Was Gormenghast the inspiration for Harry Potter?

#Gormenghast #harrypotter
What was the biggest inspiration for Harry Potter? I believe it was the Gormenghast series by Mervyn Peake. Let me know what you think in the comments.
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[@eliza6971]

oh. My. GOD. 😂
Despite being terminally Californian, I was OBSESSED with the BBC production of Gormenghast in middle school, before any of the HP movies came out! I need to do a rewatch now

[@B-RollBooks]

While I remain as yet unconvinced, I find your case here compelling. The two works have such different tones that I may have overlooked all these similarities. You've convinced me to reread Gormenghast for the first time in 20 years just to evaluate it for myself. Wonderful video--I respect what you're doing here. Subscribing to see what else you have to say. Cheers.

[@corycastleman6351]

I read Harry Potter for the first time this last summer. I'm now reading Gormenghast. Right away I saw a similarity between Flay and Snape

[@ikagura]

Since I saw Mr Flay I knew he reminded me of Rogue (if it wasn't for Rickman I think Christopher Lee would've been a great one too).

[@FiliaNoctis]

I really liked that. I read the Harry Potter books before I saw gormenghast and I noticed similarities. 👍

[@dorritfredrikaholm3320]

I am a huge fan of the television show Gormenghast and I have had a huge collection of things in 2003-2005 that were about the television show but unfortunately I sold my whole Gormenghast collection in 2005 so this video was very interesting and now I have it on DVD and Blu ray , I have the novels and a wooden Gormenghast box and a Gormenghast tee shirt

[@travelthroughstories]

What a great video! I never really made the connection with Harry Potter, but you're right that so many of the characters are so similar. I also really like the Dickens connection - both authors seem very influenced by him. I've never seen the television show, but the clips here made me think that I should really seek it out... Thanks for sharing!

[@Fell-Purpose]

So glad you enjoyed the video. I hadn't seen the television series either until I started making this video. Not quite as polished as the Harry Potter films but still worth checking out.

[@keithhealing1115]

Snape and Filch? I'll give you that one.
However...
Swelter is a gross, foul, narcissistic ball of (possibly) paedophilic urges who loves the power he exerts over his charges. How is that remotely similar to Hagrid - other than the fact that Hagrid is big. Swelter does not venture beyond the grounds - he is killed in the Hall of Spiders.
Snape is driven by unrequited love and a vicious hatred of James Potter - Steerpike is an anarchist who becomes subsumed by the very structures he hates.
The rituals of Gormenghast are not akin to magic - they are the very opposite. They stifle the world and restrict ambition.
Irma is driven by an absolute need to fit into Gormenghast society. Her brother is doctor to the royal house, but she knows she is nothing. She is obsessed with the notion of being a "lady" and ends up in an unhappy marriage in order to fulfil that ambition. How is that similar to McGonagal - a powerful, stern, caring witch who helps mentor Harry?
While Steerpike's actions led to Sepulchrave's death, it was not intentional (although he does murder Cora and Clarice and Barquentine).
Titus is never "loved" by his family. Indeed, his mother only sees him once a year. Her love for Titus is love for Gormenghast, not the individual. When she says "for every hair on his head that's hurt I'll stop a heart" she is not speaking out of love for him as her son, but as him as the 77th Earl.
Yes, they both take place in a big castle, but Gormenghast is a crumbling place of dark oppressive shadow, not a place of laughter and (on the whole) safety.
I think you are seeing similarities where none exist. I actually love both HP and Gormenghast - but Gormenghast is an absolutely unique work of imaginative fiction that many more people should read. HP is great fun and becomes progressively more "adult" as the books progress, but it is not unique.

[@co.agmusic]

Brilliant work

[@Fell-Purpose]

Thanks a lot!

[@mymyscellany]

You really made some huge stretches in this video. I don't find it convincing at all, having read both

[@BobJohnson-dv1rg]

interesting similarity!

[@kentonanami5736]

Yup this is the one