A friend on Facebook posted a link to this interesting, albeit very dark interpretation of the Twilight saga: [note, major spoilers are contained therein and also in my post, in case you haven't read the entire series]:
http://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/mzm9d/up_vs_twilight/c354zbz
I have actually heard many of these interpretations before, but never put together in quite as dark and horrifying a way, so it’s give me some food for thought. A friend of mine who I used to work with commented to me once that she thought Edward was abusive and emotionally manipulative at worst, and creepy at best (bringing to mind the scene of him watching her for several nights in a row as Bella sleeps).
I have always had mixed feelings about the character of Edward whenever I think of this series. On one hand, he is mature enough to realize he is not a good romantic choice for Bella. She is about to graduate high school, is relatively healthy, and a good person, and has many opportunities ahead of her. He tries initially to stay away from her (He himself admits that he doesn’t think he has a soul, and is extremely reluctant to turn her into a vampire). On the other hand- he decides to break up the relationship only *after* he has assured her again and again that he will never leave her, which is pretty fucked up if you think about it. (ie, he had plenty of chances before then to break things off, when they were less emotionally entangled). He leaves her alone in the woods, where she sinks into such a deep depression that she just lays down on the leaves and cries for several days.
Still- my feeling of how the series ended is that Bella was truly happy, despite her traumatic pregnancy and traumatic aspects of a romance with Edward. My interpretation of the title of “Breaking Dawn,” the last book in the saga, was that her life up until Edward was essentially devoid of light (whether this is actually true or not, or simply evidence of Bella’s state of mind pre-Edward, I don’t know), and that he brought the light back into her life. She still appears to love her family and her friends even after becoming a vampire, which indicates to me that a lot of personality is still there even after her transformation.
It’s not, in my opinion, a story of “empowerment,” and definitely does not pretend to have a heroine who has the strength to persevere and keep growing despite being in pain (unlike, for example, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who continues to slay vampires and save the world and love her friends even while in the throes of romantic angst). Bella crumples. And goes borderline insane. And then finally begins to rebuild herself when Edward recants his decision to leave her.
Anyway, this blog writer’s interpretation of the characters’ arcs is quite interesting in my opinion. It’s fascinating to me how many strong opinions and feelings this series has appeared to bring up in so many people.
