Throughout the semester, prompts based on class readings, screenings, lectures, and discussions will be posted on this blog. Responses will be graded on their level of critical thinking, pertinence, engagement with class texts, and grammar/spelling/proofing/
length. Be sure to read the prompt carefully and fully engage with the content of the class materials. At the bottom of your response, type your FIRST NAME and the FIRST INITIAL OF YOUR LAST NAME (e.g. Claudia Z.).
Saturday, March 11, 2017
Week Seven: Response 7.1
Describe Anna Silver’s key observations about the Twilight
series as young adult literature.
How does the analysis compare to your own relationship with the books?
Anna Silver points out how despite fulfilling certain aspects of being a coming of age (bildungsroman) story, the Twilight saga ultimately differs when the protagonist, Bella Swan, fails to find independence and self-growth as an individual but rather is dependent upon her relationship with Edward and the Cullens to shape her character development. Three main points Silver touches upon are: dependency (to unhealthy extents) of Bella, an abstinence-only driven supernatural metaphor weaved into the romance of the protagonist and her paramour, and a blatant anti-abortion message in the culmination of the saga. To briefly summarize, Bella fails to find the fatherly care and concern from her own paternal figure, Charlie, but instead in Edward (some friends and I joked that we couldn’t believe Mormon author Stephanie Meyer accidentally wrote Bella with a daddy kink; all Edward seems to do for the majority of their relationship is dictate what Bella may or may not do as a person). She further finds the validation, familial support, and connection from within the Cullens, Edwards’s family, rather than from her own biological parents. The abstinence-only message is found throughout the series where Edward and Bella cannot consummate their relationship due to their differences (him being a vampire poses a threat to her human being if he “goes too far” in draining her blood). The anti-abortion message is found in the final book, where after marrying and having sex, Bella becomes pregnant with a half-vampire spawn literally killing her from the inside out that she refuses to give up on, going as far as to referring to her fetus as a “baby” with pronouns than a clump of cells.
I guess if you squint you could argue Twilight is a progressive series in terms of young adult fiction where you have a female protagonist who matches her love interest in terms of potential and power once she herself becomes a vampire (although that takes 4 books to actually get to). I want to say that due to the lack of diversity in young adult fiction (lack of stories that feature people of color [POC] or queer characters that aren’t token representation), and when the same schtick is being packaged to the general audience again and again (even more so considering how many YA novels seem to either feature supernatural romances/love triangles and/or set in dystopian societies) it’s hard to distinguish the good stuff from crap.
Twilight came out when I was in 6th grade, before I even had a clear idea of personal identity and social activism. I think almost every girl in my class read it, and with a bit of peer pressure and bandwagoning at work, so did I. And I, unfortunately, loved it. Ate it up. Looking back at it now, I think it was dangerous that all these awful concepts like Bella and Edward’s toxic relationship were being packaged to young people as something romantic. You could argue that this is a phase people grow out of and nobody would be so naïve, but then you have garbage like 50 Shades (twilight fanfiction) being peddled to an adult market, and people still eating it up then (I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with reading certain genres and kinds of fiction. I’m saying there’s a problem when people refuse to acknowledge the problematic messages within said fiction and reach to defend it). It’s harmful because the targeted audience, much like when I was first introduced, probably don’t have as much sense of identity and social beliefs developed yet, and you have a piece of literature that frames certain ideas as ok and others and not, and kids and teenagers are a lot more perceptive on this than people give them credit for. It’s dangerous because you have people like me in situations chasing after this “idealized” concept of romance and thinking things are ok when they aren’t, and realizing years later that these power dynamics are harmful and nobody has the right to treat people like that. My experience with Twilight is a rather personal one; I’m grateful it shaped me in an unintended manner.
Silver identifies the “Twilight” books by Stephanie Meyer as a young-adult fantasy romance version of the bildungsroman, or a coming-of-age tale. The common theme among bildungsroman stories is that the main character learns who they are as an independent adult through the life-changing events in the story. However, she identifies one key characteristic that sets the “Twilight” series apart from other coming-of-age tales: Bella, the main character, learns how to function as an adult by focusing on affiliation, not autonomy. Bella seeks out a stable family and identity within a community - something she couldn’t find with her divorced human parents. “Twilight” also emphasizes abstinence, anti-abortion, and gender equality through marriage and motherhood - heavy themes for a book series targeted toward teenage girls who may not be yet capable of properly analyzing and responding to these themes.
When these books came out, I was in middle school - in other words, I was the target audience for the books. Though I scoffed at the books (being more of aHarry Potter fan and against “sappy romance novels”), I still consumed their content as quickly as my peers did. I fantasized about the classic romantic hero, Edward, who shadowed other heroes I had grown to idolize, such as Mr. Darcy from “Pride and Prejudice” and the Beast from “Beauty”. I found their love enchanting, with the fourth book being the best out of them (the heavy subject material being the main draw of that book in particular). I never saw an ounce of the religious implications in the books as Silver did, but I understood that there was something unhealthy about the relationship portrayed, and that the one-dimensionality of Bella’s character wasn’t anything to idolize, and her weakness in the face of her lover’s willpower perplexing. However, as a teenage girl who was constantly bombarded with stories about girls finding love, I made the books my private guilty pleasure, but wasn’t afraid of criticizing the glorified, gender-role enforcing stories in public. As Silver concludes in her analysis, “Ultimately, any feminist critic hopes that female readers are canny enough to allow themselves to swoon into Meyer’s fantasy of everlasting passion and devotion and, at the same time, become heroes in their own lives.”
Anna Silver’s key observation about the Twilight series as young adult literature is that it is a version of the bildungsroman. A bildungsroman is a coming of age novel where the protagonist grows as an individual in society. The focus is on independence. The protagonist is usually an orphan or has loose family ties. An example of this is Harry Potter. The reason Twilight is not a bildungsroman is because it focuses on affiliation and attachment rather than autonomy and independence. A bildungsroman focuses on autonomy and independence. In Twilight, Bella attaches herself to Edward and the Cullen family. Bella finds her identity through them, instead of finding it within herself. She bases her identity off of Edward and the Cullen family instead of basing it on herself. Anna Silver identifies four messages within Twilight. The first message is the message of abstinence-only. She points out that it is saying that sex before marriage leads to death and destruction. In the book, the example is that Edward would kill Bella during sex since he cannot control himself. The second deals with pain and sex. After Bella marries Edward, she is blissfully covered in bruises after sex. The message that is being portrayed is that sex will be painful, but pain is connected to love, so that type of pain is okay and accepted. The third message is the message of anti-abortion. Bella becomes pregnant, but even though her baby is life-threatening, she has “no choice” but to bring it to term. Her baby is a half-vampire so it is able to protect itself from within the womb so she won’t be able to get rid of it. Edward is also able to communicate with the baby, making it even harder to abort the baby if she decided to do that. The fourth message is finding strength in marriage and motherhood. Bella becomes closer to Edward’s equal since he turns her into a vampire after she delivers the baby in order to save her life. This also relates to the 19th century since it was considered then that a woman’s purpose was to become a wife and a mother. When the books came out, I was automatically in love with the series. It only took me a few hours to read each of the books. It became an obsession since I had to have everything Twilight related. I loved Edward and wanted to find a man exactly like him. Looking at this analysis and how obsessed I was with the series when I read them is scary. Edward is not a man I should want to have as a boyfriend or as a husband. I think the only message I got from the series was the message that sex is painful. This is a dangerous message to portray to young readers since they will think it is okay if their partner hurts them during sex, since that pain is out of love. I did not recognize any of the other messages that were present in the books. Women have the power to do what they want to and become whoever they want to be. Women don’t need to be changed into a vampire in order to become a man’s equal. Their purpose in life is not just to become a mother and a wife. Some women don’t want that and that is okay. It is also okay if a woman decides to abort her child. Women are given the freedom of choice and whatever they choose to do with their life and bodies is entirely up to them.
Anna Silver observes that although Twilight can be considered a type of bildunsroman, there are major differences between a classic bildungsroman and the Twilight series. A classic bildungsroman is a coming of age novel where the protagonist gains independence in society throughout her/his journey. In Twilight, the protagonist is Bella Swan, a slightly awkward high schooler with low self-esteem. Her male counterpart and romantic interest is Edward Cullen, a strong, god-like, vampire. The most noticeable difference in a bildungsroman and Twilight is that instead of Bella finding independence and growing in society, she becomes completely dependent and reliant on Edward and the Cullen family. So much attached, that when she does not have them her life completely spirals out of control. Also included in the series are obvious messages of abstinence (no sex before marriage), anti-abortion, and even a subtle message that Bella is beneath Edward. This is still conveyed even when she eventually becomes a vampire and is closer to his equal. I read these books in junior high and I remember being completely obsessed with them. All of my friends read the books (some multiple times) and even in high school we all saw the movies the day they came out. I remember when one of the movies came out, we waited in a massive line wrapping around the movie theater just to get a ticket for the midnight premiere. I thought it was romantic how much Edward loved Bella and would do anything for her. Now I see how wrong I was. Edward is possessive, controlling, violent at times, dangerous, etc, and the relationship between Bella and Edward is highly toxic. Through different things I have learned over the time since junior high, I can now recognize these things, but it is troubling to think that some young girls will take the Twilight series and it's messages to heart believing this is what is is to be in love and to be treated by a man.
Anna Silver contrasts the Twilight series with what a typical bildungsroman story is like. A bildungsroman is a coming of age story where the protagonist finds themselves, where they fit into society, and what their purpose is or what they are good at. Silver notes that Bella Swan does all of these things by attaching herself to Edward and the Cullen family. Bella feels like she does not fit in with regular society and gravitates towards the Cullens and their reclusive existence. She finds who she is when she finally gets into a relationship with Edward, but when Edward decides to leave for Bella’s safety she completely falls apart. The movie shows her staring out of her bedroom window for months on end. After many months of agony, Bella basically becomes suicidal and tries to do very risky activities in hopes of seeing Edward again. Silver also brings to light how this series has some very serious hidden messages about abortion, marriage, and not having sex before marriage. Bella initially does not want to get married and Edward does not want to have sex before marriage because he is “old fashioned” and is also afraid that he will hurt her during intercourse because of his superhuman strength. They “compromise” by getting married. On their honeymoon they finally have sex and Edward leaves Bella covered in bruises, but she assures him that she is okay with it because she knows that he loves her. This romanticizes abuse to young readers because abuse victims typically use the excuse that they thought their partner loved them even though they abused them. Also, when Bella gets pregnant with her vampire/human baby, it is very likely that the baby will kill her quickly so Edward urges her to have it aborted, but Bella insists on keeping it because she loves it. This tells young readers that a woman’s life is never more important than the baby’s. I first read this series when I was around junior high age and was totally in love with them. I felt like it was one of those stories where the main characters were obviously meant to be together no matter what. However, when the movies came out my feelings changed significantly. Something about seeing the visual representation/interpretation changed how I perceived the books. I think because when you are reading a story, it is a solo experience and you can kind of draw your own meanings about it. I no longer saw Bella as a kind of “alternative” girl who was smitten with Edward; she became a very flat character who was obsessed with him. Instead of it being endearing when she was so heartbroken that Edward left her, I felt embarrassed on her behalf that she could not even function without her teenage boyfriend around. I actually did not see all the messages about sex and abortion in the movie until we went through the analysis in class though. That might have been because I was not really aware of issues surrounding these topics when I was in high school.
A bildungsroman is a coming of age novel. The goal is for the protagonist to navigate their way through society in order to form their adult identity. Other characteristics of this genre is the protagonist usually grows up with weak (if any) parentage, and the story typically concludes with marriage. A good example of a traditional bildungsroman is the Harry Potter Series.
Anna Silver analyses Twilight and the noticeable differences the story has in contrast to a traditional bildungsroman. Bella, the protagonist is the books, grows up with weak parentage due to her parents divorce. She suffers from a low self-esteem and is described as dependent, child-like, clumsy, and fragile. Her love interest in the books is Edward, a vampire, who is strong, experienced, wise, fatherly, and god-like. In the story Edward treats Bella like a child and has to save her again and again. At one point in the series Edward breaks up with Bella in order to protect her and she falls into a deep depression, one she never really recovers from until Edward reappears in her life. Bella prefers attachment and affiliation to Edward and his clan rather than autonomy and individuality. This sends the message to young readers that young women need to find a man that can take care of them. It is also important to keep in mind that young adult novels are written by adults and are often used to guide readers into living what the author believes is a moral and meaningful life. The books, written by a mormon woman, also carry religious messages about abstinence and abortion. Pre-marital sex is linked with death over and over through the series, an example being Rosalie one of Edwards sisters. She is gang raped and left to die in an alley when Carlisle decides to save her by changing her into a vampire. Also every time Bella tries to initiate sexual intercourse with Edward he condemns her for it. Sending the message that female sexuality should be contained. After they get married and finally have sex she is impregnated with a vampire fetus who is literally killing her through her pregnancy. But Bella would rather die than get an abortion. Bella almost does die on the table giving birth but Edward saves her, once again, by turning her into a vampire. Unlike traditional bildungsroman stories Bella’s story doesn’t conclude wIth marriage. As the story develops she actually gains confidence and power through marriage and motherhood. This story maintains very traditional and conservative views on how women should act, and their place in society.
I must admit I read all the Twilight books and watched all the movies, pretty much as soon as they came out. I did not pick up on the religious messages at all. I thought Bella was a lucky girl to have two beautiful men competing for her. Probably because in the media we typically always see women competing for men, like on the Bachelor or basically any other TV drama. However even at a young age, I did notice flaws in Bella’s character traits. Having gone through a pretty bad high school breakup myself I thought her depression over Edward’s disappearance was a little dramatic. After a year you would think she would be up and about instead of sitting in front of her window watching the seasons change… like do some homework or watch tv, hang out with some friends, don’t just sulk! I also thought it was unhealthy that she would put herself in dangerous situations so she could see him in her mind… I also thought she was overly dependent on Edward. All the messages that she was sending to young women seemed to scream that you NEED a man to take care of you, or you will literally not survive. I preferred how the Harry Potter series privileged platonic friendship, and how he was shown as courageous, noble, and intelligent…. But then again he is a man.
Anna Silvers key observation in the Twilight series is, Bella’s strong favors attachment affiliation over autonomy and individuality (Lecture, 3-07-17). She describes Bella Swan as a girl who has low-self-esteem, dependent, has few friends, and often infantilized. Edward Cullen on the other hand is viewed as “god-like”, strong, experienced, smart, controlling, and fatherly. The film centered on Bella’s dependence on Edward and the Cullen family. Now when I reminisce on the films, Bella has always been depended on Edward. I remember one scene where Edward leaves Bella and she becomes distraught and depressed. She goes through extreme measure by taking on risky behavior to get Edward to come back for her. It goes along with Silvers point that Bella favors attachment and lack autonomy/identity. Another observation Silver noted is Abstinence. Sex was not an option for Bella and Edwards relationship because having sex would lead to physical/violent consequences. Sex is only allowed through marriage. According to Silver, Edwards favor of chastity was connected to Mormon concepts of sexuality and sin (pg.128). Once they get marriage sex is initiated; Bella reaction is “Blissfully” knowing she is covered in bruises. It seemed as if Bella enjoyed the violence from sex. It shows that it is acceptable for a man to be violent while having sex and women are acceptable of this behavior. Also, sex and violence must be deemed as painful which sends a disturbing message (Lecture, 3-07-17). When Bella finds out she is pregnant abortion was never an option even though the half-vampire fetus would potentially kill Bella once she gave birth. Edward then takes her humanity by turning her into a Vampire. Belles power comes from marriage and motherhood which now makes her equal to Edward (Lecture). Meyers repeatedly reminds the readers that, Edward and Bella finally reach a sort of equality in their relationship through marriage and parenthood (Silver, pg.129). This shows a woman can only gain agency through men, getting married, or motherhood. It also teaches girls that their identity is solely based through relationships and that domestication is the right path to go, along with dedicating yourself to a man and motherhood is expected. Meyer perceives motherhood as being a personal fulfillment and that identity comes from affiliation rather than individual accomplishments (pg.130). Meyer suggest that through motherhood and marriage, women can find true equality with men, and more largely, become themselves (Silvers, pg. 132). I personally have not read the books but have seen all 8 films. I know the book have way more detail then the films but even watching the films I viewed it differently after reading the article and the lecture on 3/07/17. When I watched the first film I was around 13 years old, I was so was fascinated on their romance and I wanted a relationship like theirs. But as Silver depicts the novel in her article, I can agree on her observations. She was too dependable on a guy and loss of sense of her identity to be all about Edward.
In “Twilight is Not Good for a Maiden” Anna Silver describes the problematic messages that Stephanie Meyer sends to young adult readers. The main character, Bella Swan, has a lack of confidence, isolates herself from her friends, and even gives up going to college. It is not until Bella begins her transformation to become a vampire that she begins to feel more confidence through her beauty and closer equality to her husband Edward. Edward had always been strong, god-like, and wise. Rather than developing the female protagonist as having autonomy and independence, Meyer focuses on affiliation and attachment. Bella finds her identity through the Cullen family rather through a healthy hobby or school association. This teaches young readers that it is OK to put all of your energy and focus on your significant other rather than to follow your own previous desires such as college. Bella is willing to completely give up her former identity and life for Edward. The unsubtle messages of anti-abortion and abstinence are clearly spelled out throughout the novels as well. Meyer links pre-marital sex with death and destruction, which can lead to readers being afraid of partaking in sexual activities or feeling overwhelmed with guilt. The anti-abortion messages are to the point that Bella is on her deathbed and refuses to not carry the pregnancy to full term. I read these books when I was in junior high and I can remember being infatuated with the concept of having a boyfriend like Edward. Someone who would be interested in my every move and would be so intrigued by me. Looking back I realize that would have been an unhealthy and controlling relationship, but I loved the mysteriousness of Edward and found him to be very romantic with his possessive behavior over Bella. As an adult I can now see the problematic messages that these books give readers and realize that I too fell under the same impressions. R. Dias
Anna Silver’s key observations about the Twilight series as young adult literature is that it focuses on affiliation and attachment over autonomy and independence. The Twilight series is considered a bildungsroman, a coming of age novel where the protagonist grows as an individual in society. In reality the main character is the opposite, Bella Swan does not grow up as an individual or make her own choices. Bella becomes obsessed with a boy from school and at one point her life stops due to him leaving. Bella’s life revolves around around a boy named Edward Cullen who is a vampire. Bella attaches herself to Edward and the Cullen family, this is where she finds her identity. Bella leaves her own family to be with Edward and his family and voluntary gives up her life to a man. The character of Bella has the ability to grow and develop into anything she wants but decides that being with a man is what matters most and that eventually she will be rewarded with the gift of motherhood. In the later books Bella get pregnant but first Edward proposes marriage. Marriage is the key to breaking the abstinence rule Edward had. The series has a messages of abstinence, first a girl has to find a man, then attach themselves, marriage, and finally motherhood. The message of abstinence is linked to death and destruction due to Edward being a vampire and Bella is a simple mortal. If sex did happen it could possibly kill Bella. One thing that would make it okay would be to get married, eventually the characters wed and Bella is covered in bruises after sex which alludes to domestic violence. Not only does the series have an abstinence message but also an anti-abortion one. Bella becomes pregnant with a half vampire fetus and has no choice but to carry it to term. Having the baby could cause Bella’s death but she finds her strength in marriage and motherhood. As someone who has read all the books and seen all the movies the analysis by Silver was brutal. I even joined the Twilight book at and try to make my friends join, all the girls in the club were highly infatuated with the Edward character and “love” message of the series, it was romantic to many. I did not see all this messages when I was reading the series and my obsession was with the Edward character. This was due to how he feel in love with an awkward teen compared to him who was cool and handsome looking. Eventually I did acknowledge how cheesy the series was but the Silver analysis made me think how bad Twilight is. The whole messages of the series is to attach yourself to a man and you will be rewarded with motherhood. These messages are wrong because young girls should be encouraged to follow their dreams and not give up their own life for someone else, specially a man. In the second book it does show how unhealthy the relationship is between Edward when he leaves and Bella gets severely depressed that she starts to do reckless things in order to hear Edwards voice. The second book is quite dangerous for young readers because Bella’s life stops when Edward leaves. Anna Silver’s analysis on the series probes that it isn't good for young girls, the messages aren't empowering because love isn't painful or selfish. Marisela A
Ana Silvers talks about how Twilight is a very different coming of age novel for young adults. It’s very different than the typical bildungsroman is a novel that deals with one person’s formative years, it about the development of a young protagonist. Twilight is about a young girl named Bella Swan who is very self-conscious, very quiet, she’s trying to find herself at this age, and end up falling in love with Edward Cullen. She became very dependent on him and his family. The book had an abstinence only ideal, In which sex equals death, its anti-abortion. When Bella gets pregnant with Edwards baby she refuses to have an abortion, stating that she’d rather die and give birth than have an abortion. The book also talks about how relationships, mother hood, and marriage are the things that empower a woman. Bella was a weak human, but became equal to Edward once they were married and she was a mother. The series came out when I was in sixth grade. I remember all the girls being so obsessed the books, there was a waiting list in the library of people who wanted to read it, even the Spanish versions where checked out. I never actually read the books I tried to the read them, but I just didn’t. I did see the movies. That was even crazier. I do remember being obsessed with Edward just like every 16-year-old. But now that I look back it just makes be cringe, all the things he would say, Edward was so possessive, and Bella was just dumb. (no offense to the fans) I could understand why it was seeing a progressive novel, because it did talk about sex, and abortion, it gave out a very set idea, but it still made you think about it, because my parents never spoke to be about any of this. But it still had very problematic messages about relationships, at that age I remember girls crying about not having a boyfriend. this novel made young girls believe that they needed a man, that if they didn’t have a boyfriend they were nothing. Bella had daddy issues, and Edward was and old man, personally the whole series makes me cringe now. I can just say the book helped me stay true to myself, not be dragged by the trends.
Anna Silver notices some themes throughout the Twilight series that may be problematic in terms of the messages that they send out to young adults. To start off, the story is not your typical bildungsroman, a coming of age story in which the protagonist is in search for independence. The plot in the series seems to unfold in reverse order. Bella, the female lead, seems to be very independent at the beginning of the novel. Her mother, Renee, is described as a childlike woman who instead of taking care of her daughter, decides to travel the country with her new husband. When Bella moves to Forks, she begins to take care of her father Charlie, by cooking and doing other chores for him, as if he needs to be taken care of. In this way, Bella is already independent. However, when she meets Edward and his family, she becomes completely attached to them, in a way, finding out more about herself through this attachment. Twilight’s emphasizes affiliation instead of individualism. Another message that Twilight seems to endorse is the message of dominant-submissive relationships. Throughout the novels, one can see Edward acting more like a father to Bella than her lover. He is controlling and domineering and treats Bella like a child, referring to her as a “ insignificant little girl” and a “little coward.” Bella submits to this treatment, such as an obedient child would. She is clumsy, lacks self-esteem, and depends on Edward to make her feel like she is worth something. As for other themes found in the books, there is the message of abstinence. Edward does not agree to have intercourse with Bella until they are married. He acknowledges his antiquated ways, but his condition to have sex with Bella is that they are married first. There are anti-abortion messages since Bella refuses to terminate her pregnancy, even if the fetus poses a threat to her own life. The importance of marriage is heavily emphasized as well, since Bella becomes a vampire almost during the same time as she begins her life as Edward’s wife. She finally feels that she is equal to Edward and discovers a newfound strength as a vampire, which could also be a parallel to marriage. I loved the books when I first read them. However, I discovered that I was subconsciously forming ideas about how the world worked through these books. I normalized relationships in which the man controlled the woman and agreed with Bella in keeping her baby at all costs. However, now that I have a deeper understanding of all the themes present in this book, I find that some of my worldviews no longer match those of the books.
A bildungsroman is a coming of age story where the protagonist grows as an individual in the world through building their independence. Anna Silver observes that the Twilight series may have some similarities to a bildungsroman but there are some negative aspects for young women that outweigh whatever similarities Twilight and a bildungsroman have. Silver describes the main character, Bella Swan, as clumsy, low self-esteem, infantilized, and has no friends. The other main character Edward Cullen is described by Silver as strong, god-like, fatherley, wise , and controlling. Which usually are the descriptors used to describe main characters in a typical bildungsroman. Twilight story is kind of the exact opposite of a normal bildungsroman. The story focuses on affiliation and attachment over being independent and autonomy. Bella finds herself through attaching herself to Edward and the Cullen family. She finds stability in her life that she never had with her own family. Another big message that Silver points out that Twilight has a strong abstinence message. In the story Bella wants to have sex with Edward, but he explains to her that if they have sex he will physically hurt her, basically abuse. Then later in the story they have sex and it was okay because Edward could control himself, but leaves Bella covered in bruises. The story links sex to death and destruction. The next message that the Twilight conveys is an anti-abortion message. Bella gets pregnant with a half vampire baby and the baby is life threatening. Bella feels she has “no choice” but to have the baby. Edward wanted to have an abortion to save her and Bella felt Edward did not care. Later in the story Edward can hear the baby's thoughts and changes his mind about the abortion. When Bella’s life is on the line Edward turns Bella into a vampire and takes her humanity. In the end Bella finds herself and strength in marriage, motherhood, and attaching herself to a man. She becomes closer to Edward’s equal. I hadn’t read the books or seen the movies until after this section of the class and I watched the first one and I completely saw and understood what Silver saw as well.
Anna Silver’s critique of Twilight is spot on, and, I think, easily missed by the romance-adoring youth culture. Silver explains how the Twilight series is different from typical “coming of age” novels (such as Harry Potter, Eragon, etc.) because instead of focusing on Bella’s personal growth and maturation into adulthood, it focuses on her obsessive addiction to the sparkling monster Edward Cullen. Immediately, this removes power from the main character and from the female of the story and puts it onto controlling and god-like Edward. From then on, Bella’s entire identity is based on her dependence on him rather than her discovery of autonomy and individuality. Even in the second book, where Edward tries to go into hiding to “protect” Bella, all of her masochistic actions are cries for attention fueled by her addiction to him. From here, Silver discusses the themes present in the Twilight series that are not the messages that young girls need to hear. First, there is the abstinence message, where Edward refuses to have sex or even intimacy with Bella because he is a vampire and therefore can’t control himself and would hurt her. This comes true when, after they marry, they have sex and Bella is “blissfully covered in bruises,” which spreads the idea that pain is okay because she loves him, and possibly that abuse would be okay, because that’s “just how sex is.” Bella immediately becomes pregnant and is being killed from the inside by her half-vampire fetus, BUT abortion is never an option. Silver points out that this sends the message that women’s sole purpose is to bear children, and if she is going to die from a pregnancy, she should just accept it. As she lays dying from giving birth to the baby, Edward “saves” her by taking away her humanity. It is then, once she has a child and is married, that she is able to own and recognize her powers. Not until marriage and motherhood does she become Edward’s equal. Also, new vampires are typically unable to control their powers, but Bella can because she has the restraint of being a mother and wife. All of these themes reflect Stephenie Meyer’s Mormon values.
I read the Twilight series during my freshman and sophomore year of high school, and I never read deeply enough to notice the themes of anti-abortion or abstinence. However, I was always bugged by Edward’s controlling actions and, because of him, I never read the last two books. I found his character to be weak and selfish, and so I was turned off from the romance. The books didn’t change my views on abstinence or abortion, but I have always loved strong female characters and therefore didn’t really find Bella relatable. I read them because everyone my age did, but I never had a deep connection. Reading Silver’s analysis helped me to understand why that was. Meyer’s values don’t match mine and so I wasn’t able to relate to the characters or their choices.
Anna Silver classifies The Twilight Saga as a bildungsroman. A bildungsroman is a coming of age novel where the protagonist grows as an individual in society. She identifies Bella as a clumsy, low self-esteem, and infantilized girl who needs to be rescued. She also identifies Edward as a strong, god-like, and wise man who is a rescuer. Although Anna Silver classifies The Twilight Saga as a bildungsroman, she points out that it differs from a traditional bildungsroman because Bella’s growth is less focused on her own actions and more focused on attachment and how the people around her have made her grow. She finds growth in her affiliation to Edward and the Cullen family which promotes being more attached to people than being independent.
Other observations that Anna Silver makes are the promotions of abstinence, anti-abortion, and fulfillment in marriage and motherhood. In Twilight, sex before marriage is connected to danger and death. After they are married and have sex, Bella is blissfully covered in bruises which also promotes that violence in sexual relations is okay. Anti-abortion is supported when Bella refuses to abort her baby even though the situation becomes life threatening to Bella. Edward then turns Bella into a vampire to save her life, which then brings her closer to Edward’s equal as “god-like”. Throughout marriage and motherhood, Bella truly finds who she is and grows. This though promotes to young women that marriage and children are what truly fulfill you in life.
I read The Twilight Saga when I was in middle school. It probably took me less than two weeks to read the whole series because I was so obsessed with it. Now, years later, after learning about the messages of the book that go deeper than just about falling in love, I have a more clear understanding of those underlying messages. For example, I did not relate Edward not wanting to have sex with Bella because he would hurt her to a religious abstinence point of view until I learned in class that Stephanie Meyer is Mormon. Also, while I never really cared for Bella in the first place, I never really knew why I didn’t care for her. After connecting Twilight to a bildungsroman, I think that how she was portrayed in the book annoyed me because I wanted her to be a strong individual the whole time, but she only found herself in the end. Even after learning about all the various messages in The Twilight Saga, I still appreciate the series and would read it again now from a new perspective.
Some observations that Anna Silver includes about Twilight is that it’s very patriarchal. We are given the ever handsome and the ever-strong Edward Cullen. He is quite submissive of Bella and very early on takes on the controlling and domineering role in their “relationship”. She mentions how family is an important and constant message in the books. We see that with the downfall and unhappy lives of Bella and her divorced parents as compared to the powerful, beautiful, and ever lasting lives of the Cullen family. The book plays to not only the “pure” and “abstinence” of the relationship between Bella and Edward, but also of the romance about family and the need for connection and community. She mentions how the books “ignore individualism in favor of affiliation.” Meyer enforces the strong sense of the mother who cares and protects, as we see Bella enforce through her choice of carrying her child to term even at the cost to her own life. This is also later enforced by Edward (the father) as he begins to speak to the fetus through mind telepathy. Throughout the whole series Bella has remained the submissive weaker one up until she is married, which Anna notes as sending a message of only through marriage can we see balance and a sense of equality.
Now these books came out when I was in middle school. I remember one of my friends and most of my family was really obsessed with them so I decided to give them a shot and read them. I can honestly say that I have never been a fan. I was quite irritated by Bella as the protagonist because she was too weak. I remember cringing every time she fell, or basically came in contact with Edward. I voluntarily went to the first film because I love movies and I wanted to see if they would change Bella’s character for the better in any way, which they didn’t. I remember being guilt tripped into going to the second film by my cousin and possibly hating her all the more after sitting through it. The scene where Bella is depressed for months and basically comatose was unbelievable to me, let alone the fact that she tried killing herself. I remember just wanting to shake her! I really tried to get into the “Twilight craze” by reading all the books, but I just didn’t feel any connections for any of the characters. Twilight was super popular and it seemed that everyone was for it so I tried getting into that hype but I just couldn’t. That doesn’t mean I was oblivious to how much the books and movies were important to many others especially to the young girls like my friends and family. After reading everything that Anna had to say and analyzing the books I find it quite disturbing how these types of books were able to squeeze their way inside the hearts of so many people in such a short period of time. I remember laughing to one of my friends about her obsession with Twilight and she too says she has no idea why she was such a fanatic about it. I guess it’s true when Anna says, “Young Adult literature, whether realistic or fantastic, engages with issues of identity”.
In Anna Silver’s “Twilight is Not Good for Maidens”, Anna lists out her observations of Twilight series and what the series is promoting. First, she explains that Twilight is not a bildungsroman. A bildungsroman is coming of age novel where protagonist grows up as an independent individual. Unlike usual bildungsroman, Twilight does not focus on independence of Bella but instead it focuses on affiliation and attachment of Bella to Edward. In the story, Bella is characterized as clumsy, low-self esteemed, confused teenager whereas Edward is described as strong, “god-like”, well-rounded, and controlling. Throughout the story, Bella finds her identity by attaching herself to Edwards and the Cullen family. Bella character development fails the book as a bildungsroman, since Bella finds herself with acknowledgment of Edward instead of finding her independence. Another observation Anna makes is message of pro-life by the author. The author, Stephanie Meyer, integrates anti-abortion message by making Bella to carry her half vampire fetus into full term even though doing so can potentially kill Bella. Eventually Edward turns Bella into a vampire so Bella continues her life as a vampire. When life threatening situation to pregnant women is no joke, the author depicts pro-life choice as romantic and as it is the fate of womanhood. This kind of message can be dangerous to young readers for they will start to think that when they do get pregnant, they have no choice. I personally only read the first book of the series and didn’t like it. As a teenager, I just wasn’t into vampires and such because they were unrealistic to me. Also I found Bella’s personality really annoying and if I could, I wanted to tell her to just break up with Edward. After reading Anna Silver’s article, I am shocked by the messages the author was trying to portray. Thinking about how many girls who made Bella as their role model, it scares me to know how many of them blindly followed Bella’s path.
For Anna Silver, she has many observations about the Twilight series as a young adult literature. For one, she explains how this is supposed to be a bildungsroman. Which is a coming of age novel, where the protagonist is to navigate society as an individual and form the adult identity. She explains how the books do not show this analysis. Bella swan who is the main character is supposed to be growing to find her own way through life. But in actual reality she finds herself through her dependency on Edward Cullen. Swan is clumsy, has low self-esteem, often infantilized, and very dependent. Her world revolves and grows around Cullen. Where Cullen on the other hand is seen a god-like, strong, wise, experienced, controlling and fatherly. Silver’s points out that Bella strongly favor attachment and affiliation over autonomy and individuality, which are the elements of a bildungsroman. For a young adult literature, Silver’s points out that the message that is given off from this is abstinence, anti-abortion, and for women, that you must have attachment so that you can find who you are. Sex in the book does not happen until Bella is married to Cullen. As must chemistry happens between the two characters’ sex is pushed to marriage. Which shows to the readers that sex and marriage goes hand and hand. The anti-abortion messages come in where Bella gets pregnant with a baby that will kill her if she has it. While she knows that she will die if she gives birth, abortion in the book is not mentioned as an option. Giving off the option that no matter the circumstances you must have the baby if you get pregnant. Throughout the book, Bella only shows attachment to Edward everything that she does revolves around him. Which does not give young adult women confidence that they can be someone without the presences of a male. Also, that to gain power you must be attached to a male figure. For me and my relationship to the books I agree with Silvers and her observation. This Twilight series does not give any hope for the women. Hope that she can do something herself without anyone. Also, that she makes her own power. I could not relate to the book in the bildungsroman way because that is not how I felt that series was designed. I think that the this show not be a series that young adults should example from and believe that this is how they should be. (L. Curtis)
In Anna Silver’s article, “Twilight is Not Good For Maidens”, she criticizes how Twilight approaches young adult readers and the messages it gives to them. Some key points Silver argues that may cause people to raise their eyebrows with intrigue, fall in between the lines of self-esteem, adult identity and independency. Throughout Silver’s article she describes both the main characters – Bella Swan and Edward Cullen– as if one needed the other in order to survive. Silver describes Bella as a high school teenager who has low self-esteem, is very dependent and clumsy. While describing Edward as this controlling, fatherly and “god-like” figure. In Silver’s article, she discusses how this young girl finds herself and her self-worth in being attached to a “young man”. Silver observed this and how Twilight supported attachment and finding yourself through depending on your boyfriend. With Twilight’s audience being young adult readers, Silver came to the conclusion that it was not a good bildungsroman. It is a corrupt way and example to expose young adults to, especially in their midst of finding themselves. Another point Silver makes is that Twilight supports sexual abuse. She uses the example of how Swan is “blissfully” covered in bruises and that it was ok because it was done “out of love”. My personal experience with the book was nothing compared to what Silver took from it. Yes, I was kind of off the fence when I thought about how old Edward really was but I didn’t really think the entirety of the book affected me the way Silver described it was bad for young adult readers. I didn’t really think too deep into the book and how it may have affected my outlook on life and finding myself. I was a pretty stubborn teenager and what I felt was right, was right, so the Twilight series couldn’t really have affected my take on who or what I should look to, in order to find my self-worth. I think for other young adults or teenagers who struggle with finding comfort in who they are or who they want to be may be affected more than others. I personally think it all depends on the attitude and place a person is in, in their life when reading the book.
Anna Silver points out how despite fulfilling certain aspects of being a coming of age (bildungsroman) story, the Twilight saga ultimately differs when the protagonist, Bella Swan, fails to find independence and self-growth as an individual but rather is dependent upon her relationship with Edward and the Cullens to shape her character development. Three main points Silver touches upon are: dependency (to unhealthy extents) of Bella, an abstinence-only driven supernatural metaphor weaved into the romance of the protagonist and her paramour, and a blatant anti-abortion message in the culmination of the saga. To briefly summarize, Bella fails to find the fatherly care and concern from her own paternal figure, Charlie, but instead in Edward (some friends and I joked that we couldn’t believe Mormon author Stephanie Meyer accidentally wrote Bella with a daddy kink; all Edward seems to do for the majority of their relationship is dictate what Bella may or may not do as a person). She further finds the validation, familial support, and connection from within the Cullens, Edwards’s family, rather than from her own biological parents. The abstinence-only message is found throughout the series where Edward and Bella cannot consummate their relationship due to their differences (him being a vampire poses a threat to her human being if he “goes too far” in draining her blood). The anti-abortion message is found in the final book, where after marrying and having sex, Bella becomes pregnant with a half-vampire spawn literally killing her from the inside out that she refuses to give up on, going as far as to referring to her fetus as a “baby” with pronouns than a clump of cells.
ReplyDeleteI guess if you squint you could argue Twilight is a progressive series in terms of young adult fiction where you have a female protagonist who matches her love interest in terms of potential and power once she herself becomes a vampire (although that takes 4 books to actually get to). I want to say that due to the lack of diversity in young adult fiction (lack of stories that feature people of color [POC] or queer characters that aren’t token representation), and when the same schtick is being packaged to the general audience again and again (even more so considering how many YA novels seem to either feature supernatural romances/love triangles and/or set in dystopian societies) it’s hard to distinguish the good stuff from crap.
Twilight came out when I was in 6th grade, before I even had a clear idea of personal identity and social activism. I think almost every girl in my class read it, and with a bit of peer pressure and bandwagoning at work, so did I. And I, unfortunately, loved it. Ate it up. Looking back at it now, I think it was dangerous that all these awful concepts like Bella and Edward’s toxic relationship were being packaged to young people as something romantic. You could argue that this is a phase people grow out of and nobody would be so naïve, but then you have garbage like 50 Shades (twilight fanfiction) being peddled to an adult market, and people still eating it up then (I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with reading certain genres and kinds of fiction. I’m saying there’s a problem when people refuse to acknowledge the problematic messages within said fiction and reach to defend it). It’s harmful because the targeted audience, much like when I was first introduced, probably don’t have as much sense of identity and social beliefs developed yet, and you have a piece of literature that frames certain ideas as ok and others and not, and kids and teenagers are a lot more perceptive on this than people give them credit for. It’s dangerous because you have people like me in situations chasing after this “idealized” concept of romance and thinking things are ok when they aren’t, and realizing years later that these power dynamics are harmful and nobody has the right to treat people like that. My experience with Twilight is a rather personal one; I’m grateful it shaped me in an unintended manner.
Isis H
Silver identifies the “Twilight” books by Stephanie Meyer as a young-adult fantasy romance version of the bildungsroman, or a coming-of-age tale. The common theme among bildungsroman stories is that the main character learns who they are as an independent adult through the life-changing events in the story. However, she identifies one key characteristic that sets the “Twilight” series apart from other coming-of-age tales: Bella, the main character, learns how to function as an adult by focusing on affiliation, not autonomy. Bella seeks out a stable family and identity within a community - something she couldn’t find with her divorced human parents. “Twilight” also emphasizes abstinence, anti-abortion, and gender equality through marriage and motherhood - heavy themes for a book series targeted toward teenage girls who may not be yet capable of properly analyzing and responding to these themes.
ReplyDeleteWhen these books came out, I was in middle school - in other words, I was the target audience for the books. Though I scoffed at the books (being more of aHarry Potter fan and against “sappy romance novels”), I still consumed their content as quickly as my peers did. I fantasized about the classic romantic hero, Edward, who shadowed other heroes I had grown to idolize, such as Mr. Darcy from “Pride and Prejudice” and the Beast from “Beauty”. I found their love enchanting, with the fourth book being the best out of them (the heavy subject material being the main draw of that book in particular). I never saw an ounce of the religious implications in the books as Silver did, but I understood that there was something unhealthy about the relationship portrayed, and that the one-dimensionality of Bella’s character wasn’t anything to idolize, and her weakness in the face of her lover’s willpower perplexing. However, as a teenage girl who was constantly bombarded with stories about girls finding love, I made the books my private guilty pleasure, but wasn’t afraid of criticizing the glorified, gender-role enforcing stories in public. As Silver concludes in her analysis, “Ultimately, any feminist critic hopes that female readers are canny enough to allow themselves to swoon into Meyer’s fantasy of everlasting passion and devotion and, at the same time, become heroes in their own lives.”
Caitlyn B
Anna Silver’s key observation about the Twilight series as young adult literature is that it is a version of the bildungsroman. A bildungsroman is a coming of age novel where the protagonist grows as an individual in society. The focus is on independence. The protagonist is usually an orphan or has loose family ties. An example of this is Harry Potter. The reason Twilight is not a bildungsroman is because it focuses on affiliation and attachment rather than autonomy and independence. A bildungsroman focuses on autonomy and independence. In Twilight, Bella attaches herself to Edward and the Cullen family. Bella finds her identity through them, instead of finding it within herself. She bases her identity off of Edward and the Cullen family instead of basing it on herself.
ReplyDeleteAnna Silver identifies four messages within Twilight. The first message is the message of abstinence-only. She points out that it is saying that sex before marriage leads to death and destruction. In the book, the example is that Edward would kill Bella during sex since he cannot control himself. The second deals with pain and sex. After Bella marries Edward, she is blissfully covered in bruises after sex. The message that is being portrayed is that sex will be painful, but pain is connected to love, so that type of pain is okay and accepted. The third message is the message of anti-abortion. Bella becomes pregnant, but even though her baby is life-threatening, she has “no choice” but to bring it to term. Her baby is a half-vampire so it is able to protect itself from within the womb so she won’t be able to get rid of it. Edward is also able to communicate with the baby, making it even harder to abort the baby if she decided to do that. The fourth message is finding strength in marriage and motherhood. Bella becomes closer to Edward’s equal since he turns her into a vampire after she delivers the baby in order to save her life. This also relates to the 19th century since it was considered then that a woman’s purpose was to become a wife and a mother.
When the books came out, I was automatically in love with the series. It only took me a few hours to read each of the books. It became an obsession since I had to have everything Twilight related. I loved Edward and wanted to find a man exactly like him. Looking at this analysis and how obsessed I was with the series when I read them is scary. Edward is not a man I should want to have as a boyfriend or as a husband. I think the only message I got from the series was the message that sex is painful. This is a dangerous message to portray to young readers since they will think it is okay if their partner hurts them during sex, since that pain is out of love. I did not recognize any of the other messages that were present in the books. Women have the power to do what they want to and become whoever they want to be. Women don’t need to be changed into a vampire in order to become a man’s equal. Their purpose in life is not just to become a mother and a wife. Some women don’t want that and that is okay. It is also okay if a woman decides to abort her child. Women are given the freedom of choice and whatever they choose to do with their life and bodies is entirely up to them.
Christine H.
Anna Silver observes that although Twilight can be considered a type of bildunsroman, there are major differences between a classic bildungsroman and the Twilight series. A classic bildungsroman is a coming of age novel where the protagonist gains independence in society throughout her/his journey. In Twilight, the protagonist is Bella Swan, a slightly awkward high schooler with low self-esteem. Her male counterpart and romantic interest is Edward Cullen, a strong, god-like, vampire. The most noticeable difference in a bildungsroman and Twilight is that instead of Bella finding independence and growing in society, she becomes completely dependent and reliant on Edward and the Cullen family. So much attached, that when she does not have them her life completely spirals out of control. Also included in the series are obvious messages of abstinence (no sex before marriage), anti-abortion, and even a subtle message that Bella is beneath Edward. This is still conveyed even when she eventually becomes a vampire and is closer to his equal.
ReplyDeleteI read these books in junior high and I remember being completely obsessed with them. All of my friends read the books (some multiple times) and even in high school we all saw the movies the day they came out. I remember when one of the movies came out, we waited in a massive line wrapping around the movie theater just to get a ticket for the midnight premiere. I thought it was romantic how much Edward loved Bella and would do anything for her. Now I see how wrong I was. Edward is possessive, controlling, violent at times, dangerous, etc, and the relationship between Bella and Edward is highly toxic. Through different things I have learned over the time since junior high, I can now recognize these things, but it is troubling to think that some young girls will take the Twilight series and it's messages to heart believing this is what is is to be in love and to be treated by a man.
Madelynne S.
Anna Silver contrasts the Twilight series with what a typical bildungsroman story is like. A bildungsroman is a coming of age story where the protagonist finds themselves, where they fit into society, and what their purpose is or what they are good at. Silver notes that Bella Swan does all of these things by attaching herself to Edward and the Cullen family. Bella feels like she does not fit in with regular society and gravitates towards the Cullens and their reclusive existence. She finds who she is when she finally gets into a relationship with Edward, but when Edward decides to leave for Bella’s safety she completely falls apart. The movie shows her staring out of her bedroom window for months on end. After many months of agony, Bella basically becomes suicidal and tries to do very risky activities in hopes of seeing Edward again. Silver also brings to light how this series has some very serious hidden messages about abortion, marriage, and not having sex before marriage. Bella initially does not want to get married and Edward does not want to have sex before marriage because he is “old fashioned” and is also afraid that he will hurt her during intercourse because of his superhuman strength. They “compromise” by getting married. On their honeymoon they finally have sex and Edward leaves Bella covered in bruises, but she assures him that she is okay with it because she knows that he loves her. This romanticizes abuse to young readers because abuse victims typically use the excuse that they thought their partner loved them even though they abused them. Also, when Bella gets pregnant with her vampire/human baby, it is very likely that the baby will kill her quickly so Edward urges her to have it aborted, but Bella insists on keeping it because she loves it. This tells young readers that a woman’s life is never more important than the baby’s.
ReplyDeleteI first read this series when I was around junior high age and was totally in love with them. I felt like it was one of those stories where the main characters were obviously meant to be together no matter what. However, when the movies came out my feelings changed significantly. Something about seeing the visual representation/interpretation changed how I perceived the books. I think because when you are reading a story, it is a solo experience and you can kind of draw your own meanings about it. I no longer saw Bella as a kind of “alternative” girl who was smitten with Edward; she became a very flat character who was obsessed with him. Instead of it being endearing when she was so heartbroken that Edward left her, I felt embarrassed on her behalf that she could not even function without her teenage boyfriend around. I actually did not see all the messages about sex and abortion in the movie until we went through the analysis in class though. That might have been because I was not really aware of issues surrounding these topics when I was in high school.
Madison V.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteA bildungsroman is a coming of age novel. The goal is for the protagonist to navigate their way through society in order to form their adult identity. Other characteristics of this genre is the protagonist usually grows up with weak (if any) parentage, and the story typically concludes with marriage. A good example of a traditional bildungsroman is the Harry Potter Series.
ReplyDeleteAnna Silver analyses Twilight and the noticeable differences the story has in contrast to a traditional bildungsroman. Bella, the protagonist is the books, grows up with weak parentage due to her parents divorce. She suffers from a low self-esteem and is described as dependent, child-like, clumsy, and fragile. Her love interest in the books is Edward, a vampire, who is strong, experienced, wise, fatherly, and god-like. In the story Edward treats Bella like a child and has to save her again and again. At one point in the series Edward breaks up with Bella in order to protect her and she falls into a deep depression, one she never really recovers from until Edward reappears in her life. Bella prefers attachment and affiliation to Edward and his clan rather than autonomy and individuality. This sends the message to young readers that young women need to find a man that can take care of them. It is also important to keep in mind that young adult novels are written by adults and are often used to guide readers into living what the author believes is a moral and meaningful life. The books, written by a mormon woman, also carry religious messages about abstinence and abortion. Pre-marital sex is linked with death over and over through the series, an example being Rosalie one of Edwards sisters. She is gang raped and left to die in an alley when Carlisle decides to save her by changing her into a vampire. Also every time Bella tries to initiate sexual intercourse with Edward he condemns her for it. Sending the message that female sexuality should be contained. After they get married and finally have sex she is impregnated with a vampire fetus who is literally killing her through her pregnancy. But Bella would rather die than get an abortion. Bella almost does die on the table giving birth but Edward saves her, once again, by turning her into a vampire. Unlike traditional bildungsroman stories Bella’s story doesn’t conclude wIth marriage. As the story develops she actually gains confidence and power through marriage and motherhood. This story maintains very traditional and conservative views on how women should act, and their place in society.
I must admit I read all the Twilight books and watched all the movies, pretty much as soon as they came out. I did not pick up on the religious messages at all. I thought Bella was a lucky girl to have two beautiful men competing for her. Probably because in the media we typically always see women competing for men, like on the Bachelor or basically any other TV drama. However even at a young age, I did notice flaws in Bella’s character traits. Having gone through a pretty bad high school breakup myself I thought her depression over Edward’s disappearance was a little dramatic. After a year you would think she would be up and about instead of sitting in front of her window watching the seasons change… like do some homework or watch tv, hang out with some friends, don’t just sulk! I also thought it was unhealthy that she would put herself in dangerous situations so she could see him in her mind… I also thought she was overly dependent on Edward. All the messages that she was sending to young women seemed to scream that you NEED a man to take care of you, or you will literally not survive. I preferred how the Harry Potter series privileged platonic friendship, and how he was shown as courageous, noble, and intelligent…. But then again he is a man.
- Andrea W
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAnna Silvers key observation in the Twilight series is, Bella’s strong favors attachment affiliation over autonomy and individuality (Lecture, 3-07-17). She describes Bella Swan as a girl who has low-self-esteem, dependent, has few friends, and often infantilized. Edward Cullen on the other hand is viewed as “god-like”, strong, experienced, smart, controlling, and fatherly. The film centered on Bella’s dependence on Edward and the Cullen family. Now when I reminisce on the films, Bella has always been depended on Edward. I remember one scene where Edward leaves Bella and she becomes distraught and depressed. She goes through extreme measure by taking on risky behavior to get Edward to come back for her. It goes along with Silvers point that Bella favors attachment and lack autonomy/identity.
ReplyDeleteAnother observation Silver noted is Abstinence. Sex was not an option for Bella and Edwards relationship because having sex would lead to physical/violent consequences. Sex is only allowed through marriage. According to Silver, Edwards favor of chastity was connected to Mormon concepts of sexuality and sin (pg.128). Once they get marriage sex is initiated; Bella reaction is “Blissfully” knowing she is covered in bruises. It seemed as if Bella enjoyed the violence from sex. It shows that it is acceptable for a man to be violent while having sex and women are acceptable of this behavior. Also, sex and violence must be deemed as painful which sends a disturbing message (Lecture, 3-07-17). When Bella finds out she is pregnant abortion was never an option even though the half-vampire fetus would potentially kill Bella once she gave birth. Edward then takes her humanity by turning her into a Vampire. Belles power comes from marriage and motherhood which now makes her equal to Edward (Lecture). Meyers repeatedly reminds the readers that, Edward and Bella finally reach a sort of equality in their relationship through marriage and parenthood (Silver, pg.129). This shows a woman can only gain agency through men, getting married, or motherhood. It also teaches girls that their identity is solely based through relationships and that domestication is the right path to go, along with dedicating yourself to a man and motherhood is expected. Meyer perceives motherhood as being a personal fulfillment and that identity comes from affiliation rather than individual accomplishments (pg.130). Meyer suggest that through motherhood and marriage, women can find true equality with men, and more largely, become themselves (Silvers, pg. 132).
I personally have not read the books but have seen all 8 films. I know the book have way more detail then the films but even watching the films I viewed it differently after reading the article and the lecture on 3/07/17. When I watched the first film I was around 13 years old, I was so was fascinated on their romance and I wanted a relationship like theirs. But as Silver depicts the novel in her article, I can agree on her observations. She was too dependable on a guy and loss of sense of her identity to be all about Edward.
-Alexis B
In “Twilight is Not Good for a Maiden” Anna Silver describes the problematic messages that Stephanie Meyer sends to young adult readers. The main character, Bella Swan, has a lack of confidence, isolates herself from her friends, and even gives up going to college. It is not until Bella begins her transformation to become a vampire that she begins to feel more confidence through her beauty and closer equality to her husband Edward. Edward had always been strong, god-like, and wise. Rather than developing the female protagonist as having autonomy and independence, Meyer focuses on affiliation and attachment. Bella finds her identity through the Cullen family rather through a healthy hobby or school association. This teaches young readers that it is OK to put all of your energy and focus on your significant other rather than to follow your own previous desires such as college. Bella is willing to completely give up her former identity and life for Edward. The unsubtle messages of anti-abortion and abstinence are clearly spelled out throughout the novels as well. Meyer links pre-marital sex with death and destruction, which can lead to readers being afraid of partaking in sexual activities or feeling overwhelmed with guilt. The anti-abortion messages are to the point that Bella is on her deathbed and refuses to not carry the pregnancy to full term.
ReplyDeleteI read these books when I was in junior high and I can remember being infatuated with the concept of having a boyfriend like Edward. Someone who would be interested in my every move and would be so intrigued by me. Looking back I realize that would have been an unhealthy and controlling relationship, but I loved the mysteriousness of Edward and found him to be very romantic with his possessive behavior over Bella. As an adult I can now see the problematic messages that these books give readers and realize that I too fell under the same impressions.
R. Dias
Anna Silver’s key observations about the Twilight series as young adult literature is that it focuses on affiliation and attachment over autonomy and independence. The Twilight series is considered a bildungsroman, a coming of age novel where the protagonist grows as an individual in society. In reality the main character is the opposite, Bella Swan does not grow up as an individual or make her own choices. Bella becomes obsessed with a boy from school and at one point her life stops due to him leaving. Bella’s life revolves around around a boy named Edward Cullen who is a vampire. Bella attaches herself to Edward and the Cullen family, this is where she finds her identity. Bella leaves her own family to be with Edward and his family and voluntary gives up her life to a man. The character of Bella has the ability to grow and develop into anything she wants but decides that being with a man is what matters most and that eventually she will be rewarded with the gift of motherhood. In the later books Bella get pregnant but first Edward proposes marriage. Marriage is the key to breaking the abstinence rule Edward had. The series has a messages of abstinence, first a girl has to find a man, then attach themselves, marriage, and finally motherhood. The message of abstinence is linked to death and destruction due to Edward being a vampire and Bella is a simple mortal. If sex did happen it could possibly kill Bella. One thing that would make it okay would be to get married, eventually the characters wed and Bella is covered in bruises after sex which alludes to domestic violence. Not only does the series have an abstinence message but also an anti-abortion one. Bella becomes pregnant with a half vampire fetus and has no choice but to carry it to term. Having the baby could cause Bella’s death but she finds her strength in marriage and motherhood.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has read all the books and seen all the movies the analysis by Silver was brutal. I even joined the Twilight book at and try to make my friends join, all the girls in the club were highly infatuated with the Edward character and “love” message of the series, it was romantic to many. I did not see all this messages when I was reading the series and my obsession was with the Edward character. This was due to how he feel in love with an awkward teen compared to him who was cool and handsome looking. Eventually I did acknowledge how cheesy the series was but the Silver analysis made me think how bad Twilight is. The whole messages of the series is to attach yourself to a man and you will be rewarded with motherhood. These messages are wrong because young girls should be encouraged to follow their dreams and not give up their own life for someone else, specially a man. In the second book it does show how unhealthy the relationship is between Edward when he leaves and Bella gets severely depressed that she starts to do reckless things in order to hear Edwards voice. The second book is quite dangerous for young readers because Bella’s life stops when Edward leaves. Anna Silver’s analysis on the series probes that it isn't good for young girls, the messages aren't empowering because love isn't painful or selfish.
Marisela A
Ana Silvers talks about how Twilight is a very different coming of age novel for young adults. It’s very different than the typical bildungsroman is a novel that deals with one person’s formative years, it about the development of a young protagonist. Twilight is about a young girl named Bella Swan who is very self-conscious, very quiet, she’s trying to find herself at this age, and end up falling in love with Edward Cullen. She became very dependent on him and his family. The book had an abstinence only ideal, In which sex equals death, its anti-abortion. When Bella gets pregnant with Edwards baby she refuses to have an abortion, stating that she’d rather die and give birth than have an abortion. The book also talks about how relationships, mother hood, and marriage are the things that empower a woman. Bella was a weak human, but became equal to Edward once they were married and she was a mother.
ReplyDeleteThe series came out when I was in sixth grade. I remember all the girls being so obsessed the books, there was a waiting list in the library of people who wanted to read it, even the Spanish versions where checked out. I never actually read the books I tried to the read them, but I just didn’t. I did see the movies. That was even crazier. I do remember being obsessed with Edward just like every 16-year-old. But now that I look back it just makes be cringe, all the things he would say, Edward was so possessive, and Bella was just dumb. (no offense to the fans) I could understand why it was seeing a progressive novel, because it did talk about sex, and abortion, it gave out a very set idea, but it still made you think about it, because my parents never spoke to be about any of this. But it still had very problematic messages about relationships, at that age I remember girls crying about not having a boyfriend. this novel made young girls believe that they needed a man, that if they didn’t have a boyfriend they were nothing. Bella had daddy issues, and Edward was and old man, personally the whole series makes me cringe now. I can just say the book helped me stay true to myself, not be dragged by the trends.
Mary C.
Anna Silver notices some themes throughout the Twilight series that may be problematic in terms of the messages that they send out to young adults. To start off, the story is not your typical bildungsroman, a coming of age story in which the protagonist is in search for independence. The plot in the series seems to unfold in reverse order. Bella, the female lead, seems to be very independent at the beginning of the novel. Her mother, Renee, is described as a childlike woman who instead of taking care of her daughter, decides to travel the country with her new husband. When Bella moves to Forks, she begins to take care of her father Charlie, by cooking and doing other chores for him, as if he needs to be taken care of. In this way, Bella is already independent. However, when she meets Edward and his family, she becomes completely attached to them, in a way, finding out more about herself through this attachment. Twilight’s emphasizes affiliation instead of individualism.
ReplyDeleteAnother message that Twilight seems to endorse is the message of dominant-submissive relationships. Throughout the novels, one can see Edward acting more like a father to Bella than her lover. He is controlling and domineering and treats Bella like a child, referring to her as a “ insignificant little girl” and a “little coward.” Bella submits to this treatment, such as an obedient child would. She is clumsy, lacks self-esteem, and depends on Edward to make her feel like she is worth something.
As for other themes found in the books, there is the message of abstinence. Edward does not agree to have intercourse with Bella until they are married. He acknowledges his antiquated ways, but his condition to have sex with Bella is that they are married first. There are anti-abortion messages since Bella refuses to terminate her pregnancy, even if the fetus poses a threat to her own life. The importance of marriage is heavily emphasized as well, since Bella becomes a vampire almost during the same time as she begins her life as Edward’s wife. She finally feels that she is equal to Edward and discovers a newfound strength as a vampire, which could also be a parallel to marriage.
I loved the books when I first read them. However, I discovered that I was subconsciously forming ideas about how the world worked through these books. I normalized relationships in which the man controlled the woman and agreed with Bella in keeping her baby at all costs. However, now that I have a deeper understanding of all the themes present in this book, I find that some of my worldviews no longer match those of the books.
Amber M.
A bildungsroman is a coming of age story where the protagonist grows as an individual in the world through building their independence. Anna Silver observes that the Twilight series may have some similarities to a bildungsroman but there are some negative aspects for young women that outweigh whatever similarities Twilight and a bildungsroman have. Silver describes the main character, Bella Swan, as clumsy, low self-esteem, infantilized, and has no friends. The other main character Edward Cullen is described by Silver as strong, god-like, fatherley, wise , and controlling. Which usually are the descriptors used to describe main characters in a typical bildungsroman. Twilight story is kind of the exact opposite of a normal bildungsroman. The story focuses on affiliation and attachment over being independent and autonomy. Bella finds herself through attaching herself to Edward and the Cullen family. She finds stability in her life that she never had with her own family. Another big message that Silver points out that Twilight has a strong abstinence message. In the story Bella wants to have sex with Edward, but he explains to her that if they have sex he will physically hurt her, basically abuse. Then later in the story they have sex and it was okay because Edward could control himself, but leaves Bella covered in bruises. The story links sex to death and destruction. The next message that the Twilight conveys is an anti-abortion message. Bella gets pregnant with a half vampire baby and the baby is life threatening. Bella feels she has “no choice” but to have the baby. Edward wanted to have an abortion to save her and Bella felt Edward did not care. Later in the story Edward can hear the baby's thoughts and changes his mind about the abortion. When Bella’s life is on the line Edward turns Bella into a vampire and takes her humanity. In the end Bella finds herself and strength in marriage, motherhood, and attaching herself to a man. She becomes closer to Edward’s equal. I hadn’t read the books or seen the movies until after this section of the class and I watched the first one and I completely saw and understood what Silver saw as well.
ReplyDeletePhilip P.
Anna Silver’s critique of Twilight is spot on, and, I think, easily missed by the romance-adoring youth culture. Silver explains how the Twilight series is different from typical “coming of age” novels (such as Harry Potter, Eragon, etc.) because instead of focusing on Bella’s personal growth and maturation into adulthood, it focuses on her obsessive addiction to the sparkling monster Edward Cullen. Immediately, this removes power from the main character and from the female of the story and puts it onto controlling and god-like Edward. From then on, Bella’s entire identity is based on her dependence on him rather than her discovery of autonomy and individuality. Even in the second book, where Edward tries to go into hiding to “protect” Bella, all of her masochistic actions are cries for attention fueled by her addiction to him. From here, Silver discusses the themes present in the Twilight series that are not the messages that young girls need to hear. First, there is the abstinence message, where Edward refuses to have sex or even intimacy with Bella because he is a vampire and therefore can’t control himself and would hurt her. This comes true when, after they marry, they have sex and Bella is “blissfully covered in bruises,” which spreads the idea that pain is okay because she loves him, and possibly that abuse would be okay, because that’s “just how sex is.” Bella immediately becomes pregnant and is being killed from the inside by her half-vampire fetus, BUT abortion is never an option. Silver points out that this sends the message that women’s sole purpose is to bear children, and if she is going to die from a pregnancy, she should just accept it. As she lays dying from giving birth to the baby, Edward “saves” her by taking away her humanity. It is then, once she has a child and is married, that she is able to own and recognize her powers. Not until marriage and motherhood does she become Edward’s equal. Also, new vampires are typically unable to control their powers, but Bella can because she has the restraint of being a mother and wife. All of these themes reflect Stephenie Meyer’s Mormon values.
ReplyDeleteI read the Twilight series during my freshman and sophomore year of high school, and I never read deeply enough to notice the themes of anti-abortion or abstinence. However, I was always bugged by Edward’s controlling actions and, because of him, I never read the last two books. I found his character to be weak and selfish, and so I was turned off from the romance. The books didn’t change my views on abstinence or abortion, but I have always loved strong female characters and therefore didn’t really find Bella relatable. I read them because everyone my age did, but I never had a deep connection. Reading Silver’s analysis helped me to understand why that was. Meyer’s values don’t match mine and so I wasn’t able to relate to the characters or their choices.
Kali H.
Anna Silver classifies The Twilight Saga as a bildungsroman. A bildungsroman is a coming of age novel where the protagonist grows as an individual in society. She identifies Bella as a clumsy, low self-esteem, and infantilized girl who needs to be rescued. She also identifies Edward as a strong, god-like, and wise man who is a rescuer. Although Anna Silver classifies The Twilight Saga as a bildungsroman, she points out that it differs from a traditional bildungsroman because Bella’s growth is less focused on her own actions and more focused on attachment and how the people around her have made her grow. She finds growth in her affiliation to Edward and the Cullen family which promotes being more attached to people than being independent.
ReplyDeleteOther observations that Anna Silver makes are the promotions of abstinence, anti-abortion, and fulfillment in marriage and motherhood. In Twilight, sex before marriage is connected to danger and death. After they are married and have sex, Bella is blissfully covered in bruises which also promotes that violence in sexual relations is okay. Anti-abortion is supported when Bella refuses to abort her baby even though the situation becomes life threatening to Bella. Edward then turns Bella into a vampire to save her life, which then brings her closer to Edward’s equal as “god-like”. Throughout marriage and motherhood, Bella truly finds who she is and grows. This though promotes to young women that marriage and children are what truly fulfill you in life.
I read The Twilight Saga when I was in middle school. It probably took me less than two weeks to read the whole series because I was so obsessed with it. Now, years later, after learning about the messages of the book that go deeper than just about falling in love, I have a more clear understanding of those underlying messages. For example, I did not relate Edward not wanting to have sex with Bella because he would hurt her to a religious abstinence point of view until I learned in class that Stephanie Meyer is Mormon. Also, while I never really cared for Bella in the first place, I never really knew why I didn’t care for her. After connecting Twilight to a bildungsroman, I think that how she was portrayed in the book annoyed me because I wanted her to be a strong individual the whole time, but she only found herself in the end. Even after learning about all the various messages in The Twilight Saga, I still appreciate the series and would read it again now from a new perspective.
Katherine C.
Some observations that Anna Silver includes about Twilight is that it’s very patriarchal. We are given the ever handsome and the ever-strong Edward Cullen. He is quite submissive of Bella and very early on takes on the controlling and domineering role in their “relationship”. She mentions how family is an important and constant message in the books. We see that with the downfall and unhappy lives of Bella and her divorced parents as compared to the powerful, beautiful, and ever lasting lives of the Cullen family. The book plays to not only the “pure” and “abstinence” of the relationship between Bella and Edward, but also of the romance about family and the need for connection and community. She mentions how the books “ignore individualism in favor of affiliation.” Meyer enforces the strong sense of the mother who cares and protects, as we see Bella enforce through her choice of carrying her child to term even at the cost to her own life. This is also later enforced by Edward (the father) as he begins to speak to the fetus through mind telepathy. Throughout the whole series Bella has remained the submissive weaker one up until she is married, which Anna notes as sending a message of only through marriage can we see balance and a sense of equality.
ReplyDeleteNow these books came out when I was in middle school. I remember one of my friends and most of my family was really obsessed with them so I decided to give them a shot and read them. I can honestly say that I have never been a fan. I was quite irritated by Bella as the protagonist because she was too weak. I remember cringing every time she fell, or basically came in contact with Edward. I voluntarily went to the first film because I love movies and I wanted to see if they would change Bella’s character for the better in any way, which they didn’t. I remember being guilt tripped into going to the second film by my cousin and possibly hating her all the more after sitting through it. The scene where Bella is depressed for months and basically comatose was unbelievable to me, let alone the fact that she tried killing herself. I remember just wanting to shake her! I really tried to get into the “Twilight craze” by reading all the books, but I just didn’t feel any connections for any of the characters. Twilight was super popular and it seemed that everyone was for it so I tried getting into that hype but I just couldn’t. That doesn’t mean I was oblivious to how much the books and movies were important to many others especially to the young girls like my friends and family. After reading everything that Anna had to say and analyzing the books I find it quite disturbing how these types of books were able to squeeze their way inside the hearts of so many people in such a short period of time. I remember laughing to one of my friends about her obsession with Twilight and she too says she has no idea why she was such a fanatic about it. I guess it’s true when Anna says, “Young Adult literature, whether realistic or fantastic, engages with issues of identity”.
Maria R.
In Anna Silver’s “Twilight is Not Good for Maidens”, Anna lists out her observations of Twilight series and what the series is promoting. First, she explains that Twilight is not a bildungsroman. A bildungsroman is coming of age novel where protagonist grows up as an independent individual. Unlike usual bildungsroman, Twilight does not focus on independence of Bella but instead it focuses on affiliation and attachment of Bella to Edward. In the story, Bella is characterized as clumsy, low-self esteemed, confused teenager whereas Edward is described as strong, “god-like”, well-rounded, and controlling. Throughout the story, Bella finds her identity by attaching herself to Edwards and the Cullen family. Bella character development fails the book as a bildungsroman, since Bella finds herself with acknowledgment of Edward instead of finding her independence. Another observation Anna makes is message of pro-life by the author. The author, Stephanie Meyer, integrates anti-abortion message by making Bella to carry her half vampire fetus into full term even though doing so can potentially kill Bella. Eventually Edward turns Bella into a vampire so Bella continues her life as a vampire. When life threatening situation to pregnant women is no joke, the author depicts pro-life choice as romantic and as it is the fate of womanhood. This kind of message can be dangerous to young readers for they will start to think that when they do get pregnant, they have no choice.
ReplyDeleteI personally only read the first book of the series and didn’t like it. As a teenager, I just wasn’t into vampires and such because they were unrealistic to me. Also I found Bella’s personality really annoying and if I could, I wanted to tell her to just break up with Edward. After reading Anna Silver’s article, I am shocked by the messages the author was trying to portray. Thinking about how many girls who made Bella as their role model, it scares me to know how many of them blindly followed Bella’s path.
Judy L.
For Anna Silver, she has many observations about the Twilight series as a young adult literature. For one, she explains how this is supposed to be a bildungsroman. Which is a coming of age novel, where the protagonist is to navigate society as an individual and form the adult identity. She explains how the books do not show this analysis. Bella swan who is the main character is supposed to be growing to find her own way through life. But in actual reality she finds herself through her dependency on Edward Cullen. Swan is clumsy, has low self-esteem, often infantilized, and very dependent. Her world revolves and grows around Cullen. Where Cullen on the other hand is seen a god-like, strong, wise, experienced, controlling and fatherly.
ReplyDeleteSilver’s points out that Bella strongly favor attachment and affiliation over autonomy and individuality, which are the elements of a bildungsroman. For a young adult literature, Silver’s points out that the message that is given off from this is abstinence, anti-abortion, and for women, that you must have attachment so that you can find who you are. Sex in the book does not happen until Bella is married to Cullen. As must chemistry happens between the two characters’ sex is pushed to marriage. Which shows to the readers that sex and marriage goes hand and hand. The anti-abortion messages come in where Bella gets pregnant with a baby that will kill her if she has it. While she knows that she will die if she gives birth, abortion in the book is not mentioned as an option. Giving off the option that no matter the circumstances you must have the baby if you get pregnant. Throughout the book, Bella only shows attachment to Edward everything that she does revolves around him. Which does not give young adult women confidence that they can be someone without the presences of a male. Also, that to gain power you must be attached to a male figure.
For me and my relationship to the books I agree with Silvers and her observation. This Twilight series does not give any hope for the women. Hope that she can do something herself without anyone. Also, that she makes her own power. I could not relate to the book in the bildungsroman way because that is not how I felt that series was designed. I think that the this show not be a series that young adults should example from and believe that this is how they should be.
(L. Curtis)
In Anna Silver’s article, “Twilight is Not Good For Maidens”, she criticizes how Twilight approaches young adult readers and the messages it gives to them. Some key points Silver argues that may cause people to raise their eyebrows with intrigue, fall in between the lines of self-esteem, adult identity and independency. Throughout Silver’s article she describes both the main characters – Bella Swan and Edward Cullen– as if one needed the other in order to survive. Silver describes Bella as a high school teenager who has low self-esteem, is very dependent and clumsy. While describing Edward as this controlling, fatherly and “god-like” figure.
ReplyDeleteIn Silver’s article, she discusses how this young girl finds herself and her self-worth in being attached to a “young man”. Silver observed this and how Twilight supported attachment and finding yourself through depending on your boyfriend. With Twilight’s audience being young adult readers, Silver came to the conclusion that it was not a good bildungsroman. It is a corrupt way and example to expose young adults to, especially in their midst of finding themselves. Another point Silver makes is that Twilight supports sexual abuse. She uses the example of how Swan is “blissfully” covered in bruises and that it was ok because it was done “out of love”.
My personal experience with the book was nothing compared to what Silver took from it. Yes, I was kind of off the fence when I thought about how old Edward really was but I didn’t really think the entirety of the book affected me the way Silver described it was bad for young adult readers. I didn’t really think too deep into the book and how it may have affected my outlook on life and finding myself. I was a pretty stubborn teenager and what I felt was right, was right, so the Twilight series couldn’t really have affected my take on who or what I should look to, in order to find my self-worth. I think for other young adults or teenagers who struggle with finding comfort in who they are or who they want to be may be affected more than others. I personally think it all depends on the attitude and place a person is in, in their life when reading the book.
Brianna F.