The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer: a few words about the vampire phenomenon

Contains spoilers of all the parts of the saga.

The first part of Stephenie Meyer’s series was published in Poland in 2007, but it hasn’t become particularly popular until the screen version of Twilight appeared. I stumbled upon the book in December 2007, and at the time the vampire theme was not a major interest of an average Polish reader. The book has been advertised as a thrilling novel with elements of such genres as love story, horror, and a story about coming of age. The series written by Stephenie Meyer, who received a B.A. in English at Brigham Young University, turned out to be a world bestseller on an unexpectedly large scale. The Twilight Saga wins hearts of readers in every age group. How can you explain the phenomenon, which caused the young adult literature to rediscover original myths and legends? I’ll try to look into this as a philologist.

Taking into consideration the popular literary trends of that time (which was nearly five years ago), we can say that the theme of Twilight is original. Until then, the authors eagerly described teenage girls’ problems with school and everyday life, and about unusual friendships with boys (I think having a younger sister is a good excuse for talking about this themes here). Twilight introduces a sort of novelty (considering the year of publication); at the time only the series by J.K. Rowling was a thematic exception in fantasy fiction for young adults, and even if it is hard to find a worthy substitute to it, Meyer caused a kind of “theme upheaval”. Vampires, werewolves and forbidden love are themes known to readers, but probably for the first time those themes were adjusted for youngsters.  A teenage girl in love with a damned vampire who dreams of having a soul, and a werewolf who offers something different – a life without sacrificing her human life. The motif of the love triangle is present in three volumes, until the Bella and Edward’s wedding which puts an end to the fight for the girl’s heart. And that’s about it, when it comes to love story in Twilight.

What about horror elements? These are probably present only in the characters’ origins, as Edward is a hundred-year-old vampire, and Jacob is a werewolf whose task is to protect nearby forests from the bloodsuckers. Also, Meyer included in her story a criminal motif, where mysterious predators attack people, and the protagonists try to solve the problem of the murders. This leads them to Sicily, Europe.

Now I need to mention the last thing concerning the themes in the books – Twilight as a story about coming of age. Bella faces a situation that is completely new to her. She starts anew in every aspect of her life: she moves from a noisy agglomeration to a small town, and there she goes to school where she has no friends. In that town, going to cinema or shopping in a nearby city is an entertainment. Bella changes her previous environment and, as if it weren’t enough, she experiences her first love. She faces the pain caused by her parents’ divorce and needs to renew the bond with her father, whom he blamed for the parting. Another issue, in the following volumes of the book, is her relationship with a vampire, their first sexual intercourse and the problems of pregnancy.
The age difference between the characters is over 100 years, as Edward Cullen is a vampire. Turned into a bloodsucker as a young person, he attended various universities and moved from place to place along with his “family”, so that people wouldn’t become suspicious. He couldn’t find a meaning of life, until he met Bella Swan, a 17-year-old girl whose past was anything but perfect. It is a typical teenage girl dreaming about a real love, and rebelling against her parents and the reality she has to cope with. Cullen notices her only because he cannot read her mind (and vampires do read people’s mind, just a useful vampire ability). Bella doesn’t stand out, she is average looking and her school marks are average as well, and the man adored by all the female students shows interest in her. Isabella feels special, and the longer she thinks about her new friend Edward, the more she falls for him.

Out of the three protagonists I haven’t yet said anything about Jacob, Bella’s trusted friend, who is determined to protect the girl from the vampire. Because of his Indian ancestors, Jacob receives an exceptional gift of becoming a werewolf. A pack of wolves was supposed to guard the local people against bloodthirsty vampires. Fortunately, the Cullen “clan” (they were not a family until the moment of changing into vampires) doesn’t find pleasure in sucking human blood, and hunts animals instead. Jacob’s hatred towards vampires is in his blood, vampires detest werewolves as well, so the two species treat each other in a hostile way. The boy tries to protect Bella, and unwittingly falls in love with her. And out of that comes an enormous amount of talk about friendship and true love, and even more enormous number of conflicts among the protagonists. The romance, based on the story of two man who desire the same woman, lasts for three volumes until it is finally ended.

The graphic design of the covers is a curious thing as well; a red element appears on the covers of the first editions of the saga (not those with pictures from the movies) – blood of humans and animals, Bella’s transformation, and love. The colour has nothing to do with a symbolic representation of the lovers’ feelings, courage, determination and extraversion. What keeps the protagonists going is an unfulfilled desire, which they try to fulfill no matter the price.

I’ve mentioned the myths and legends that Meyer based on. A scientific paper could be written on the subject, but it is important to point out a few things. First of all, the author changed – or rather reversed – the classical interpretation of the stories (which originate from Slavonic mythology) about the supernatural. A vampire is not a soulless creature which kills people without hesitation. In Twilight, a vampire dreams of regaining a human soul, and thinks of his condition as of a curse he can’t break free from. He wants to lead a peaceful life with – what is most important – a beloved woman by his side. He is neither afraid of garlic nor of spikes, the sunlight does him no harm. He can be killed only by tearing his body to pieces or by burning. Besides, contrary to the beliefs, vampires can breed with humans. And so can werewolves. The genes passed forward to the offspring are not treated as a curse, but as a gift that is only available to the chosen ones, and carefully hidden. Werewolves are supposed to be nobler than vampires, as they feed on animals, not on human blood, and they protect people from deadly attacks of vampires. Jacob is able to guarantee Bella’s safety without taking away her humanity, her soul. He loves, laughs and lusts just as all the town inhabitants. What makes him stand out is his physical strength and the ability to immediately transform. Meyer followed the traditional description of the two species as natural enemies. She added her own idea – existence of a characteristic smell of each of the species. The scent helps to track down the enemy. The creatures are guided by high values, and when the girl is in danger, they are able to unite and face the common enemy together.

The theme of werewolves and vampires, though present in literature and oral tradition since ancient times, is only now becoming extremely popular. Love between the species gained popularity, and other novels of the type appeared in bookstores (it is enough to mention numerous reissues of The Vampire Diaries by J. Smith, Morganville Vampires by R. Caine, House of Night by P.C. Cast and C. Kristin). The “need” for interspecies romance is met by the publishers, who publish a huge number of love stories of angels, vampires, werewolves, demons, zombies… the list seems to have no end, and each of the series immediately becomes an international bestseller. Probably Meyer uncovered the need to explain unexplainable phenomena, which helps us find out why someone faints unexpectedly or why suddenly a strong wind starts blowing. Or maybe she just took a stereotypical love story, mixed it with fantasy elements, and the result perfectly filled the gap in teenage fiction?

The book is popular among adult female readers too. The internet forums are full of threads devoted to a perfect man who would be just like Edward. A hundred-year-old vampire has impeccable manners, treats women like real ladies and is concerned about their physical purity. When Bella tries to make Cullen go to bed with her, it is him who hesitates and decides to wait with the physical contact until the wedding. For him, Bella’s wellbeing is always in the first place, and even after the solemn vow his behaviour does not change. Meyer presents here an ideal man, a man that women in every age dream about. This seems to be the only reasonable explanation for the popularity of the books both among daughters and mothers. At the same time, it’s hard to find a male who would admit that he had read the series. That is a sort of a paradox, as they go with their girlfriends to watch the film version of Twilight in the cinema. Another paradox is the critic in relation to popularity with readers: the more the series is criticized, the more popular it gets. Fortunately, the market is governed by its own rules, and when vampires stop being profitable, they will quickly disappear from the mass culture. It is becoming visible even now, when the vampire fangs have been overshadowed by wings of nephilims, creatures which are half angel and half human. Who knows what else will the future bring to us? The vampires still rule the publishing houses, but that can change very quickly.

Patrycja "Pattyczak" Wołyńczuk
Tłumaczenie: Justyna “Rayla” Mędrek