different temperaments.
-Choleric: having a dominant, ambitious personality. Tends towards pride and vanity. Can be morally questionable. This is Slytherin.
-Phlegmatic: being stead and supportive. This is the type of person who is a loyal and good friend. This is Hufflepuff
-Melancholic: This is the conscientious and cautious one. This is the one who tends to be a bit more intellectual, a thinker. This is Ravenclaw.
-Sanguine: This is the inspiring and influential one. This is the one who tends to be a leader, the person with the most courage and is a person of action. This is Gryffindor.
What is fascinating is that as you look at famous fictional quartets, you can see this same breakdown of personality. This makes complete sense, since you don't want all of the members of your group to have the same personality. Mixing up the dynamic like that makes for some great character interactions.
With that in mind, I went through some of the most famous quartets from fiction that I could think of, and here are the houses they would be sorted into.
So a few notes...
-I didn't add Sex and the City because I never watched it.
-oddly, for the Fantastic Four, Mr. Fantastic is not a Gryffindor. Almost all the group leaders are Gryffindors, but Reed Richards is clearly a Ravenclaw. This speaks to the kind of group the Fantastic Four are, leaning heavily on scientific thinking.
-Peter Venkman is clearly the Slytherin of the group, even though he is also the leader of the Ghostbusters. I think this is where the comedy comes in. His ambition and scheming are what turns the group's scientific and supernatural breakthrough into a money-making enterprise. The subversion of the leader helps make this so funny.
-For the Hobbits, some may have trouble seeing Merry as being the Ravenclaw, especially if you only know the movies. But Merry is actually the one who helps Gandalf solve the riddle of the Moria. He is also the more responsible one in comparison to Pippin. In the movie, he gives nice monologue about how he had to always look out for him.
-For The Wizard of Oz, the Lion, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow actually already possess within themselves the qualities that they are searching for (courage, heart, and intelligence). Dorothy doesn't quite fit into the Slytherin. However, the Wizard fits the role perfectly. He is a huckster and a humbug who cons everyone into getting what he wants.
-Seinfeld was difficult because all of the characters are horrible. Technically they could all be in Slytherin. However, relative to each other, the were sorted into their respective houses. For example, Kramer is a terrible friend, but he is a friend to many people and he prides himself on being a friend. Elaine fancies herself as smarter than everyone in the group, even though she really isn't.
Feel free to discuss, debate, or refute. Also let me know if I left off any obvious fictional quartets.
Thoughts?
Wow! Worth reading about Hogwarts House .
ReplyDelete