Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

• Born: December 24, 1973
• Birthplace: Hartford, Connecticut

First published: Twilight, 2005; New Moon, 2006; Eclipse, 2007; Breaking Dawn, 2008

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Romance

Time of plot: 2001–6

Locale: Forks, Washington; Phoenix, Arizona; Rome, Italy

Principal Characters

Isabella "Bella" Swan, an ordinary human girl

Edward Cullen, a vampire, her love interest and eventual husband

Jacob Black, a wolf shapeshifter, her friend, Edward’s rival for her affections

Carlisle Cullen, Edward’s adoptive father, one of her primary protectors

Alice Cullen, Edward’s adoptive sister, her friend

James, a tracking vampire after her

Victoria, James’s vengeful mate who traces her

The Volturi, ancient vampire rulers displeased with her and the Cullen coven

Renesmee Cullen, her daughter by Edward, a vampire-human hybrid

The Story

Twilight, the first novel of the series, begins when Bella Swan moves from Phoenix to Forks, Washington, to live with her father, Charlie, after her mother remarries. Settling into a new school is difficult for Bella, but she quickly makes friends with a few of the local teens. On an outing with her new friends, Bella becomes reacquainted with Jacob Black, the son of one of her father’s friends. A member of the Quileute tribe, Jacob tells Bella a series of American Indian tales to explain why one particular group of students from her school is not welcome on the La Push Reservation. His stories tell of a treaty between a group of shape-shifting elders and the "cold ones."

This group of "cold ones" refers to the Cullen family, a group of vampires living in Forks. The family is lead by Carlisle Cullen, a vampire who serves as a doctor in the local hospital and does not drink human blood. As acting patriarch of the group, he has taught his wife and adopted children to live without drinking from humans, making them different from most vampire groups. Five members of the Cullen family—Rosalie, Emmet, Jasper, Alice, and Edward—attend high school with Bella, who is intrigued by them. The handsome Edward seems particularly antagonistic toward her, although he is also drawn to her. The two eventually become acquainted, and a romantic relationship blossoms. Edward explains his nature to Bella and tries to integrate her into his family group, but not all of his siblings approve of letting a human in on their secret.

One night Edward invites Bella to watch his family play a baseball game, and three unknown vampires, James, Victoria, and Laurent, appear. The new vampires are interested in Bella because she is human and protected by the Cullen family. The leader, James, chooses Bella as his prey. Alice, who has the power to see the future, warns the family of potential danger, and she and Jasper take Bella to Phoenix to protect her. James, however, tracks them to Arizona and deceives Bella into leaving her protectors by falsely claiming that he is holding her mother hostage. He attacks Bella, but Edward and his family arrive just in time to save her and destroy James.

New Moon takes place within weeks of the ending of Twilight. It begins with Bella’s birthday, and her desire to be changed into a vampire. She is obsessed with the idea that she is aging while Edward is not. The couple’s relationship is endangered when Bella accidentally injures herself at a birthday party thrown by Edward’s family and his brother Jasper loses control at the scent of blood. Within days, the family decides to leave the area, and Edward breaks up with Bella in order to keep her safe. She falls into a deep depression.

After a run-in with some threatening men at a bar, Bella realizes that she hears Edward’s voice in her mind whenever she does something dangerous. In an effort to maintain her ties with Edward, she enlists Jacob’s help in participating in various thrill-seeking activities, such as motorcycling and cliff-diving.

Meanwhile, Jacob’s life undergoes a major change when he transforms into a wolf for the first time. He joins a group of other young shapeshifters from the tribe (all believed to be werewolves) to fight vampires. Victoria, James’s mate, is their primary target, as she has been killing people in the Forks area while plotting to kill Bella to avenge James.

Alice has a vision of Bella cliff-diving and mistakes it for a suicide, leading Edward to form a self-destructive plan to antagonize the ruling vampire cabal, the Volturi, who reside in Rome. However, Alice finds Bella still alive, and the two travel to Italy in time to prevent Edward’s destruction. The Volturi insist that since humans are not supposed to be aware of the existence of vampires, Bella must be either killed or turned into a vampire herself. The Cullens promise to transform Bella soon.

Eclipse returns the family to Forks, where Bella and Edward talk about the future of their relationship. Bella must decide between Edward and her friend Jacob, both of whom are in love with her. Further conflict arises when young people start going missing in the nearby city of Seattle. Victoria has started creating an army to exact her revenge. Jacob and the other shapeshifters join the Cullen family to defeat the newly made vampires and their leader. Bella agrees to marry Edward.

The final novel, Breaking Dawn, introduces the couple as newlyweds. Their marriage is challenged when Bella realizes she is pregnant. The pregnancy is troubled as the child is half vampire, and during the birth, Edward is forced to change Bella to save her life. Due to a miscommunication, Jacob believes Bella to have died in childbirth and arrives at the Cullen house planning to kill the child, Renesmee. However, he instead becomes imprinted on (supernaturally bonded with) her.

The Volturi also learn of Renesmee but mistakenly believe her to be a child turned into a vampire rather than a vampire-human hybrid. As the Volturi have outlawed the turning of children, they plan to destroy the Cullens and Renesmee. The Cullens begin to build an army of vampires and shapeshifters to fight the Volturi and their forces, but when the Volturi arrive, the Cullens and their allies successfully demonstrate that Renesmee is in fact Bella and Edward’s child, and the conflict is resolved without bloodshed. The Volturi depart, leaving Bella to enjoy eternity with her husband and child.

Bibliography

Clark, Amy M., and Marijane Osborn. The Twilight Mystique: Critical Essays on the Novels and Films. Jefferson: McFarland, 2010. Print.

Gaarden, Bonnie. "Twilight: Fairy Tale and Feminine Development."

Extrapolation 53.2 (2012): 205–32. Print.

Nayar, Pramod. "How to Domesticate a Vampire: Gender, Blood Relations and Sexuality in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight." Nebula 7.3 (2010): 60–76. Print.

Silver, Anna. "Twilight Is Not Good for Maidens: Gender, Sexuality and the Family in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Series." Studies in the Novel 42.1–2 (2010): 121–38. Print.