Is Dumbledore gay just because J.K. Rowling said so?

Question

This is a broader question that just Dumbledore. What I really want to know is to what extent the intention of an author determines the meaning of fiction. Can they change the meaning of a book AFTER it has been written? There is nothing in the Harry Potter books about Dumbledore being gay. Is he gay just because Rowling said so? What if she announced tomorrow that he was straight? Would he then be straight just because she said so? Does it matter whether her intentions are the same or different now than when she was writing the books?

Most of you aren't really answering the question. I apologize if I wasn't clear. Yes, I understand that an author has the right to determine what is true about a character. But I want to know (1) whether something can be true about a character if it's not even part of the story, and if (2) an author can change the meaning of the story AFTER it has been written. In other words, if the meaning she gives it now is different than what she intended WHEN SHE WROTE IT, is the true meaning determined by what she intended when she wrote it, or is the true meaning determined by what she says about it later? I hope that's more clear.

I (heart) HP, I've just got to respond to this. You said, "Saying that something isn't true about someone just because it's not in the book is like saying I don't have brown hair just because it doesn't say so in my Yahoo! profile." There's a huge difference between you and a fictional character. You obviously exist outside of your yahoo profile, so of course there are going to be true things about you that aren't in your profile. But can you say the same thing about a fictional character? Do they exist outside of the story?

Answer 1

Yes... and no. Of course the intentions of the author being what they are, her interpretation of Dumbledore is the first one we look at - he is her creation, her vision of Dumbledore would be the most original we have. So if she says he's gay, then yes, that means he's gay.

However to a certain extent an author loses control of the fictional character when she releases him to the public. The author's intentions are only as relevent as she's spelled them out in the work itself AND the focus we put forth in continuing her post-script addendums and explanations of character traits. The work will outlive the author, and millions of readers who read the Harry Potter works will never know or care to know about the sexual directions of the head schoolmaster, unless her comments about Dumbledore become a central discussion about the books for generations to come. Not knowing her commentary, readers will make up their own minds, and for them I think most will not come to the conclusion that Dumbledore is gay, I doubt there is enough written in the novels to assume any sexual orientation whatsoever. So while J.K. Rowling may comment that Harry snorted illegal drugs and that wild Roman orgies took place at Hogwarts every night, unless we've read it in the book, we're really at liberty to throw that out the window - Rowling's additional interpretation and her authoritative position is only diminished if these aren't backed in the work itself.

There are two parts to the communication provided by a book - the message the author sends you, and the message the reader receives. If "Dumbledore is gay!" isn't part of the message being sent through the reading, then it isn't likely to resonate for the reader's interpretation. Whatever Rowling's original vision of Harry Potter was meant to be, somewhere through the transmission each of us picked up a slightly different interpretation of that message. So in that case, if you didn't read that Dumbledore was gay, and there weren't enough references in the story to unveil that side of him, then no, your Dumbledore is not gay. J.K. Rowling's Dumbledore is, but yours is open to your interpretation.

Answer 2

I'll veer away from the sourgrape-sounding cries that Rowling was merely basking in media attention when she made the anouncement. Rowling didn't change her intentions about Dumbledore AFTER writing the books. She was asked a question and she answered.

I believe that Dumbledore's sexual inclinations wasn't foremost in her mind while writing the books, it was there but it wasn't important. Actually, there is something in the books that would tell he is. In all his 150+ years, he had never been romantically involved with any witch, hadn't he? For all we know, Minerva might be gay, too.

This is unprecedented actually. The HP series has created an unusual phenonemon that we readers became a glutton for information. We want things answered and we aren't satisfied unless the answers come from the source herself. She'd had numerous declarations but this is the first one that created much hullaballoo. I find it interesting that this issue created such a stir among the readers. We didn't react this way with her other declarations.

No, sweetie, she didn't change her intentions or the meaning of the book after it has been written. We accepted her stories and plot lines and all her nitty gritty details because she wrote them. It SHOULDN'T matter whether she sees Dumbledore as gay. If you don't then you don't. Rowling may have wrote the books, but in the final analysis, it's up to the reader how to interpret them.

You asked a very interesting question sweetie, I hope you get the time to pick the best answer and not leave this to a vote.

Have a nice day!

Answer 3

Yes, (regrettably) he is.

Saying that something isn't true about someone just because it's not in the book is like saying I don't have brown hair just because it doesn't say so in my Yahoo! profile.

And to answer your second question, I don't think an author can change something in a book after it's been published unless it's something like an error or something like that.

And I'm not sure if it matters if her intentions were the same or different now than when she was writing the books, but I think she always thought of Dumbledore as gay.

Answer 4

Interesting question, I wondered whether or not it was valid when I first found out since like you've stated it's not actually mentioned in the book. My answer would be for the most part yes but, not necessarily. You see since it's not in the book you can't really call it cannon, so fanfic wise technically you can pair him with Minerva Mcgonagall if you'd like. However since the author and creator of the books did mention it herself most people will consider him gay (including me) so in a situation like this where it's not mentioned in the novel and it is a fictional character we're talking about who's life out side of what the book tells you is completely left to the imagination then, it practically becomes cannon if it's the widely excepted truth. Also in the case of Dumbledore specifically it might not say anywhere in the series that he's gay or that he's had a love affair with Grindelwald but, now that you know that Rowling thought of him as such, it fits. You can easily see that she might have had this in mind the whole time when she was writing him, after all why would a wizard like Dumbledore so committed to step up and fight when needed (e.i OOPT at the Ministry of Magic) hesitate to face Grindelwald unless there was some personal reason impending him. So yes I would consider him gay.

Answer 5

Gay as a maypole I'm afraid. I think Ms. R. may have said that just as a slap back at all the book-burning fundy fools who have condemned her books out of hand without ever reading one of them. By and large that population is also very very anti homosexual, and I bet she just couldn't resist

A good lesson there, as in most everything she does. Since Dumbledore remained in the closet, there was no behavior to hint that he has a homosexual. Did you love him then, but not now? Think about what that says about our attitudes and about how the annoyingly in-your face-gays are impacting public attitudes.

JKR has told us many times that she had the whole series in her head prior to writing any of it down. That she made changes here and there, but essentially the story was there unchanged from the start. Sexuality was never a part of the plot line, and she probably feels it is amusing that people read so much more into her story then she put there. Kind of like people finding things in the Bible that the authors would find bizarre and strange.

She says she is going to publish an encyclopedia of Potter giving all the back stories, fates and etc. of the people and things in the series. Who knows? We may find that Dumbledore was under the life-long influence of a spell that mad a homosexual out of him against his will. Or we may find out that he spent his teen-aged years as Voldemort's catamite and it was all a personal feud.

I just thank God that JKR came along and taught millions of people that there is pleasure and fun in reading, much better than the schlock on television or in Yahoo Answers.

I she doesn't give a Dumbledore back-story that you like, write your own and hide it in with your Potter books for future generations. But do continue to read, the world really needs more book readers and fewer book burners.

Answer 6

Of course it is, I understand the depth of your question, yet the depth is kid of ridiculous. Yes, the author is the god of her universe and decides everything. She can change whatever she wants whenever she wants and Dumbledore was always gay. In the novels, she saw no reason why Dumbledore would come out to Harry, if anyone at all. It didn't add to the plotline of the novel, but just because it isn't included doesn't mean it isn't true. She did have Dumbledore gay since the start though, as she said in the interviews she has had about it. It just wasn't necessary to reveal, but yes, Dumbledore is definitely gay although you can ignore it if you wish.The author has ALL power of determining the meaning of their writing. All power.

Answer 7

I also share your concern about an author giving information about characters outside the text, which Rowling has done a lot of.

She has told us that Dean Thomas is from a single parent family, his wizard father having abandoned the family in order to protect them.

She has told us that Molly Weasley is the sister of Gideon and Fabian Prewett.

She has told that Crookshanks is part-Kneazle.

She has told us that Harry became an Auror as he always planned, although it doesn't say so in the Epilogue.

She has given us wizards' and witches' middle names and birthdays, and short biography of famous wizards and witches on the trading cards.

These were all readily accepted as canonical because she told us, and because she has notebooks from years ago showing these were always part of the wizarding world.

However, Dumbledore's sexuality has somehow not been accepted in quite the same way, because it is seen as controversial.

I think we have to accept it as canonical just like all the rest, but I'm starting to wonder just how many other surprises she has in store - and I'm also wondering why they couldn't have been included in the books. They do raise the issue of whether an author's rough drafts and notebooks have some validity as part of the text - it's a fascinating issue, which will cause debate for some time to come.

Answer 8

According to the story I read, she had told the writer of the screenplay for HBP that Dumbledore was gay because there was mention of a female love interest in the screenplay and she had to set them right. Having done that, she made it public, since it would have eventually come out anyway--she could control when and how it was done. This story came out because she was directly asked if Dumbledore loved anyone. BTW, there is some inkling of this in DH, where Rita Skeeter talks about devoting a chapter in her book about Dumbledore to the Dumbledore/Harry relationship. This is not to say that there was anything improper--but that JKR did put out a hint. wl

Answer 9

there has been no evidence in the movies suggesting that Dumbledore is gay, it is completely because J.K. Rowling feels that she needs to make a big deal of the Harry Potter movies and books and wants to get more noticed before she stops writing stories and making movies. I feel for J.K. Rowling because she was so poor before Harry Potter, she would even go t the mall just to get free diapers for her son, she is very, very lucky to be able to come up with such a great idea and give so many little boys a halloween costume. Yet she has gone way to far and has become drunk with power but eventually she will retire, then she will live quietly, and filthy rich and America will still have those amzing Harry Potter movies,books,costumes,and games.

Answer 10

He's not gay. He's not straight. He's not real.

The question isn't whether or not he truly has a characteristic. The question is: is a certain characteristic consistent with his character as written? And homosexuality is consistent with Dumbledore's character. Heterosexuality would probably be consistent with it too. But Rowling probably wrote the book keeping in mind that she wanted Dumbledore to be gay, so she probably gave him behaviors and backstory consistent with what she thought a gay character might have. So homosexuality might fit better with his character as written, since for example he's not married at his age.