In my opinion, Edward is certainly the hero of the series. Some would disagree. If he isn't, then who is? Jacob? Hmm...
Edward is certainly where a lot of the controversy regarding the series lies. The most common claim, of course, is that Edward is abusive. Some of the actions cited:
1. He grabs her by her jacket collar to prevent her from driving herself home after she fainted in Biology (Twilight)
2. He sabatoges her car, follows her, has Alice take her, etc. to keep her from Jacob (Eclipse)
3. He withholds sex from her as a punishment (Eclipse)
4. When they finally do become physically intimate, he is so rough with her it leaves her severely bruised (Breaking Dawn)
I find most of these criticisms ridiculous, because I believe those who espouse them are holding Edward to a double standard. They expect him to behave like he's a wise, mature, experienced being (like a 110-year-old vampire) while also expecting him to have comparable behavior to a typical teenager. In other words, when he behaves like a vampire, the criticism is based on him not being exactly like human 17-year-old boys, but when he behaves like a human 17-year-old boy, he's criticized for behaving like a vampire.
One of the things I love about Edward's character is this very dichotomy. He has been frozen, emotionally, at a stage in which he had not experienced a serious relationship. Emotionally, he is just as inexperienced as Bella. He makes mistakes, the same mistakes a guy in high school would make in his first relationship.
Take the first example: he grabs her by the jacket collar to prevent her from leaving. I don't want to go into too much detail, but I had several male friends in high school that would have (and did, frankly) treat me just like that. It was playful. It was flirtation. Sometimes it was annoying, but we were all learning how to behave like men and women. Why can't Edward experience this?
The "stalking" in Eclipse is very realistic, to me. The intensity of a first love often prompts people to behave irrationally. The fact that Edward recognizes his mistake, admits it, and changes his behavior despite his continuing jealousy says volumes.
I have to say, I believe that Edward is being victimized by the extreme hypersensitivity of today's society. Think about characters in some of the "classics" of romantic literature: Mr. Darcy, Mr. Rochester, Heathcliff, Romeo...by today's standards, are any of them truly admirable men? I don't think so. Some of the very criticisms leveled at Edward apply to these classic characters, but because we are able to view them through the lens of their time, we excuse their flaws. I think Edward needs the same consideration: one cannot judge Edward's actions and motivations unless one accepts Edward's reality.
I love Edward. I think he's a good person. And a fine hero.
Your mention of heroes from older literature brings up a point. Edward's character was born in 1901. He 'died' in 1918. The male role models that he would have accepted would have been far more dominant and forceful than we accept in today's society. Again, I think the point is well made that Edward is maturing. Carlisle comments on this in Twilight when he realizes that Bella is good for Edward; right from the beginning, Bella influences Edward to mature. I think what is criticized as abusive is actually a fairly normal maturing process.
ReplyDeleteI think that another problem is that people are compartmentalizing the characters. You cannot separate the fact that Edward is a vampire. You can't separate the face that Jacob is a werewolf. Much of the behavior that is seen as "abusive" is a result of them being the creatures that they are. Edward CAN'T touch Bella when he is angry with her. He steps away. Edward can't help that he hurts her when they are intimate (not that she seemed to mind it at all) because he is stone. He can't help keeping her away from Jacob intially (like, 2 times as far as I could tell) because Jacob was a werewolf and Edward didn't trust him.
ReplyDeleteMost of the people I see critisizing Edward's behavior are doing so as if he were JUST a 17 year old boy rather than a vampire - which is disregarding a primal force of his nature. They also ignore the politics and social ramifications of Jacob being a werewolf.
It's just not rational or a true literary or character criticism if you don't take into account the characters themselves and not just the actions.
Team Jacob, bb! ;)
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