a feminist male college graduate reads “Twilight”: Chapter Thirteen-Confessions

This is the reveal chapter–Edward’s strange actions until this point in the novel are now contexualized and explained.

Stephenie Meyer’s book departs significantly from established vampire tropes–arguably the most obvious being that, instead of the sun hurting Edward, it makes him more beautiful. But Meyer’s tale still comes freighted with all of the sexual undercurrents that permeate traditional vampire texts. Here, Edward’s thirst for Bella is described overtly as being akin to a drug addiction–he calls Bella “exactly my brand of heroin” (268)–and also in fairly obvious sexual language. Bella and Edward are drawn towards each other in much the same way that an addict would be drawn to his/her drug of choice.

But what was interesting to me when reading this chapter was, when we acknowledge this double association–drugs and sexuality–then the novel becomes predicated on the repression of basic, innate urges. Edward, or at least the internal, instinctual Edward, wants to kill Bella and drink her blood. But the upper level of Edward, the rational being, resists the force of the lower levels of his consciousness. I’m not trained in psychology, so I’ll leave this discussion for those more qualified, but I’ve heard this novel (and indeed the series) as being described as ‘abstinence porn,’ and I’d like to tease out the implications of that label.

Edward is perfectly suited to lure in female prey–as he observes, he’s “the world’s best predator,” and “everything about me invites you in” (263-4). But he also makes it plain that he doesn’t need those attractive features–if he wanted to, no prey could escape him. He’s simply too strong and too fast. Edward it evolutionarily designed to do the exact thing his conscience won’t allow him to.

So what does this have to do with ‘abstinance porn’? Well, vampires are traditionally read as metaphors for sex–violent, dominant sex. But, at least for now, sex with Bella is out of the question for Edward–he can barely control himself enough to lightly kiss her. So for him, loving and being with Bella is predicated on his ability to subvert his physical desires, and indeed his biological predispositions–like Rogue and Bobby Drake from the X-Men, their relationship requires a certain amount of distance and a significant lack of physical intimacy.

But Edward is not the only one with a strong urge–while Edward’s is physiological, Bella’s seems purely sexual. At the end of the chapter, she can’t control herself and kisses Edward deeply, putting herself in danger, Bella and Edward’s urges are conflicting in this way. Edward wants to drink Bella’s blood, so he tries to stay away. Bella has trouble staying away from, which makes his urge to drink stronger. Toward the end of the chapter it’s hinted that Edward can now somewhat control his urges, but this is a good day, after he has hunted, so we’ll see how well that plan goes for the two of them.

It’s an interesting rhetorical problem that Meyer has set up–this link between repressed vampirism and it’s concomitant connotations of repressed sexuality. I’ll be tracking this as I read further.

Ben’s End of Chapter Awards

Best Dialogue Exchange to Put on a Keychain at Hot Topic: ”And so the lion fell in love with the lamb”…”‘What a stupid lamb,” I sighed. ‘”What a sick, masochistic lion”‘ (274).

Best Over-use of Adjectives and Adverbs: “He lay perfectly still in the grass, his shirt open over his sculpted, incandescent chest, his scintillating arms bare. His glistening, pale lavender lids were shut, though of course he didn’t sleep. A perfect statue, carved in some unknown stone, smooth like marble, glittering like crystal” (260).

Best Way to Win A Girl’s Heart: “To me, it was like you were some kind of demon, summoned straight from my own personal hell to ruin me” (269).