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Using Twilight to teach literature
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The monster and Elizabeth
English teachers are particularly aware of the fascination Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series of novels has on middle and high school students. Although it’s a stretch to call Meyer’s work literature, teachers can capitalize on student interest by linking her protagonist, Bella Swann, with another famous heroine in the horror genre: Elizabeth Lavenza of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Let’s compare the two fictional young women. Bella is a selfless and a self-reliant girl, who nevertheless suffers a hollow and an isolated existence. Her parents are absent and preoccupied and Bella is left to fend for herself. It could be argued that part of her desire to become part of Edward’s vampire family, the Cullens, stems from her perception of their centuries old bond, a closeness that protects and nurtures them in the face of a hostile and dangerous world.
Bella’s strength and kindness enables her to fearlessly arbitrate a bitter centuries-old feud between vampires and werewolves (the wolf personified by her friend Jacob). She does not take sides and she does not judge, choosing instead to see the good in both sets of supernatural beings.
The danger inherent in the Cullen’s vampire status does not faze her; Bella’s lifeblood, her strength and her courage is fed entirely upon her devotion to Edward, the beautiful vampire monster. When Edward leaves the rainy town of Forks, she suffers, but she does not hold a grudge. In the end, her devotion is rewarded with an immortal and happy family. Bella’s love requires her to undergo a huge and ultimately beneficial transformation.
Elizabeth, the heroine of Shelley’s Frankenstein, is an orphan taken in by a close and devoted family, the benevolent Frankenstein’s. Obsessed with Victor Frankenstein, Elizabeth gives up everything to take care of him and his family. Kind and gentle, she suffers when Victor leaves for Ingolstadt to create his alter ego, his modern Prometheus, his monster: Frankenstein.
Like Bella, Elizabeth is fearless, taking up for the unfortunate Justine when she is blamed for the murder of Victor’s brother. But the novel Frankenstein does not have a happy ending. Unlike Edward, Victor never confesses the existence of his “monster’ and this omission leads to ostracization and murder. On her wedding night, instead of consummating her love, Elizabeth dies at the hands of Victor’s monster. Unlike Bella, Elizabeth’s strong love leads to her death and not to immortality and superhuman strength.
Bella and Elizabeth: two young women, alone in the world, taken in by beguiling yet monstrous suitors whom they grow to adore. One survives, one dies. What are the authors saying about love, human nature, and society?
Teachers can use these themes in a variety of ways to build on literary and character analysis. Students can rewrite a scene from Twilight in the 18th century or modernize Frankenstein. Students can predict different outcomes to both novels by placing Bella in Frankenstein and Elizabeth in Twilight. Inserting Bella’s dialogue into a conversation with Frankenstein and Elizabeth’s dialogue into a conversation with Edward Cullen could yield the following exchanges:
“I shall be with you on your wedding night,” said the monster.
“That’s me, the dangerous magnet,” said Bella.
or
"When I reflect," said Elizabeth," now misery has come home, and men appear to me as monsters thirsting for each other's blood.”
“Do you think your life would be easier if you weren’t in love with me? asked Edward.
Students could actually write a script, mixing the two novels, its characters, themes, motivation and dialogue. The result could be displayed on a storyboard, cast, and filmed. Students would need a new title, though. Perhaps something along the lines of : It’s Twilight for Frankenstein.
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