Negative and Positive Criticisms of Twilight by Stephanie Meyers

The teen romance novel, Twilight, published in 2005 written by Stephanie Meyers, has influenced many movies and television shows since its publication. Twilight has received many critiques throughout the years because of the way it portrays love to young readers. Critics say that the way Meyers showcases young love is “toxic” to the younger readers in different ways. For example, the way that it seems as if Edward and Jacob are making all of Bella’s choices for her or it’s seen as making a woman the obvious weaker factor. There have been many differences of opinion based on the book's overall message and the way it was written but in spite of the negative comments the book itself has done amazingly well.

Meyer has written many books in her lifetime, but her most widely known work has been Twilight. She has written and published four books in the Twilight series and each one had gotten its own criticisms. Meyer was born December 24, 1973 in Hartford, Connecticut. The 46 year old author has written and published at least 11 books. Meyer is the author of the most popular vampire-inspired books, the Twilight Saga. According to Meyer, the idea for Twilight came to her in a dream on June 2, 2003 about a normal girl and a vampire who was in love with her but thirsted for her blood, giving the book a bit of an edge. Based on this dream, she wrote what became the 13th chapter of the book.

The first book of the Twilight series, which is simply titled Twilight, is the very beginning of the interesting love story that so many love. It begins with Bella moving from Arizona, where she lived with her mother, to a little town in Washington called Forks, where she began living with her father. Her first day at her new school she catches the eye of many of the guys in her grade and also finds her friend group. Bella is blindsided by Edward’s good looks, but his first response to her is very negative, and she even overhears him trying to switch out of the class they have together. He slowly starts to become less aloof but he still warns her that it would be better for her to stay away from him. A few days later, when Bella is standing in the parking lot is almost hit by a van, he jumps in front of her stopping the van from crushing her. She was extremely confused on how he was able to do that, though because right before the crash, they had made eye contact while he was across the parking lot. Afterward, when some of her friends take a trip to the beach, Bella sees Jacob Black, the son of her father’s friend Billy Black and a member of the La Push reservation. She gets him to explain why the Cullens won’t come to La Push, and he tells her it’s because of some old legends that his people have that the Cullens are vampires, and they do not feed on humans, but they are still not welcome on the reservation. Later, in the book she was out with friends and walked off by herself and began being harassed when all of a sudden Edward showed up to save her. She begins to become curious about what makes him so different. This night Edward tells her that he can read minds but she knows there is more to it than that, he also says that for some reason he can’t stay away from her and that something draws him to her. She began to do some research and soon found many resources from older times that showed vampires or how it was put in the book “the cold ones.” She calls him out on it and he admitted that he was in fact a vampire. He began to back away knowing that she would feel differently about him now but she did the complete opposite. He explains that this is why she should stay away from him – even though he chooses not to hunt humans, he is especially drawn by her smell and may not be able to resist her. She cannot stay away, because she has fallen in love with him. Likewise, he is too in love to push her away, even for her own good. He takes her to watch while he and his family play baseball, and while they are there, another, more violent vampire coven comes by. The leader, a very old, very lethal vampire named James, catches Bella’s scent, and when Edward tries to defend her, he sees a chance to engage in a challenging hunt. Edward knows — because he can read minds — that James won’t give up until she is dead. Bella and the Cullens come up with a plan to try to get her to safety while also protecting her family — taking her to Phoenix — but James is clever and manages to trick Bella into coming to see him alone (she believes it is to save her mother’s life). There he almost kills her, but the other vampires arrive in time, Edward saves her. James had bitten her already and Edward must use all of his self-control to suck just enough of her blood to get the vampire venom out without killing her. He manages to do it and Bella is left with only a few broken bones and a cut on her forehead. Bella heals and goes back home, where Edward surprises her by taking her to the prom. She tells him that she wants him to change her into a vampire too so that she can be with him forever, but he is very against it, not wanting to take her life from her while she still has a different choice — and while she still has family.

The second book of the Twilight, titled “New Moon”, is the second book in this saga. The book opens with Bella dreaming that she is an old woman, but Edward Cullen is still young. She wakes up on her eighteenth birthday which means she is now a year older than Edward, though Edward is actually 117 years old. The Cullen family throws a birthday party for Bella, but when she cuts her finger on wrapping paper, one of the Cullen children, Jasper, attacks her, crazed by the smell of her blood. Edward gets Jasper away from Bella and Carlisle takes her away from the situation to stitch her up. The next day, Edward then proceeds tells Bella that he and his family are leaving and she can’t come with them. Bella is so adamant about going with them that Edward tells her he doesn’t love or want her anymore. He makes her promise not to do anything reckless, and he promises to make it seem like he had never been a part of Bella’s life. Edward disappears and Bella tries to follow him into the woods but gets lost until Sam Uley finds her. Bella, emotionally broken by Edward’s absence, slips into a haze for four months until Charlie tells her that if she doesn’t stop acting lifeless, he will send her back to her mother, who is in Florida. To try and appear like she is better, Bella goes to see a movie with her friend, Jessica. After the movie, Bella sees a group of biker guys, who remind her of when she was almost attacked but was saved by Edward. Bella starts to walk towards the men and hears Edward’s voice telling her not to get any closer. After a few minutes, Bella and Jessica leave and Jessica is upset about Bella approaching the men. Eager to break her promise to Edward by being reckless, Bella gets two broken motorcycles and brings them to her old friend, Jacob Black, for help. He agrees to fix them in exchange for the one Bella doesn’t want. While Bella is at Jacob’s house, his friends, Quil and Embry, stop by. Once they meet Bella they suspect a romance between her and Jacob. After Bella leaves Jacob’s house she doesn’t feel numb anymore. She states that Jacob makes her feel better. The two of them spend more and more time together, which seems to make Bella feel more alive, although she still misses Edward and thinks about him when she isn’t around Jacob. A while later, Bella is in the school lunchroom with her friends, actually listening to the conversations happening around her for the first time since Edward left. She shocks her friends when she indulges in a conversation, supporting her one of their claims of having seen a huge bear a few days prior. Hoping to hear Edward’s voice again, Bella goes to his house. The property is overgrown and unused, which intensifies Bella’s pain. Jacob finishes the bikes, so he and Bella drive to an empty spot where they can ride. While driving, Bella and Jacob see people cliff-diving. Realizing that cliff-diving is dangerous, Bella asks Jacob to take her some time. Jacob agrees then tells her that the people jumping are part of some peace-keeping gang, led by Sam Uley. Embry joined the gang and stopped talking to Jacob, so Jacob is reluctant to join the group. Jacob teaches Bella to ride the motorcycle, but Edward’s voice tells Bella not to do it because it's so dangerous. Bella begins to drive the bike, thrilled that she figured out how to trigger the hallucination of seeing Edward. She crashes and cuts her head open, sending her to the hospital. Jacob suggests they take a break from the bikes for a while, so they spend the next few weeks walking in the forest. Though Bella doesn’t tell this to Jacob, she is looking for the meadow where Edward showed her that he sparkles in the sun. After a few weeks, Bella tries to get a group of friends together to go see a movie, but only Jacob and Mike Newton are able to go. Both have crushes on Bella, making the entire movie very awkward and uncomfortable, until Mike starts throwing up due to the flu. When Jacob drops Bella off, he tells her he doesn’t feel good. The next morning, Bella wakes up with the same flu. Jacob doesn't get the flu, but he gets sick for several days and his dad does not let Bella see him.

The third book in the Twilight Saga is titled “Eclipse”. It continues the story line of Bella and her vampire boyfriend, Edward. The novel takes a look at Bella's relationships between Edward and her friendship with shape-shifter Jacob, along with her dilemma of leaving her humanity behind in a terrorized atmosphere, a result of mysterious vampire attacks in Seattle. Edward suspects it is caused by a new vampire with an uncontrollable thirst for human blood. As Edward and Bella apply to colleges, Bella tells Edward she wants to visit Jacob Black, a Quileute Native American who, like some other tribe members, can shapeshift into a wolf. Edward begins to worry for Bella's safety, but she assures him that Jacob wouldn’t hurt her. During one visit, Jacob tells Bella that he is in love with her; he tells her to choose him over Edward. Bella tells Jacob she is in love with Edward and only sees Jacob as a friend. Meanwhile, Alice, Edward’s adoptive sister, has a vision that Victoria (Evil vampire) has returned to Forks. Victoria wants to kill Bella to avenge her boyfriend, James' death. Who Edward and his siblings killed in the last book. Alice takes Bella to their house for a sleepover where Bella learns about Rosalie's past that led to her eventual transformation to a vampire and why she cares so much for Bella’s humanity. Bella is determined to become a vampire, but eventually agrees to reconsider. A day later, Edward proposes to Bella. Despite being reluctant about marriage, Bella accepts on one condition Edward will make love to her while she’s still human. The Cullens soon realize that the Seattle murders are being committed by an army of new vampires led by Victoria. The Cullens join forces with the wolf pack to fight them off, after their longtime allies, the Denali Coven, refuse to help them. As everyone prepares for battle, Edward, Bella, and Jacob camp in the mountains to stay hidden during the fight. Seth Clearwater, a young wolf pack member, later joins them to wait out the fight. Jacob overhears Edward and Bella talking about the upcoming wedding. Upset, he threatens to join the fight, which could kill him. Bella stops Jacob by telling him to kiss her and she realizes she also loves him. During the battle, Victoria tracks Edward's scent to their hiding place. Edward kills Victoria. The Cullens and the wolves defeat her army. After, Bella tells Jacob that she loves him, but she loves Edward more. The book ends with Bella proceeding to tell Charlie that she is going to marry Edward.

Twilight is a very popular novel, so of course many critics had a lot to say about the books. There are many types of critics but only a small amount of them are credible. Critics’ writings are all based on their opinions and how they perceived the meaning of the book. For example, “Twilight pumped very welcome cash into the publishing world is indisputable”, says Daniel Kraus who had many positive things to say about the way Meyer went about interpreting the books over all statements. Kraus also said, “it (Twilight) birthed thousands of dedicated readers.” Some use the phrase, “refreshing” when describing Bella as the female protagonist. For instance, when Ashley Fetters went on to say, “Wow, is it ever refreshing that a female protagonist can be so “unlikeable” and yet become liked by so many readers.” Most positive critiques say that the younger readers thought Bella, who is seen as being unlikeable but yet is liked by so many, might indicate that a lot of those readers, who might think they are unlikeable, found it empowering that Bella could be as churlish as anyone else and still be adored.

Although there are many positive critics, there are those who have been more pursued towards the negative outlook of the book’s flaws. Many of the negative critiques I have found say that, “It swallowed the sun that might have shone upon more deserving books.” Daniel Kraus states that, “it set bad examples for its adolescent and teen readership, reinforcing regressive ideas about worshipping at the feet of a brooding bad boy.” Many things have been said about the way that the book portrays young love and how Meyer expressed the thought of a woman worshipping a man puts a strain on how young adults perceive love. Ashley Fetters has a strong belief that Twilight showcases the powerlessness of women. It is arguably the most notorious complaint about the saga. She says, “That weak, indecisive teenager Bella Swan may be something of a sketchy role model for its largely female fan base.” Twilight has been said to be “The franchise that ate feminism” or that the merits of it have been a questionable message for womankind. Most critics, fans and feminist thinkers have continued to argue on how to concieve Twilight’s all-consuming love story between Edward and Bella. Ashely Fetters describes the young love story as, “a cautionary tale about the dangers of unbalanced relationships, or as a commentary on the virtue of an unswervingly committed partner.” Susan Jeffers, another Twilight critic, states that Edward’s behavior toward Bella for the first three books is frightening in many ways. I somewhat agree with this statement because of his actions in the first book. Over the course of the series, he watches her sleep, constantly tells her she is absurd, and tries to control who she sees and who her friends are. Jeffers states that, “Edwards shows many abusive behaviors as in his inability to acknowledge that she can decide for herself what she needs.”

Despite the fact of these negative and positive criticisms Twilights widespread fan base has affected today's culture miraculously. Many vampire/human love stories have erupted since the publication of Twilight in 2005. Such as the hit tv show “The Vampire Diaries” which is the story of a normal human girl, Elena Gilbert, falling for a soft hearted blood crazy vampire, Stefan Salvatore. The book showcases a love triangle involving Elena, Stefan, and Damon Salvatore (Stefans vampire older brother). The love triangle is something similar to what is in Twilight between Bella, Edward, and Jacob. The series shows many different types of supernatural creatures like werewolves, witches, doppelgangers, heretics, and vampire and werewolf hybrids. The many different types of supernatural beings is what makes it differ from Twilight but the main idea of the show was brought up from the influence of Twilight. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is another example of how today’s culture was affected by Twilight. Stephanie Meyer didn’t completely make up the idea of a vampire love story but she definitely had a hand in how the way vampire love stories are today.

In conclusion, Twilight has had many critiques, both positive and negative. The book skyrocketed to the top of the New York Times Best Sellers list after publication in 2005. Stephanie Meyer took the idea that came to her in a dream and ran with it, selling over 75,000 copies in the last ten years. She has written three other books that complete the Twilight Saga and had multiple movies made based off of her writing. The supernatural love triangle throughout books and the bad boy persona (Edward) was one of the many reasons the book did so well with teenagers. The thought of having an unconditional and unstoppable love so young spoke to younger readers in a positive way that someone will love you for you. On the other side of things, it also showcases negative relationship qualities, such as Edward not allowing Bella to make her own decisions or Jacob and Edward fighting over her and not taking her feelings into account. Overall, Twilight is an interesting saga of the life of a human girl who is in love with a vampire and is altogether a good read.