INTERTEXTUALITY IN ROWLING'S WORK Classical Mythology, Arthurian Legend, and Christian Allegory in the Potter Series

About the Book Intertextuality in Rowling's Work is a rigorous literary study that traces the three great traditions running beneath the surface of the Harry Potter series: classical mythology, Arthurian legend, and Christian allegory. Moving chapter by chapter through the novels, it examines the katabasis pattern behind the series' underworld descents, the swords and sorting rituals that echo the Matter of Britain, and the Pauline and Christological imagery that shapes the story's treatment of death and sacrifice. Written for readers who already know these books well, the study neither treats the series as scripture in disguise nor dismisses its borrowings as coincidence. Instead, it makes the case — with close reading and real textual evidence — that Rowling's intertextual craft is deliberate, structural, and one of the primary sources of the series' emotional power. Sixteen chapters, organized across five parts, extend the argument into alchemy, inverted typology, Dante, and medieval bestiary symbolism, closing with a glossary of allusions and a timeline of the series' critical reception. A serious, accessible work of literary criticism for anyone who wants to understand why these books work the way they do.