Twilight As Romantic Hope

Well, we have spent a ton of time talking about how poorly written Twilight is and that it doesn't hold a candle to Harry Potter. While I agree with both of these statements, I would consider this a very successful series of books. The reason I say this, is because it has sold millions and millions of copies. The movies are sold out weeks in advance, and it has become the biggest literary trend since the start of Harry Potter. The books, were okay, in my opinion. They may not have been challenging to read and all, but they were different from anything I have ever read before. The movies, however, ruined the whole thing for me.

But that is besides the point.
Where was I?
Right....

I think the reason I was so hooked on the books in the beginning is because the romantic game of tug-of-war between Jacob, Edward, and Bella kept me on my toes long enough to read the entire series (even though I was extraordinarily disappointed when Bella chose Edward). Beyond the struggle though, I think Twilight, for me, was a hopeful story of romance. I believe it could instill hope that there is that someone out there that we are supposed to be with forever. I don't know if Stephanie Meyer had intended on doing this, but I found it kind of comforting that despite all the fights, danger, and near-death experiences Bella encounters, that the love between her and Edward prevails...

I don't know. That could sound totally cheesy and pathetic and lame. But hey, I'm just a sucker for romance....

In a nutshell, the book was poorly written, it doesn't hold a candle to Harry Potter, but the romance had me hooked from the beginning.

Last, last chance: post your comment here....

** don't forget to choose a profile below the box (anonymous is fine) and then click "post comment"

Never let me go

So I wrapped up what scared me most about Never let me go, and what really moved me about it, in a little paragraph that could have gone at the end of the book. It's a little vague so you may just have to roll with it.

"Through this story you have come to know me, my friends, you have felt as we did, seen our fate. Now they are all dead and I shall follow them in completion with the completion of this story. What horrors await me I cannot escape." Kathy H

Last Chance!!!!

Hi all. This is your last chance to add to our fabulous Twilight blog. Feel free to use this space to share your ideas about our final novel of the semester and how it relates to Never Let Me Go, Dracula, The Picture of Dorian Gray, etc.



To get you started, you might want to check out this spirited repartee on two popular culture blogs:

"Why Don Draper Is a Far Better Vampire Than any of Twilight's or True Blood's" (NYMag.com)

"The Emasculation of the Modern Vampire?" (Salon.com)

If you want to find a real vampire, according to these critics, look to Don Draper not Edward Cullen.


 

You can post your comments about Twilight here!!! Just type your comment in the box below, choose a profile (anonymous is fine, but put your name in the post) and hit the "post" button. 

Idea for a thesis for final paper

Thought I would run it by you guys sense I have not posted for a while. My idea is that the clones are similar to the Cullens. Both are sheltered, either by others or by themselves, the fate of both is decided with little if any room to move, both are hated and feared by the society they live in, and both are looking for a way out of what they have. Also include they both share Gothic setting and several other Gothic features. I just enabled the e-mail updates so I should be able to see if you guys comment and get back to you; Or you can tell me in class. If I follow this idea, one could assume that twilight is a Gothic novel in the same sense that Never let me go is, because of similar character setting and a Gothic style control of the character.

Micah Corey

Twilight in a Nutshell

So, basically, I burned through Twilight faster than I really think it was advisable to do for the sake of my mental acuity. Oh well.

Since... there really isn't that much for me to write about, I thought I'd take up more space on your monitor by interjecting nice doodles into my post inbetween tiny paragraphs of text. If you've ever perused the blog "Hyperbole and a Half," you know the sort of thing I'm talking about.

--

Once upon a time, a teenager named (Isa)Bella Swan moved from Phoenix, AZ, a place she loved and wanted to live in forever, to Forks, WA, a place she hated, by her own free will.

She spent the first hundred pages of her story complaining about how much Forks was not like Phoenix.

 

But wait! It's not all bad! Her first day at school she meets a handsome devil of a man to distract her from her abject misery. So she also spends the first hundred pages of the story agonizing over whether he likes her and whether he'll be her boyfriend or not.

(Okay; I confess I can't help liking the development of Edward's character. Would I want him as a boyfriend? No freaking way. But he appeals to the hopeless-romantic part of me that refuses to die.)

Goffik Recap: We have our helpless female character (if you've forgotten that Bella is extremely clumsy and accident-prone, don't worry -- you'll be reminded on the next page; same goes if you've forgotten that Edward is beautiful, gorgeous, glorious, scintillating, captivating). She feels trapped in this tiny "backwards" town of Forks with all of its rain and cloud-cover and lack of sprawl and general rainy cloudy oppressiveness. Not to mention all of the other boys won't leave her alone.

Now we have our mystery in the form of the Cullens -- they look human enough, but something about them is just different. Basically; they're all really pretty. But Bella is obsessed intrigued, and she's our narrator, so we have to take an interest, too.

After Edward and Bella agree that he's a vampire, most of the rest of the book is pretty much hyper-sensualized smut.

[Insert erotic makeout scene here. Cos I'm not gonna learn how to draw those here of all places.]

Edward's family (except Rosalie) loves Bella. Charlie accepts him as her boyfriend. Bella gets put in mortal danger because she listened to her hormones when she's old enough to know better.

There is presumably an epic vampire fight at the end, but Bella spends that part of the novel dying, so we don't get anything awesome there.

Stephanie Meyer, we are unapprove

And then Bella goes to prom with a leg cast.

The End.

Goffik Recap 2: Um... Helpless female character who has a near-death experience... Danger... Handsome male character who comes to the rescue... Supernatural abilities... Oppressive setting (like a city three times the size of Seattle wouldn't be oppressive?!)...

Umm... Yeah, okay; I'm admitting here that there are some elements that are in common with Gothic fiction. But honestly, I don't see Twilight as a Gothic novel at all, not compared to everything else we've read this semester. There is too much focus on how Edward's touch makes Bella's heart stop for it to be taken seriously as a Gothic work.

Compared to other vampire-human-forbidden-love things I've seen (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Moonlight)... Really, I don't feel like the Twilight vampires are proper vampires at all. They're just not scary. Okay, when I stop to think about them, they are scary -- anything that can outrun you and kill you before you can blink is terrifying. But Meyer doesn't describe them scary. Not even James and Victoria are remotely frightening. I read and I thought "Oh; antagonists. Look at that." Dracula; Dracula was scary; he didn't wear any of his emotions on his sleeve. You never knew where he was going to be. Twilight doesn't have enough mystery to keep me intrigued. The novel functions on eroticism, really. That's the only reason I can see for someone to keep reading. It's smut.

I'll probably have more to say when we discuss the novel properly in class, but for now, this is my two cents.

--

PS: Read "Hyperbole and a Half" here!

Kind of 'Twilight', Kinda just fun

I created this chart for another class (Psych in Fiction), these are the 12 character archetypes found in literature, especially fantasy. The idea is you can apply them to anything, even real life. Of course, no one is really just one on it's own, we are usually combinations of a couple of them. I've been going through and applying them to characters from the books in class, it's pretty fun. :)

I believe I got Creator-Sage (28) tied then Destroyer-Orphan-Warrior (27), all tied. Like I said, hardly anybody is ever just one. XD

If I can find the quiz I can upload it, too.

(Also, there's a typo, 'caregiver's first one should rea "help others")

Chapters 5 - 7

“Clearly, this van wanted Bella dead. It must have read the first chapter of the book. That thing was like, deeply out for Bella's blood.”

That’s a quote from another blogging Twilight thing, it’s on Deviant Art and it pretty funny, but there’s a lot of cussing so…fair warning.

Chapters 5 – 7 were, y’know bad. But I thought before delving into it I’d say why: these characters suck.

I don’t mean they are unlikeable (they are) because just because I don’t like a character doesn’t mean they’re badly written, these characters though have one-dimensional dialogue, shallow motivations (or none at all) and set a TERRIBLE example for anything ever.

Twilight, like Harry Potter, is a character driven series. You may have noticed an atrocious lack of plot? That’s where all the character development is supposed to be happening. Only it doesn’t. As someone who has finished the entire series, I can assure you that these characters do not grow or improve. When they change at all, it’s for the worse.

This is basically what a character arc should look like; it's similar to a plot arc. A character starts one place, something happens (usually a bad thing), they go on their ‘Hero’s Journey’, literally or figuratively and at the end arrive at a better place, one way or another. (Unless it’s a tragedy, obviously)

This is Bella’s character arc. Throughout the series everything just gets better and better for her, although from all her constant complaining you would think it was the opposite. And yes, I know, she was in agony for months after Edward ditched her, which was, frankly, pathetic but more important she never grew from it. She just turned around and started depending on someone else. Anyway, no one is allowed to be depressed while riding motorcycles with pre-pedo Jacob. You can imagine a little dip in the arc though if you really want to, I had to argue with the Internet about it as it was. :P

ANYWAY:

The reason this took forever (in addition to technology fail) is because I lost the page of notes I took while reading, and then after I found those I lost the book, which I wasn’t in much hurry to find. Unfortunately, my brother unearthed it from a pile of laundry.

“Ugh. Who got these clothes all dirty again?” He picked the book up by a corner of the front cover, wrinkling his nose. It was 2am and we were watching movies because playing video games was getting old.

“Augh! It found me!” I yelped, pulling my blanket over my head. Benjamin tossed it in my general direction.

“Don’t leave your trash lying around the house.”

“Look who’s talking,” I muttered. “Seriously though, I forgot how horrible and whiny Bella is. And Edward! Creepy!”

Shuddering, I picked the book up. I was beginning to think my old theory about ‘Twilight’ being a social experiment was inadequate. The possibility had to be considered that this series was in fact a manifestation of grotesque horrors that sought nothing less than to destroy my very soul.

In the darkness of the night I lay restless in my bed, glaring at the book which is laying on my night table. Cloud Strife and Sephiroth battle it out directly above my head, Vash the Stampede grins stupidly to my left, in front of me lies my TV, PS2 and quite a few comics. And to my right is ‘Twilight’.

“I hate you.” I whisper into the dead silence.

And in inky blackness it softly replies, I know…

Happy NaNoWriMo, folks.

My swiftly slipping sanity aside, it’s time to review some crap. So. Chapters 5 – 7. *deep breath*

Bella and Edward decide that friendship is indeed magic and they will hence forth be friends, despite the fact that their entire dialogue up till now has consisted of mysterious warnings on one hand and getting pissy on the other. Sounds like an awesome foundation for a relationship.

It’s actually a bit creepy how obsessed Bella already is with Edward, she says she’s “crushed” when she doesn’t see him one day. Seriously, that’s just freaking pathetic. :/ I really feel like this chick needs counseling. I mean, “desolation hit me with crippling strength”!?!?!? We are talking about a guy she’s had very little interaction with, even less of it positive! Other stuff happens too…like the introduction of Jacob.

I’ve read the whole series, but only once…seeing the younger, pre-chimo Jacob is really, really weird. He was the only character I thought worth much in this series, and even then that was only when Meyer let him do his own thing.

Well, moving on: Chapter 5

Edward does 2 very annoying things with in the first couple of pages. First, motions someone towards him with his index finger and second, winks. Bella of course finds this charming, because she is a spineless, brainless, automaton who does not realize that 1) Edward’s behavior is exceedingly patronizing and 2) if he wants to talk so frigging badly he can bloody well got off his sparkly butt and do something about it. Douche.

Edward wants to know what Bella thinks of him; I posit that there is a flaw in his premise. Bella is apparently vacillating between Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker for Edward comparisons. I actually can’t begin to approach this properly, I actually had to put the book down for a couple of days, so let me simply say this:

Batman is a deep, round character that grows and changes and stands for things that are noble and just. He is strong but thoroughly human, he is, quite simply, the best thing ever. And Spidey’s cool too.

Edward Cullen is a shiny, angsty, whiny, pretentious coward who will never mean anything more than the wet dreams of people who don’t know better. He does not grow or change. He is a static, misogynistic character created by a static misogynistic author.

Pictured: Another character more dynamic than Edward Cullen.

In the words of the previously mentioned Deviant reviewer: “Oh dear god, get my comics out of your vampire teen love drama pretend-action angst fairytale book!”

Seriously, as a rule of thumb, don’t remind your readers of something INFINITELY BETTER that they could be reading.

*exhales*

Okay. I think I can move on now

On page 93 Bella FINALLY seems to figure out that Edward’s saying he’s dangerous. Apparently, she was just ignoring him the first EIGHT MILLION times he said it.

In Biology they’re…finding out their blood types. Hm. Kinda doubt that a public school would really o.k. that kinda experiment, one of those kids could have a disease like AIDS or something and the teacher wouldn’t even know. Bella faints because she’s the female lead in a romance and that’s what they do. Every now and then there are a couple lines of interaction between Edward and Bella that are actually somewhat amusing. One of those happened in this chapter. Then everything started sucking again.

After school Edward forces Bella to be driven home, which is annoying, rude and really freaking annoying. She felt nauseous because she smelled blood, for goodness sake; she is NOT a fragile little doll! He tells her not to fall into the ocean or anything, this sort of patronizing, annoying behavior continues through the whole series and it REALLY pisses me off. I don’t like Bella, but bloody hell, she’s lived this long! She’s not a mentally deficient child who constantly jams forks into sockets, she’s a slightly clumsy teenage girl!

Thoughts: I wish Bella were more interesting. Edward (and everyone else) is so bland that just having her be colorful and interesting would liven up everyone else! If she were a vibrant character this series would be a lot better, still poorly written, but much better.

She needs some kind of hobby…other than reading old period romances. I’m not saying she should be into comics and video games, like I am, I would settle for photography or anything that provides the illusion of depth.

Chapter 6!

I hate this chapter. Thus, my summary is brief.

Bella goes to the beach, manipulates a genuinely nice guy for her personal gain and we find out the Cullens have a history and don’t get on well with the natives.

The writing is terrible, I was gonna type out the worst paragraph but it’s so freaking awful I decided, screw it. Bella is every misogynistic stereotype Meyer could cram in there; stupid, keeps mouth shut, takes on wifely duties w/o prompting, shallow, manipulative, over-emotional, constantly feeling depressed, gullible and has no real personality/interests of her own.

On the bright side, Jacob is the least ‘inserty’ character in this series, which is why I actually liked him at first. Well. That and his abs. (Shut up. So sometimes we are a little shallow… :P)

Chapter 7…

At the end of the chapter Bella tells her father that she’s going to help Shallow Blonde Chick #1 one and Quiet Brown Haired Girl #2 pick out dresses. She feels that she would not have to explain why if Charlie were woman, all of which are, of course, all the same with identical interests and abilities.

Yeah. That’s all I remember from this chapter…I lost my notes. Again. (I’m rearranging my room to absorb the maximum about of heat from my broken heater)

Overall, I still don’t entirely get this series. I mean, I really, really, really don’t want to think that people who love it either just don’t get it or are shallow. First, that’s terrible, I want there to be something less bad at least. Second, omg, that is a lot of shallow people! It’s actually scary!

Final Note: My brother mentioned to me the other day that he considers Edward and Bella’s romance to be pretty disgusting. Edward’s about 119 years old, I believe and Bella is 17 so…he (my brother) kept imagining Bella getting all mushy with this old grandpa guy. Dan Bergstein has said some similar stuff as well, and I think it’s a legitimate point, but as Edward is so immature in so many ways I never saw him as that old. Any thoughts?

Also, on that note:

Readings of Dracula from class on 11/10 (okay, not exactly about Twilight!)

Hi all, please use the comment section below to share your group's "reading" of Dracula from class today!

(Source: http://www.transatlantis.net/blog/category/theory/)

 (And as a way to link this to Twilight, you might think about how well your group's literary "lens" would work if applied to Twilight....)

Can you make a character map of Twilight?

Check out this character map of Dracula (from Purdue's OWL webpage):



Can you make one for Twilight using this chart?

Abstinent Vampires: An Oxymoron?

Here is an excerpt from a NPR piece on "The Modern Vampire," with two ways of viewing the Twilight vampires. The first (Stephenie Meyer's position) makes them almost heroic because of their incredible restraint. The second (Nina Auerbach's position) says they are just plain boring.

Edward, the hero of Stephenie Meyers' "Twilight" series, has stolen the hearts of "tween" girls everywhere. Fans of this conscientious young vampire live vicariously through his romance with Bella, his high school sweetheart.

Edward and his clan refuse to feed off humans, and Meyer explains that this choice is what makes him so popular.

 "These are vampires," Meyer says. "They are these creatures who exist to hunt humans. They are evil and they choose something different. They find another way. And I think kids respond to the idea that it doesn't matter where I am in life; I always have a choice."

 Nina Auerbach, author of Our Vampires, Ourselves, believes every age gets the vampire it wants.

"Vampires aren't supposed to be restrained," Auerbach says. "They're all our hungers. That's why they're vampires."

In the 1960s and '70s, she says, vampires took young women away from their narrow lives and transformed them. But when AIDS came onto the scene, even the fictional prospect of uninhibited bloodsucking fell out of favor. Though Auerbach says this is completely understandable, she finds this latest crop of vampires kind of ... boring .

"These are very abstinent vampires," Auerbach says. "If he truly loves you, he will not do it to you."

What do you think about the idea of choice in the vampire world? Does it enhance modern vampire stories, or eviscerate the very idea of the vampire? 

(How do you like my old fashioned typewriter font above? Very Mina-esque, don't you think?)

I have started twlight and reading Dracula alongside, I have noticed that if there was no Dracula or other early gothic writing the developement of vampires and gothic writing in modern day, would not be. There is however, a level of safistication with Dracula that seems to have been lost in Twlight.

Introducing Bram Stoker's Dracula...with a side mention of Twilight

Check out this short introduction to the novel Dracula by British literature expert Roger Luckhurst:

Do you agree that Stoker's novel is a "fantastic read" even though we're living in the 21st century, rather than 1897?  How does it compare in your mind with Stephenie Meyer's Twilight?

Dorian and Edward

     
          

As I've been re-reading The Picture of Dorian Gray and thinking about character, I've found myself comparing the dazzling Dorian with the sparkling Edward Cullen.  Apparently I'm not the first one to immediately think about the similarities (and differences) between these characters.

Check out this humorous entry entitled "Dorian Gray is Better than Edward Cullen" on fanfiction.com.

Or this blog entry entitled "If Dorian Gray met Edward Cullen..."

Care to share your thoughts on this dynamic duo?

Why is this Book Not About Zombies?

The answer to the title is, of course, that zombies are not sexy. I’d still rather read about zombies. Zombies are fun. Has anyone seen Return of the Living Dead? It’s like, the only zombie movie where they actually say ‘brains!’. It’s a great movie, in that campy making fun of it’s own genre kinda way, it’s definitely not meant to be taken seriously. Also, you know, rated R, has nudity and gore (duh) so YMMV.

Anyway. I used the 'd' word in this...is that ok? : /

Brief summary of chapter 3:

Edward saves Bella’s life; she procedes to whine the rest of the chapter about how it is SUCH a pain in the ass to have people show concern for her. I really get where she’s coming from, I mean here her dad actually told her mother that she was in a life-threatening accident! The insensitive swine! *sarcasm hand*

Edward practically has to put Bella on the rack before he can get a sullen ‘thanks’ from her. Cripes, woman, next time he’ll let the friggin’ car hit you and save half of an Amazon rainforest from being taken up with your pretentious-whine speak.

Bella starts having nighttime-reveries regarding Edward. However, they are not the suggestive kind…No, these are the pretentious, obscure, plot-related kind. Additionally, to her woe, Bella has become a person of exceptional interest to her fellow students, sheep-like peons that they are.

(The above sentences are brought to you by Meyer’s long-suffering thesaurus and my swiftly plummeting IQ.)

Really though, would it kill any of these characters to talk like actual people?!?! I’d ask for some Joss Whedon intervention but I am STILL bitter about Alien: Resurrection, so let’s just say I really hate Meyer’s dialogue. And also, her everything.

So Bella obsesses over Eddy for a while which, even she admits, is pathetic and mildly creepy. Well, ok, she says it’s pitiful. Close enough.

Then we’re treated to a weird scene where Bella tries to push all compassion and empathy away. This was a seriously bizarre scene…she rejects Mike and so is understandably feeling like a bit of a jerk and pities him a little. Now, pity isn’t great, but compassion and empathy are! These are good things to have when you consciously squash someone’s feelings and I’m baffled as to why we are expected to view Bella’s repression as a good thing.

Oh, and now she admits her obsession with the corpse is unhealthy! Welcome to the world of the sane, Bella.

Wait, we’re back to her world again:

“‘It’s better if we’re not friends’….

I’d heard that before.”

Um. From who? She’s never had a boyfriend and apparently not a whole lot of friends either since she left Arizona without referencing concerns for anyone but her mother. (and herself, of course) Maybe even her imaginary friends don't like her wordy, self-obsessed, complaints?

Then, to continue with this lovely picture of an over-dramatic narcissist Bella accuses Edward of regretting saving her life.

Pause.

Let’s analyze this a moment, shall we?

Bella claims that someone who saved her life now regrets it (which is basically saying he wishes she were dead) simply because he doesn’t want to be friends.

Seriously? What. The. Deuce. Pretentious, over dramatic wench! I would SMITE you if ONLY YOU EXISTED! WHY do people think this chick is a good role model? We haven’t even got to the bad stuff yet… sigh

Then, page 76 there’s this sentence…Bella’s talking about fixing up her truck and how she’d touch up the paint job if it had one when she mentions that Tyler’s parents had to sell their van to pay for parts.

As in…is that their only form of transportation? I don’t…why does this not bother her??? She freaks out if people express mild concern but if someone sells their CAR for her it only gets a passing reference?

And let’s ignore the fact that I hate Bella; this is just bad writing. This is why these books are soooo un-Godly long. Because of needless inane crap that’s included for two reasons

1) To help immerse the reader into a blatant self-insert universe.

2)To disguise the fact that these books have ZERO plot. (I mean we haven't even got to the vampire part yet!)

So apparently Tyler has a new car and his family is not destitute, and he asks Bella to the dance. Bella is horrified that 3 guys would dare ask HER to the dance and throws a little fit cuz, you know, that’s what she does.

Page 79 begins Bella’s unbelievably aggravating lists of ways in which Edward is simply divine and SO much better than her. Unfortunately, my give-a-damn is broken.

Bella gripes some more and agrees to give Edward the honor of being her ride to Seattle. The corpse insists upon warning her multiple times that she should stay away from him – while offering a chance to be in close proximity.

And I’m banging my head against the wall at the idea of people thinking this is what a healthy relationship looks like.

Completely unrelated:

My Sobe bottle cap says 'Sunday Night Dinners'...why?

Just getting started

OK, Now that it's mid-term, I finally started to get into Twilight. So far, so good. Much better than a root canal. I do find myself more interested in this as compared to the other stories so far, due to the fact that I have been up to Fork's and knowing the terrain helps relate to Bella. (Rain, Rain, and yes, more Rain).

Edward is obvious a blood sucker, but he has somewhat of a conscience. He has repeatedly told Bella to stay away from him, but as with most people, we are attracted to the things that may be the most harmful to us. 140 down, 358 to go.

Edward Cullen a Byronic Hero?

So, I'm reading the poetry of the "mad, bad, and dangerous" Lord Byron right at the moment, and it occurs to me that Stephenie Meyer may just be borrowing the infamous "Byronic hero" character for Twilight.

A Byronic hero, according to the Bloomsbury Guide to English Literature, is "glamorous, [and] haunted by the guilt of mysterious crimes, which he seeks to forget in violent and dangerous adventure" (p. 379). Well-known examples of this type are Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights, Rochester from Jane Eyre, the actor James Dean, the singer Jim Morrison, and even Batman.

Does this sound like Edward Cullen to you?

My pondering on the first few chapters.

In my ponderings I find that the question that comes to mind is how exactly Bella falls for Edward. Bella falls completely head over heels, and a huge personality switch happens as Meyers turns a strong female personality, into the more gothic style of the woman in need of help, and makes this switch far too quickly (within 5 chapters). It is this switch that leads me to the following conclusion as to how it is possible for this to happen, with some amount of logic.

The grounding for my reasoning comes from a few key lines that are said later in the book. As Bella draws closer to the Edwards, when he reviles himself to her as a vampire “I am the ultimate predator, I am made to attract you, designed to draw you in.” Informing her that she will be attracted to him, no matter what, just as everyone else that would be his “prey” would be.

Later Edwards tells Bella that she is his own type of personal “Heroin”; a drug that he can’t get enough of addicting, and craving her, fighting himself constantly to keep from hurting her. This keeps Edward close, and makes him value her must like an addict. These statements lead me to the following conclusion.

In the beginning, both Bella and Edward are in no way interested in each other until the sign were Edwards keeps Bella from being smashed between cars ( a rather intimate moment). After this point Bella begins to think only of Edward, and focus on school, and even her hate of Forks takes a back seat to how much time he takes up in her mind. This and the attention that Edwards pays to her after bluntly rejecting her, and even casting aside any chance of a friendship, shows that they simply took their first hits and were doomed. Handcuffed together in a way, the two grow on each other and become closer than other had come out of need for their drug.

The love that begins in Twilight between Bella and Edward can be seen as having started many ways, from a sexual tension breaking forth between two cold people, to a romantic swept off her feet love story. I beg to remind the reader, that should we take this in the gothic standing though, we see that Bella is attracted to a predator who wants to drain her of her blood, and he, simply can’t get around to it.