I've spent a lot of time studying fairytales, folklore, and mythology and I have to say I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the way Stephenie has taken these stories and turned them upside down and sideways.

Some random examples:


Snow White...except the Prince IS the poison, and his kiss brings not the promise of life but rather the probability of death. And BTW, he and not she is the fairest of them all.

Cinderella...except she has to be forced into attending the ball, not just once but over and over again. Think The Prom, The Birthday Party, The Grad Night, The Wedding....

Rapunzel...this one cracks me up...we have the princess locked in her tower (Bella alone in her room, or so Charlie always thinks), but Edward has access, Alice does, so does Jacob, even Riley....It's practically Grand Central Terminal in there.

Beauty and the Beast...except the monster never appears monstrous to her at all; she falls in love with him BECAUSE of his enchanted state, not in spite of it. And rather than her love making him human again, it will make her a monster.

Hansel & Gretel...except instead of being forced from her home by a nasty stepmother, Bella chooses to leave when a kindly stepfather appears, but she does get lost in the forest (in more ways than one).

Little Red Riding Hood...only here the wolf IS the studly woodsman and her protector.

The Little Mermaid...but seen in mirror image. Instead of the mythical creature longing to become human we have a human trying to become a mythical creature, though both are prompted by a great love. And in both cases the change will involve tremendous sacrifice and terrible suffering.

Orpheus & Eurydice...except instead of Orpheus the *great musician* descending into the Underworld to rescue his love, we have Bella literally going underground to save Edward from the Volturi.

Another nice twist is that Orpheus was warned that as soon as he brought Eurydice into the *sunlight* she would be *changed* back from a Shade to a *mortal*, but should he look at her prior to that, she would remain forever a Shade in the Underworld. Of course, since Shades *move silently* Orpheus can't tell she's behind him so he finally yields to *temptation* and turns around. And loses her. He can't return because Hades cannot be entered twice by the same path, *there was no going back once he made the choice* so his only chance of being with her is in death. He plays such a mournful tune on his lyre that the forest animals are *driven mad by grief* and *tear him apart* (which, incidentally, is the way werewolves kill vampires). There may be a parallel or two here. But instead of Orpheus dying to be with Eurydice, so to speak, we have Bella becoming undead to be with Edward.

I can do this all day but I'll leave you with one last example, for which I beg forgiveness in advance. It is simply that these books are a twist on the Resurrection story. We have a protagonist who hopes to make a sacrifice prompted by love and will die to the world, but after three days will arise in a glorified state. There is even a warped version of the blood sacrament, if you will.

I mean no sacrilege here! Quite the opposite, in fact. I'm merely pointing out that eventually, almost all stories with archetypal themes end up as Resurrection stories. (Harry Potter, anyone?) I think it's because we humans are hardwired for it. If you go back and examine every one of the fairytales mentioned above, you will see the common thread running through them. They each involve an innocent hero/heroine who is abused but not contaminated by human vice, who makes sacrifices and undergoes trials which lead to transformation and ultimately to salvation through love.

Does it get any better than that?

ANNOUNCEMENT 1/14/09: This thread is now at capacity and is Read-Only, but ongoing discussion can be found in the Midnight Sun-12 Chapters forum under the title Fractured Fairytales, Part II. We will be happy to meet up with you there, and we hope you also enjoy perusing the conversations here. A helpful index is found on page 100.

This is an interesting point. I didn't even think of that.

That is very, very true.

Thank you for an even deeper view...
that was beautiful.

I posted a reply to this earlier today, but had issues. It obviously got lost in cyberspace.

If I recall.....I said something to the effect of, "I am gonna go run and get my glasses and a pencil and a piece of paper". Then I will feel more studious. Ok, I will atleast look more studious.

Sometimes I wonder if I am smart enough for all this stuff. I used to be really smart. Then I had kids and I think each one of them sucked...hehehe, I said sucked away part of my brain power!

Great thoughts!

Whoa! See--to all you critics who think this forum is a waste of time (sacriledge--I didn't say it). I think we can qualify for college credit... Literature 101.

Great points! Thanks for giving me so much to think about.

And if this is a fairytale, it will have a happy ending, right? Right??

I loved reading this, thanks!!

Thanks for being so receptive! Everyone, I beg you to chime in with any other similarities and/or counterpoints to folklore/mythology/fairytales/legends that you come up with. I LOVE THIS STUFF.

And I love how Stephenie wove in the legends of the Spirit Warriors and the Wolfmen. At least, I think she did? I'm not familiar with any vampire or werewolf myths among the Native Americans of the Northwest (or, if you're Canadian, the Native Americans of the Southwest ). How impressive if they're solely her invention. They're beautiful and I could picture it all so clearly as they were being related around the campfire.

In addition to the fairytale connections I also enjoy how she's included the classics:

In Twilight we have Edward and Bella in a Mr. Darcy & Elizabeth Bennet situation that just tickles me (P&P is my absolute favorite novel of all time). The intensity of their awareness of each other is very exciting at the same time their mutual avoidance is so amusing because we know all along where this is going.

New Moon has obvious references to Romeo & Juliet and, as I mentioned earlier, Orpheus & Eurydice.*

Eclipse makes no apologies about reinventing Wuthering Heights but also tosses in some Anne Shirley & Gilbert Blythe to sweeten all that love triangle angst.

The stories even have a little Isis & Osiris and some Abelard & Heloise going on, some Mary Shelley, some Robert Barrett and Elizabeth Barrett Browning....It's great fun finding all the threads in the tapestry.

* And if you look at an earlier version of this myth, "Demeter & Persephone," you gain a whole new appreciation of Stephenie: lovely innocent Persephone is lured by her smitten uncle Hades to a gorgeous *meadow* of *perpetual spring, youth, and beauty* where she finds a strange flower that *glows in the sun*, and as soon as she picks it the earth opens up and she falls into the Underworld where Hades marries her. Her separation from the *land of the living*, especially from her mother, causes her much pain and suffering, but she falls in love with the "strange, *cold-blood* king," her husband. Demeter, meanwhile, is insanely unhappy without her daughter and searches the earth for her. Once Hades agrees to let Persephone come up for part of each year, Demeter allows that time to be fruitful and verdant (hence the reason for our seasons).

Another variation has Demeter so distraught that she attempts to *immortalize* so she can *keep forever* the infant son of a household where she is a guest by (in one version) nursing him from her divine bosom or (another version) feeding him a *poison* elixir of poppy juice and milk. In either case the mother of the child halts the transformation, which is a very similar story to the earlier tale of Isis who, while searching for her husband's *torn-apart body segments*, encounters the young son of Astarte and attempts to immortalize him, but Astarte finds out and stops her just in time.

Now, this all makes me wonder if it is indeed a female (Alice or maybe even mother-goddess figure Esme??) who will try to change Bella, and if one of Bella's parental units is going to come charging in and put a stop to it. DAH-dah-daaaaa.

Me thinks I need to do some research on some of these stories before I can offer an intelligent response. But I fully agree regarding P&P, Wuthering Heights and Romeo & Juliet. It's wonderful to see these classic themes woven throughout the books.

Wow! I feel so much smarter now! You should be a lit teacher! I would have never made the connections you have! Good for you!

Wow. I remember some of those stories from my Lit classses in college and high school. But that was so long ago. I feel like I need to pull out my dusty books and brush up. We will see if that really happens. Good work!

I think my IQ just jumped up 12 points! If I memorize that and repeat it to my "real" life friends, I think that they would think I was smart!

Thank you so much shimmerskin! You've rendered us all speechless! I know I couldn't begin to add anything to that, but it is so interesting. Ilove all of the different discussions these books have started. At first I just thought it was all love and happy feelings. But I so have enjoyed the deep thoughts they have aroused. Hee hee, I just said aroused. She I'm like Twila, my brain is not up on that level. Shimmerskin, I hope you are meeting with us on Sat. We need you there for more deep thought.

SNL... Deep Thoughts by Shimmerskin...

What a fascinating thread! I am blown away. Thank you Shimmerskin for sharing this with us. I am in awe.

I hope you can make it,but it sounds like you'll be all over the place. We will also be meeting in march, or any other time if you want.

I have no idea about the charm. Maybe pm gypsy or EndlessTwilight. They both do jewerly stuff.