As the reading world -- at least the part occupied by teen girls and possibly their moms -- knows, the next book in the Twilight series drops Aug. 2. For those not in the know on this, the Twilight books, of which the new one, Breaking Dawn, will be the fourth, focus on a teen girl named Bella, who moves in with her dad, and falls madly for the super-duper, super-good, super-handsome Edward, a vampire, who is even crazier for her than she is for him. Further complicating the situation is the fact that she also develops a yen for Jake, the super-cool, super-cute, super-strong werewolf boy who is wild for her.
I'll admit to having read the books, rather compulsively, in the last month or so. The stories have a momentum that carries the reader along. Sadly, though, the character of Bella, the "heroine" of the series, is not inspiring. Yes, I said it. Bella is the most insipid, dull, wimpy character I've come across in a long time. How could it be possible that two incredibly powerful super-guys like Edward and Jake could fall for her? Well, in Edward's case, Bella's SMELL is an underlying factor.
What does all of this have to do with fairy tales? Three connections come to mind:
1) The stories have supernatural characters. Like "Snow White," "Cinderella," "Sleeping Beauty," the Twilight books are populated with "people" who can shift shapes and make magical transformations happen. True, I've yet to come across any Twilight fairies, but the vampires and werewolves are able to move swiftly, communicate telepathically and generally make ordinary people seem very ordinary indeed. They are also pretty helpful -- or at least they try to be.
2) The heroine of the story has super bad guys after her. In many fairy tales, heroes are persecuted by supernatural creatures (and often helped by them as well). Same with the Twilight books.
3) The male characters in Twilight, like the male characters in some fairy tales, have the power to rescue and transform Bella's life. Example: Cinderella gets her prince and ends up rich, happy and powerful. Similarity: Edward, the super-vampire, is rich, rich, rich, and wants to marry Bella.
How Twilight is not like fairy tales:
1) Although critics often take fairy tale characters to task for their alleged passivity, many fairy tale heroines are pretty active in their own stories. Snow White disobeys the dwarfs three times and puts hot iron shoes on the queen at the end of the story. Cinderella is willing to collude with a fairy godmother and flee a ball very publicly (which must embarrass the prince), and Sleeping Beauty? Just try reading the original version of that story. She's kind of an unusual girl.
2) Fairy tale heroines often (though not always, see Snow White) are nice people. They are kind, generous and thoughtful. Bella isn't a good friend, really. She is mean to her dad. She whines a lot. She's more like the "bad" sister in some fairy tales.
3) Fairy tales are delightfully, briskly short. The Twilight series screams out "This book needs editing, stat!"
Having said all of this, I will be reading Breaking Dawn this weekend. But it won't be a fairy tale. For that, I'll stick to The Brothers Grimm.
18 comments:
I happened across your blog and I love the Twilight series. I guess I'll read the blog now, but when I saw that it was about Twilight I got a bit excited.
Sorry to disappoint, but I hope you found something to enjoy anyway. Sadly, I am having a ton of trouble getting through Breaking Dawn. However, I did see a first chapter from Meyer's book from Edward's perspective and it looks very promising. It's on a blog somewhere. I hope Breaking Dawn is a good read for you!
Well is much as I liked the books I do agree with the need for editing, and fixing up-but again I suppose nothing can ever be as great as Harry Potter. The last book was good but I think she needed more than a year to write that bad boy.
Boy, are you right. I honestly think that if she'd taken more time, the book would have been a lot better. I liked Twilight and LOVED the second book.
I know what you mean about the Harry Potter books. I really miss the excitement of waiting for those books, then literally inhabiting them until the last page.
I think SM got a lot of pressure. I really do. Do you think it is possible that she might go back someday and rework BD?
I don't think it would be a bad idea in the least because although I didn't think it was that bad, I do think she had a lot more potential with that book. I don't think she will however redo it-at least at this point. She seems to be perfectly happy with it, though she has said she would probably do more on people of the Forks. Hopefully Jacob as I did in the end like him. She's doing Edward's point of view- the companion to Twilight which will no doubt be good. As for Jo Rowling, she's SUPPOSED to be working on a new book and she's said she is as excited for this one as she was for Harry. The Tales of Beedle the Bard will be out in time for Christmas, so this year won't be too lacking of a good book.
So glad to hear your insight on the Twilight books. I haven't read them, and have no desire to. I'll stick to all the other truly fairy tales that I have on my reading list, and revisiting others (like Brothers Grimm as you mentioned!)
I read the first 3 books and loved them, but HATED Breaking Dawn! If you didn't enjoy the first three all that much,then I'm sorry to say you will have a terrible read ahead of you.
-Bethany
I have to admit to also reading this book series. It is a good light read to break up the monotonous biology reading (and whatever other college level reading I have to do.) I also fully agree with you about Bella. I can't understand why Stephenie Meyer made her main character so boring and idiotic. Perhaps a lot of people like Bella for this reason. They feel like they connect with her and realize Bella is just a normal girl like them. And If a perfect-in-every-way superbeing can fall for her then maybe it gives others hope.
Aside from how tacky I think Bella's character is, I never realized how closely connected the Twilight series can be with fairy tales. Though that in no way makes it as compelling as anything written by the Brothers Grimm. Just because twilight uses characters such as vampires and werewolves, It is still no cigar when it comes to creating an impact. We are still reading fairy tales today. Will people still read the Twilight series hundreds of years from now? Doubt it. Twilight appeals to me for completely different reasons than fairy tales.
When I read a fairy tale I read between the lines for hidden clues and context. When I read Twilight I read it for just what it is, a modern day twist on "vampire falling for human" romance with no real deep underlying meaning except abstinence.
I would like to start my comment by saying, I have not read Breaking Dawn or anything by Stephenie Meyer. I have however heard my girlfriend go on and on about the twilight series, so i basically know the entire story word for word without having read them. My girlfriend is a huge fan of the series, but is not afraid to say that Breaking Dawn sucked. The way that I see it, Stephenie Meyer got so hung up on what the fans wanted that she turned out a third rate novel. She tried so hard to please everyone in what they wanted, Bella becoming a vampire, Bella and Edwards wedding, a conflict between the werewolves and the vampires, etc. that the book turned into something in massive need of editing and improvement. The thing reads like a fanfiction and transforms Bella's character from a steadfast, somewhat strong, relatively independent girl into a crazed sex maniac who wants nothing more than to please her man. I believe the series would have been much better as a trilogy ending with eclipse. This would allow the fans to form their own futures for Bella and Edward and write their own crappy fan fictions.
Lucas Dietz W131
The last comment was my opinion on Breaking Dawn alone, I also have an opinion on the entire Twilight series. This comment is not based on my girlfriends opinions but rather my own based on what I know of the storyline. The first thing i would like to say is, I do not care for Stephenie Meyers rules about vampire logistics. As an avid fan of vampire movies and novels, particularly Anne Rice novels, I was incredibly taken aback by Stephenie's blatant disregard for the established rules about vampires. I.E. going out in the sunlight, having sexual desires, and even impregnating humans. These things just don't happen, being a vampire means being dead, the only thing keeping you alive is blood, which is the only fluid in your body. Anne Rice pretty much set the standard for vampire rules, her vampires spit and cry with blood, because it is all they have, they get stronger over time, and sunlight can kill them. This is what I grew up knowing about vampires, then along came Stephenie Meyer. She admits to never having read anything by Anne Rice, or even Bram Stoker, and she is to frightened to watch a vampire movie. Why then is she writing about them? And her explanations about her rules drive me even more insane you can view them here http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/bd_faq.html
Venom that lubricates cells and acts as sperm? Where did she come up with that one? A baby cannot be a vampire because vampires don't age and a baby would remain a baby. Why then does Bella's "Vampire Baby" grow and age? I understand taking poetic license and artistic liberties but i think she has gone a little too far. What happened to the Verisimilitude of Anne Rice? At least her vampires seemed plausible.
Lucas Dietz W131
I am going to be totally honest with you all. I have not read the Twilight series at all. All of my friends are way too into it and I honestly don't see what the big deal about Edward Cullen is. From what I hear, he is the ideal boyfriend, except for the fact that he is not real! haha but anyways, my best friend is totally obsessed and I think that she is crazy. As for myself, I am a Harry Potter fan and in my opinion nothing will surpass the Harry Potter series. I have yet to go see the Twilight movie, but I guess I will go see it at some point. Who knows, maybe I will end up liking it. That is what happened to me with the Harry Potter series. I am not a big reader, and as of right now I am so busy with school assignments and work that I surely do not have time to read Twilight, but I am sure over Christmas break I might be forced to read it haha! As for now, I am happy with just being a Harry Potter fan!
I had no interest in the Twilight series whatsoever until I found out that the actor playing Edward Cullen played Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter movies. Then I decided to give the movie a chance and I loved it and therefore had to read the books. I read all four in five days and did little else. I do not even understand what I like about them because I am also a huge fan of Anne Rice and the two are like opposites. But I try not to compare different authors too much because they are just writing their own ideas. I applaud SM for taking an old idea and making it her own. I like having versatility with my beloved vampire stories. I think there is such a gap between AR and SM because of the intended audiences of their works. I liked Breaking Dawn but I like happy endings but I wouldn't mind hearing what other people think should have happened.
c.schedler
While it is true that the Twilight series have some similarities to fairytales, what we have to keep in mind is that they are not meant to be fairytales. I do agree with the fact that Bella does not play a very active role in the story, but I think that must be kept in mind is that in her case, she does not possess any special powers to make her as proactive as Jacob Black or Edward Cullen. In the fairytales—like Cinderella and Snow White—they had someone to help them throughout the development of their role in their stories. Bella, like it’s said in the book, is nothing but a fragile human.
If her character is truly and fairly analyzed, you will see that she is the one who made the most sacrifices throughout her role. She is the one who sacrificed herself for her mother’s happiness and moved to Forks with her father. She sacrificed her friendship with Jacob as well as her relationship with her father when she fell for Edward. She sacrificed her life when she thought her mother’s was at stake. I can easily come up with several more scenarios to where she had to give up something for someone. Isn’t that what the true meaning of fairytales is about? Sacrifice in the name of love? At least that is what I think fairytales should be about.
Talhia Flores T390
I agree with the point that Talhia made in her comment about sacrifices in fairy tales, however I don't consider "Twilight" a fairytale. First of all, "Twilight" is a novel not a tale, it is not just a book but rather a series of books. Fairytales do have similar versions of themselves depending on the culture and region they come from but they are fairly short.
Also, when I think of what classifies as a fairytale, I think of somthing that has been passed down for years and years. Not something that was written five years ago and was practically born. An authentic fairytale has put in its time and lasted orally as it was told generation to generation.
I do like the Twilight series but in my book and in my eyes, it just does not fall in the fairytale category.
D.Giles
The fact that people think "Twilight" will go down in history as a fairy tale is laughable. I mean it's a story of vampires and werewolves competing for the affection of some strange girl. How are there any fairy tale qualities in this story? Granted there is a DID(damsel in distress) a hero, a trickster, and a wanna be hero.Its a novel written to make pre-teens happy and make them feel like they have made that transition from children's books to adult novels. Its a polite way of saying your teens aren't ready for adult content but here is a little making out between an awkward teen and a creep vampire. I did not read the books and in no way do I intend to because of the fact that everyone either loves them or hates them and I want to be like Switzerland on this. I really don't care about the "Twilight" series. Besides those elements that I talked about before there is no warrant for "Twilight" to be considered a fairy tale. There is no moral to the story, except to not let a vampire touch your neck they might want a bite. That's it. I don't find them to have literary value either, but that is my own opinion.
~Julia Easton T390
The first point I’d like to make is that I’ve never read the books in the Twilight series, nor do I have an uncontrollable desire to do so. My mother, who is in her 50’s, has read every single book and raves about them. Go figure. With that being said, I bought her the Twilight movie for a gift last year and watched it for the first time.
Based on what I saw in the movie and what I’ve heard others tell me about the books, I don’t think that Twilight would qualify for a fairy tale, although it most certainly does have some fairy tale aspects to it. Yes, Edward is magical and he “rescues” her from her terribly normal unhappy life, and Jacob is just as magical transforming into a werewolf by magic powers, but that is not enough to convince me of fairytale status.
There are many similarities I’ve seen from this blog post regarding to its validity as a fairytale, but my opinion is that it is just a vampire story. A new kind of vampire story perhaps, but definitely not a fairy tale. Unless you’re my teenage daughter and she would argue it’s a fairy tale for teens.
Kristi S. T390
I have to start out by admitting that I have read the first two books and I am going on into the third and it never came across my mind as thinking as Twilight being a fairy tale. I can now see how it could possibly tie into a fairy tale, but honestly, I do not think it would cut all the way. What is being said about Bella here is entirely true. She is stubborn and somewhat annoying. I would not want my little girl looking up to a girl like her. However, as it goes for it being close to a fairy tale, I can see it with her being chased my bad guys, being in love with someone she almost cannot completely have unless she becomes one of them, and money is definitely involved here. However, I can see this as not being close to a fairy tale because like I said before she is not that typical princess girl we see in most fairy tales, she most definitely could be seen as the evil stepsister.
Brittany C.
I think that one aspect where fairy tales and Twilight are in accordance is the emphasis on romantic love. I have not read Twilight, but due to the rediculous hype and dissemination into pop culture, it has seeped into my brain, try as I might to keep it out.
Twilight reinforces the idea that all teen girls should spend energy on is boys. This is oftentimes reinforced in fairy tales as well, example being the quick conculsion in tales where the marriage is a "happy ending." Most people understand this paradox: Culture tells us that all the work must happen in order to get married, but in reality, the work happens once one is married.
Twilight takes the worst parts of fairy tales (incidents of female dependency, obcessive romance, and violence) and turns it into an all out project which aims to normalize damaging teen romantic relationships in the name of "love."
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