How is Edward Cullen Like Victor Frankenstein?
Come Along on Ed and Vic's Excellent Twilight
Nov 29, 2008
Edward Cullen, the male protagonist of Stephanie Meyer’s famous Twilight series, bears an interesting correlation to another, far older, but equally famous antihero: Victor Frankenstein. Mary Shelley’s famous 18th century novel also details the trials and tribulations of a handsome and gifted harbinger of a twisted soul. Neither character achieves true redemption or even much in the way of transformation. Why ,then, are they both bound for an enduring reputation as the Don Quixotic monsters of horror literature?
Cullen and Frankenstein put on a Handsome Face
Both Cullen and Frankenstein are physically attractive, but both hide hidden monstrous qualities. Cullen is a vampire, one of the undead, a drainer of life’s blood. Frankenstein is a mad scientist who regenerates an alter ego out of dead matter. Both associate with monsters who stalk their beloved women: Bella and Elizabeth.
Cullen and Frankenstein are Lovers and Fighters
In the first book of the Twilight series, Edward saves Bella from the venom of the murderous vampire James. Bella’s survival is contingent upon Edward’s openness with her about his vampire status, and his diligence in protecting her from harm. In this way he is superior to the anguished Victor, who never discloses his monstrous creation to Elizabeth, protecting himself, instead, from the label of madman. In this way, Victor fails to save Elizabeth from the clutches of his modern Prometheus who destroys her on her wedding eve, consummating in death, a night planned for the consummation of love. Victor plans to extinguish the life of his monster after the beast destroys his loved ones; Edward is more organized and proactive.
Bella eventually perishes and becomes a vampire because of an unplanned pregnancy . Yet she and Edward are happily reunited in death, and immortality, while Victor and Elizabeth are lost to each other and separated forever.
Cullen and Frankenstein: Epilogue
The Twilight series ends with Edward as a 110 year old ,happily married ,husband and father. He lives in a big house with his extended vampire family, putting up with the prospect of an eventual werewolf son-in-law, and rendering new meaning to the cliché of living happily (and eternally) ever after.
Victor, on the other hand ,loses his family to the murderous impulses of his creation and their devastating after effects. He spends his days hunting the monster through the silent, frozen, sliding glaciers of the north; wasted, sick, and haunted by his own demonic consequences.
Is Twilight a slick version of the wholesome ignorance and lack of depth that demeans modern letters? Is Frankenstein a melodramatic parody of Mary Shelley’s own outcast status after she left home to live with her married lover at the age of 16? Regardless of opinion or analysis, both novels portray their male protagonist with sympathy, lust, and affection. Perhaps Edward is the modern version of horror heroes; he learns to live with and overcome his monstrous shortcomings through sensitivity and the love of a good woman.
