Screening Twilight

Power and control is something that all humans strive for however it can corrupt those who obtain it. This is prevalent in all aspects of society, those who have control over a person or a group of people can do horrible thing to fuel their ego or for their own personal gain. This point is also made in many literary works, for example the short stories “There Not Your Husband” and the “Road out of Eden” both portrays this message. “There Not Your Husband” follows Earl a husband lost his job and has his ego broken so to build himself up he takes control of his wife's weight, but in the process causes her to lose the weight in an unhealthy way. This is similar to the “Road out of Eden” that follows a group of boys that are getting bullied but begin to fight back and strive for power over their bully, however this lead to some unforeseen issues. Ultimately “There Not Your Husband” and the “Road out of Eden” both illustrate how people who desire power because of their ego can do terrible things once they obtain it, this is prevalent throughout the pursuit of power by the characters, the symbolism of dominance that are prevalent throughout the story, and the characters motivations.

Siering states this in her article as she is breaking down female sexuality in the novel, Twilight. The simple fact in her statement is that Bella cannot resist Edward and cannot control her sexuality and lust for him. Both Siering and Kilbourne relate to each other through different forms of writing by implicitly agreeing that media portrays women as if they cannot make their own decisions and that women have no self control.

The camera focuses on Edward’s face; it shows how pale and sad he is. The gothic horror feature used here is the physical appearance of the “monster”. Edward is a large, dark figure with objects (his scissor hands) that can cause harm. This is very stereotypical of the gothic monster as this has been used in Frankenstein (1931) and Nosferatu (1922), and is imprinted in viewers’ minds. But what makes us question how monstrous Edward truly is, is his facial expression and the way he talks. Unlike most gothic horror monsters, he does not have a scary personality. He is shy and is not the antagonist. As the story continues, all the bad deeds he does, are actually the result of someone else taking advantage of him. As viewers, we see this, and we are led to believe that it is not Edward who is the monster, but rather the community Peg has brought him into. By manipulating common features of gothic horror films, Edward Scissorhands is able to influence the audience into believing the “monster” of the film is Edward, but when the tradition is changed, it makes us think that not everything is black and white, and that to get the correct judgement, we must wait until all evidence is presented.

The essentials of a vampire story are an older man representing corrupt values and a young innocent female that get destructed in order to continue the life force of the male. This can be applied to the Twilight series, as Edward uses Bella. Edward and Bella fall in love; stripping away her innocence, and is brought into the lifestyle of vampires. In the course of the movie Bella gets hunted and runs away; using all of her energy. She runs away from home, stripping her from her youth. Within the next few movies, Bella gets pregnant, destructing her body, and gives birth to Edwards baby in order to continue the life force of the male.

Gothic writers are fascinated by power struggles, but often shock readers by reversing conventional power differences. Examples of this include the power of rationality against religion, and the female voice and sexuality being powerful, highly controversial topics during the Victorian era. These power struggles often reflect the writer’s own experiences and views, for example Poe frequently presents power struggles between humans and the supernatural due to losing his loved ones, and mental illness. Similarly, in ‘Dracula', Stoker portrays the supernatural as powerful, but with strong sexual undertones,

Almost every sin imaginable is included in this text if one were to interpret Bram Stoker’s writing to be as such. The glaring Christianity, coded sexual innuendo, and the vampire stereotype still attracts many to this novel. Despite the Victorian era’s social expectations of a woman, gluttony and lust are the two most abundant and greatly detailed sins alive in this text and usually descriptively, if not symbolically intertwined. The female characters of this novel lavishly display their sexual and physical appetites throughout the novel thus tempting the male figures. Mina and Lucy are portrayed in opposition to both each other and societal norms, in the nineteenth century and these traits are still displayed today in the twenty-first century. Voraciousness and Lust as portrayed through vampirism in Dracula details the dichotomy of Bram Stoker and of all men; which wife would a man want to have, the smart maternal plump woman or the fanciful beautiful thin woman.

The film ‘Edward Scissorhands’ by Tim Burton, is a modern day fairy tale which follows the story of Edward, a young man that is taken out of isolation and introduced into a new way of life. Although the film is for entertainment, that is not its sole purpose. The film has deep and rich themes, which convey many important messages to the audience. Some themes of the film include; conformity, appearances versus reality and individuality.

Edward is quickly accepted, and conformed, by society when he proves to be useful, still the women become bored and vilify Edward to create a more entertaining situation. In doing this, Edward is alienated for the same reasons he was originally warmly welcomed. Burton uses exaggeration to illustrate the exploitation and misunderstanding commonly experienced by “outsiders”.

In the late 19th century, when Dracula by Bram Stoker is written, women were only perceived as conservative housewives, only tending to their family’s needs and being solely dependent of their husbands to provide for them. This novel portrays that completely in accordance to Mina Harker, but Lucy Westenra is the complete opposite. Lucy parades around in just her demeanor as a promiscuous and sexual person. While Mina only cares about learning new things in order to assist her soon-to-be husband Jonathan Harker. Lucy and Mina both become victims of vampirism in the novel. Mina is fortunate but Lucy is not. Overall, the assumption of women as the weaker specimen is greatly immense in the late 19th century. There are also many underlying

Critical analysis of the novel reveals the themes of sexuality and the buried symbols held within the text. Due to feminism and sexual ideas presented in the book, the stories focus the attention on men who fall victims of the forbidden female pleasures and fantasy. From the setting of Dracula, Victoria Era, the novel encompasses all social prejudices and beliefs regarding the roles assigned to women and men. Men used to have enough freedom and lifted up to authority while women were suppressed socially. Bram Stoker uses the two women; Lucy Westenra and Mina Harker and Professor Van Helsing to express the ideal women should be and should not be in the ideal society. The dissenting opinion gives threat to the patriarchal Victorian society to end in ruins.

Once again, a final aspect to consider is the narrative structure of the novel. Like Wuthering Heights, Twilight makes use of a first person narrator who invites the reader to take her point of view. A major difference is that Bella is not observing the story she narrates, but experiencing it as a main character. Her narration is more personal and emotional, lacking Nelly Dean's narrative distance. Although the novel is written in past tense, there is no frame narrative or explicit narratee but an illusion of immediacy. One reason the Twilight saga was so successful is that female readers could easily identify with the heroine, not in the least due to her open display of desire for Edward, although the transgressive power of

Feminist analysis has argued that the patriarchal system of gender inequalities which empowers men and oppresses women underpins sexual violence and that stratification and social control are fundamental elements in the sexual domination of women Brownmiller (1975:4).

Heathcliff marries Isabella not for love but revenge, to torture Catherine and Edgar. This is not wholly different from the relationships in Twilight. Bella is a simple minded girl who becomes infatuated with Edward, a century old vampire who feeds on animal blood. As with Edgar being thrown in to complicate things, in comes Jacob Black, a shape-shifting Native American. He is in love with Bella and pursues her endlessly starting in New Moon and continuing into Eclipse and the first two thirds of Breaking Dawn. This only ends when Bella gives birth to her daughter, Renesmee. Upon sight of the newborn, Jacob imprints on her, effectively linking himself to the child in a relationship that will become romantic at some point in the rather near future. To summarize, there is a woman obsessed with one man, but marries another and a girl who marries a man who sees her as revenge in Wuthering Heights. In the Twilight saga we have two men in love with one simple girl and a seventeen year old boy involved with a baby. All the while these couples are doing nothing but inflicting pain upon themselves and the people they are involved with.

Eventually, Bella and Edward had fallen in love with each other. Edward told her that he is a vampire. At this part of the movie the viewer already know he is and Bella has an idea that he is as well. But, it is an important part to the movie because it shows the viewer how Edward tells her how he really does not want to hurt her but it is hard for him because he can 't read her thoughts, Bella is not scared at all. But when the viewer watches the film they want to see Bella’s reaction and how Edward responds to it. This is a very meaningful part of the movie and was a great way to show how Bella wasn’t frightened that Edward was a vampire and how she trusted him greatly. Bella also knew that Edward would not harm her in any way. Even though Edward was not sure of himself that he had what it takes to be strong and not change Bella’s life forever, by turning her into his kind, a vampire.

Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, published in 1897, explores various sexual erotic possibilities in the vampire's embrace, as discussed by Leonard Wolf. The novel confronts Victorian fears of homosexuality; that were current at the time due to the trial of playwright Oscar Wilde. The vampire's embrace could also be interpreted as an illustration of Victorian fears of the changing role of women. Therefore it is important to consider: the historical context of the novel; the Victorian notion of the `New Woman' specifically the character of Lucy Westenra; the inversion of gender roles; notions of sexuality; and the emasculation of men, by lessening their power over women; in the novel Dracula. In doing this I will be able to explore the effects