Blood status and prejudice

Umbridge family

Umbridge family

The Umbridges are a family of mixed cultures, with a wizard father and Muggle mother.

Notable family members include:

  • Orford Umbridge
  • Ellen Cracknell Umbridge
  • Two children: Dolores, a witch, and a son who was a Squib

Orford, a low-level Ministry of Magic employee, married a Muggle wife Ellen Cracknell. They had two children, one of whom was a Squib. Ellen eventually left the family, taking her Squib son with her, and returned to the Muggle world. Dolores, the daughter, grew up with disdain for her father who she saw as unambitious and a failure, and did everything she could to distance herself from the family when she started working at the Ministry herself. Instead of acknowledging her father, she told everyone instead that she was a pureblood and a member of the Selwyn family.

Commentary

Notes

The sad tale of the Umbridge family mirrors that of Snape. Each was a mixed marriage between Muggle and magical people and each resulted in troubled children. Both families were unhappy and broken. Although the family of Minerva McGonagall stands in contrast in many ways, that family also had its share of sadness and disconnect because of the mixing of the two cultures. - SVA

Pensieve (Comments)

Tags: broken denial families loss sadness

Editors: and

Sources