A COMPARATIVE PSYCHOANALYSIS STUDY
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
EDWARD LEWA USU
Student Number: 044214011
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
i
A COMPARATIVE PSYCHOANALYSIS STUDY
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
EDWARD LEWA USU
Student Number: 044214011
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
memuat karya atau bagian karya orang lain, kecuali yang telah disebutkan dalam
kutipan dan daftar pustaka, sebagaimana layaknya karya ilmiah.
Yogyakarta, 20 April 2010
Edward Lewa Usu
iv
and refuses nothing when I asked Him?
v
This thesis is dedicated to
The Lord, my parents, my lecturers
vi
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama : Edward Lewa Usu NIM : 044214011
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul
THE RELATION BETWEEN VAMPIRE CHARACTERS AND THEIR SOCIETY IN BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA AND STEPHENIE MEYER’S TWILIGHT AS A REFLECTION OF FREUDIAN STRUCTURES OF PERSONALITY: A COMPARATIVE PSYCHOANALYSIS STUDY
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan ini saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk lain, mengelola dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun royalitas kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Yogyakarta, 20 April 2010
Yang menyatakan,
vii
I would like to express my humble gratitude to the Lord Jesus Christ,
whose accompaniment and blessings have enlightened me thus far in the process
of finishing this thesis, months after months. My most affectionate gratitude goes
to my mother, Christina Titien, my late father Silvester Antonius Kodhi, and also
my two lovely sisters, Sylvia Wise and Lelyana Selah.
My sincere gratitude goes to Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum., my
advisor, for his endless and thorough guidance and advice while the writer was
working on this thesis. My sincere gratitude also goes to Modesta Luluk Artika
Windrasti, S.S. my co-advisor, for the guidance and the help.
I am grateful to my all of my best friends: Pama Jubata, Rissaksana
Sinuksmandria, Dibson Williamsyah, Patricius Wolo, Putu Rizki Saputra, Nanang
Prasetyo, Hermas Bram, Bara Diska Putra, Martha Dani, Stella Marissa Yuda
Wahu, the English Letters Gamers Fellowship, Flores-Indonesian United
Community (PFI), and many others that could not be mentioned by name here, for
their sincere brotherhood and companionship.
Finally, my most profound undying love goes to the lady of my dreams,
Huang Fung Lie. “You complete me.”
viii
1. Theory of Characters and Characterization ... 10
2. Theory of Three-part Model of Personality ... 12
3. Theory of Individuation ... 14
C. Theoretical Framework ... 16
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ... 18
A. Object of the Study ... 18
B. Approach of the Study ... 21
C. Method of the Study ... 22
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ... 24
A. The Description of Count Dracula and Edward Cullen ... 24
1. The Description of Count Dracula ... 24
a. Physical Appearance ... 24
b. Background as a Vampire ... 26
c. Life as a Vampire ... 32
2. The Description of Edward Cullen ... 35
a. Physical Appearance ... 35
b. Background as a Vampire ... 37
c. Life as a Vampire ... 41
B. The Freudian Three-part Model of Personality Reflected by Count Dracula, Edward Cullen, and Their Society ... 45
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a. Edward Cullen’s Id ... 53
b. Edward Cullen’s Superego ... 54
c. Edward Cullen’s Ego ... 54
C. How Count Dracula and Edward Cullen Relate to Their Society .... 62
1. Count Dracula and His Society ... 62
2. Edward Cullen and His Society ... 65
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ... 68
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 74
APPENDICES ... 77
1. The Summary of Bram Stoker’s Dracula ... 77
x
and Their Society in Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight
as a Reflection of Freudian Structures of Personality: a Comparative Psychoanalysis Study. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
Literary works contain many unusual and imaginative things, including vampires, mythical blood-sucking creatures commonly depicted with human features. This study compares two famous works that feature vampire characters: Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight. There is a fundamental difference in how the vampire characters are presented in the works. This study compares how the vampire characters relate to their respective society.
There are three objectives of this study. Firstly, this study discovers how Count Dracula in Dracula and Edward Cullen in Twilight are described based on Abrams and Murphy’s theory of character. Secondly, it discovers how Count Dracula and Edward Cullen reflect the three-part model of personality, based on Freud’s theory. Lastly, it discovers the form of Count Dracula and Edward Cullen’s relation with their society, based on Jung’s theory of individuation.
Psychoanalytic approach is applied because this study utilizes some chief theories in psychoanalysis, namely Freudian three-part model of personality and Jungian individuation. Library research is applied as the method of the study.
xi
and Their Society in Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight
as a Reflection of Freudian Structures of Personality: a Comparative Psychoanalysis Study. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Karya sastra kerap mengandung hal-hal khayal, termasuk vampir, makhluk penghisap darah berwujud manusia dalam legenda. Studi ini membandingkan dua karya sastra terkenal dengan tokoh utama vampir: Dracula oleh Bram Stoker dan
Twilight oleh Stephenie Meyer. Tokoh vampir ditampilkan dengan sangat berbeda dalam kedua karya tersebut. Studi ini membandingkan bagaimana kedua tokoh vampir berhubungan dengan masyarakat berdasarkan teori psikoanalisis.
Studi ini bertujuan untuk menjawab tiga permasalahan utama. Pertama, studi ini membahas penggambaran tokoh Count Dracula dalam Dracula dan Edward Cullen dalam Twilight berdasarkan teori karakter Abrams dan Murphy. Kedua, studi ini membahas bagaimana Count Dracula dan Edward Cullen mencerminkan tiga bagian kepribadian berdasarkan teori Freud. Ketiga, studi ini meneliti bentuk hubungan Count Dracula dan Edward Cullen dengan masyarakat di sekitar mereka berdasarkan teori individuasi Jung.
Pendekatan psikoanalisis dipilih karena studi ini menerapkan teori-teori inti dalam bidang psikoanalisis, yakni teori tiga bagian kepribadian Freud dan teori individuasi Jung. Studi ini menggunakan metode penelitian perpustakaan dalam mengumpulkan data.
1
A. Background of the Study
One of the characteristics of literature is estranging. A wide array of
unusual things which are far from the ones normally encountered in real life, be it
characters, places, or events, are abound in literary works. The examples are
unusual non-human characters with human characteristics, usually based on myths
or legends in various cultures, such as vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and many
more.
An example of such characters is the vampire. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines vampire as “the body of a dead person that is believed by some to leave its grave at night and suck the blood of living people” (Hornby, 1995:
1320), while Roxanne Rhoads in her article “The Erotic Vampire: How Literature
Has Changed the Image of Vampires” states that vampires are originally
“bloodsucking creatures that prowled the night and preyed on the weak and the
poor” (http://www.associatedcontent.com/page.shtml?content_type=article&
content_type_id=416037).
As discussed by Matthew Gibson in his article “Vampires and Vampire
Fiction”, the idea of the vampire might have originated from local legends in
various cultures since the beginning of the millennium, including the Hindu
goddess Kali, as well as the Magyars and Huns in Eastern Europe
to figure prominently in literature in the 18th century especially in German and
English literature, for example in Gottfried August Bürger’s poem Lenore in 1773, Goethe's ballad Die Braut von Korinth (The Bride of Corinth) in 1797, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem Christabel in 1797 (Summers, 128: 274).
One of the most famous fictions on vampire is Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Published in 1897, it has been considered as the birth of modern vampire myth in
literature (http://www.associatedcontent.com/page.shtml?content_type=article&
content_type_id=416037). It became such a landmark in vampire literature that
the name of the main character, Count Dracula, has been “known to many people
who have not read the novel, and who may even not know that it is the title of a
novel” as the synonym of vampire character, as discussed by Valerie Pedlar in
The Literary Encyclopedia (http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true& UID=5509).
More than one century after the publication of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, a novel called Twilight by Stephenie Meyer was published and gained widespread popularity, especially among young readers. As discussed by Christine Seifert in
her article, it has sold more than 50 million copies and “has done the unthinkable:
knocked Harry Potter off his pedestal as prince of the young adult genre” (http://bitchmagazine.org/article/bite-me-or-dont). The novel features Edward
Cullen, a century-old vampire in 17-year-old body, as one of the main characters.
Although both are fictions with a vampire character as one of the main
characters, the two novels have many differences. Other than obvious ones such
target audience, there also lies a more fundamental difference, namely the
difference in how the vampire characters are presented.
The vampire character in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Count Dracula, is an aristocratic old man “clad in black from head to foot” (Stoker, 1897: 24), with
“blazing red” eyes (1897: 52), “white sharp teeth” (1897: 166), and other physical
oddities. He lives alone in a castle and is described as “cunning”, “devil” and
heartless (1897: 280). Perpetually bloodthirsty, he always tries to kill human
beings and drain their blood. In turn, the human characters in the novel, such as
Jonathan, Mina, Quincey, and Dr. Van Helsing, try to chase and kill him. To put it
briefly, the character of Count Dracula is the typical image that most people have
in mind upon thinking about vampire characters.
On the other hand, while clearly described as a vampire character as well
as possessing some common traits of vampire, the main character of Stephenie
Meyer’s Twilight, Edward Cullen, has several aspects which differ from Count Dracula or other typical vampire characters. For instance, he has the physical
appearance of a handsome seventeen-year-old boy, goes to high school like any
other adolescent human beings, drinks animal blood rather than human blood, and
thus does not kill humans. Undoubtedly, the vampire character in Meyer’s
Twilight is so far different with the one in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
This topic appeals to the writer to examine using theories from the realm
of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis was originally a practice in psychology to treat
emotional and psychological disorder based on Austrian neurologist Sigmund
development phases and the division of human mind into conscious and
unconscious (Bressler, 1999: 148). Psychoanalysis reading was originally used for
individual cases only, but now it can also be applied to a larger scope of entities,
for instance a society or a literary work. In psychoanalytic literary criticism,
psychoanalytic critics “make large-scale applications of psychoanalytic concepts”
to literary history or literary work (Barry, 2002: 105).
According to Freud, every person’s behavior results from the interaction
of three forces, namely the id, ego, and superego. This notion is known as
“tripartite human psyche” or three-part model of the human personality (Pettijohn,
1987: 245-246). A balanced interaction between those forces creates a
well-balanced person with well-well-balanced behaviors.
In this study, the writer examines the three-part model of personality in
both Bram Stoker’s and Stephenie Meyer’s vampire characters while also treating
their respective society as one of the forces in the three-part model, namely as the
superego. By examining the relation between the forces in the three-part model of
personality, the writer aims to provide explanation about the differences in Count
Dracula and Edward Cullen’s characteristics and their relation with their
B. Problem Formulation
In order to guide the subjects under discussion, the research questions are
formulated as follows:
1. How are Count Dracula in Stoker’s Dracula and Edward Cullen in Meyer’s Twilight described?
2. How do Count Dracula, Edward Cullen, and their society reflect the
Freudian three-part model of personality?
3. How do Count Dracula and Edward Cullen relate to their respective
society based on the Freudian three-part model of personality?
C. Objectives of the Study
This study aims to answer the problems formulated above. The first
objective of the study is to discover how the characters of Count Dracula in
Stoker’s Dracula and Edward Cullen in Meyer’s Twilight are described. The second objective is to discover how Count Dracula, Edward Cullen, and their
respective society reflect the Freudian three-part model of personality. The third
objective is to discover the form of Count Dracula and Edward Cullen’s
relationship with their respective society based on the Freudian three-part model
D. Definition of Terms
To avoid any misunderstanding, the key terms used in this study are
defined as follows.
1. Three-part Model of Personality
Three-part model of human personality or “tri-partite human psyche” is
the theory suggested by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud, which states that
every person's behavior is the result of the interaction of three forces, namely the
id, superego, and ego (Pettijohn, 1987: 245-246).
2. Id
The id is the most basic instinctual or biological drives, which “unconsciously and impulsively seek immediate pleasure and consider nothing
else” (Pettijohn, 1987: 245).
3. Ego
The ego is “a conscious faculty for perceiving and dealing intelligently with reality” which mediates between the id and superego (Pettijohn, 1987:
244-245).
4. Superego
The superego, also known as conscience, is the moral aspect of the personality which consists of instilled values, such as societal and parental values,
5. Vampire
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines vampire as “the body of a dead person that is believed by some to leave its grave at night and suck the blood
of living people” (Hornby, 1995: 1320). Montague Summers in The Vampire: His Kith and Kin defines vampire as “living, mischievous and murderous dead body” who “attack people sleeping quietly in their beds, suck out all their blood from
8
A. Review of Related Studies
The first related study is an English Education Program undergraduate
thesis by Emanuella Mau entitled “An Analysis of Count Dracula as the Major
Character in Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Its Resemblance to That of Prince Vlad the Impaler”. As denoted by the title, this study also compares two vampire
characters, namely Count Dracula from Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Vlad the Impaler, a legendary figure who was the Prince of Wallachia, in Eastern Europe,
in the 15th century. In this thesis, Mau examines the resemblances between Count
Dracula and Vlad the Impaler in their habits and behaviors towards human beings.
Socio-cultural-historical approach is used in this study.
As a result of the study, Mau discovers that the characters of Count
Dracula and Vlad the Impaler share a number of resemblances. Both of them
enjoy murdering and torturing human beings albeit with different methods, are
well-organized in doing anything, and are cunning and evil (Mau, 2002: 65).
The second related study is an article by Christine Seifert entitled “Bite
Me! (Or Don't)”, which was published in the August 2008 edition of Bitch Magazine. Seifert discusses the abstinence message in the Twilight series from a feminist point of view. The novel depicts Bella and Edward, a couple of teenaged
lovers who refrain from sexual intercourse since Edward, a vampire, might easily
series has created a successful new sub-genre of teen romance, “abstinence porn”,
which is “sensational, erotic, and titillating,” and as a result the novel has attracted
many devoted fans who obsess over “Edward and Bella’s chaste but sexually
charged relationship” and “delight in Edward’s superhuman strength to just say
no” (http://bitchmagazine.org/article/bite-me-or-dont).
At a glance, it seems very good, especially considering this novel’s
massive popularity among young readers, especially girls. However, while Meyer
implies sex as something dangerous which must be avoided by teenagers, she also
depicts woman as the powerless and dependent side in a romantic relationship
through the character of Bella. In the novel, Edward has taken on the role of
protector of Bella’s human blood and chastity, although both her blood and
chastity are in fact always endangered when he is nearby. Throughout their
premarital abstinence, Bella is not in control of her body; she is absolutely
dependent on Edward’s determination to protect her life and her virginity. She is
the object and the means of Edward’s ability to prove his self-control. Thus, the
control is still held by Edward as the man.
This notion is supported by Breaking Dawn, the third novel in the series in which the couple has already married and Edward has turned Bella into a vampire.
Bella is described as “a throwback to a 1950s housewife” who has no interesting
hobbies and disregards the world around her, while Edward spends his whole day
“to go to either saving Bella from danger or watching her when she sleeps”
(http://bitchmagazine.org/article/bite-me-or-dont). Bella is also described as
and she tries to like it when Edward “makes love” so violently that she wakes up
bruised the next morning. That way, from the feminist point of view, the novel’s
abstinence message still objectifies Bella in the same ways that “real” porn might
(http://bitchmagazine.org/article/bite-me-or-dont).
Like Emanuella Mau’s thesis, this study also presents a comparison
between two vampire characters. However, while Mau’s study examines the
similarities between the fictional Count Dracula to the allegedly real Vlad the
Impaler, this study examines the differences between two fictional vampire
characters from different eras and different genres, Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula
and Stephenie Meyer’s Edward Cullen. Furthermore, while Seifert’s article
analyzes the character of Edward Cullen from feminist point of view with the
novel’s abstinence message as the focus, this study analyzes the differences
between Count Dracula and Edward Cullen using psychoanalytic theories and
psychoanalytic approach.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theories of Character and Characterization
Character is one of the intrinsic elements of a story. Abrams in his book A Glossary of Literary Terms defines characters as:
From the definition above, it can be concluded that the moral and emotional
qualities of the characters can be seen through their speech and action. In creating
the personalities of the characters, an author generally blends several methods
skillfully together so that the reader is often unaware of the skill with which the
author is revealing characters and personalities piece by piece. As a result, in
successful literary works, the readers tend to think of the author’s creations as real
people (1981:173).
Murphy in his book Understanding Unseen: an Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Student defines characterization as the process in which an author describe the characters in his or her work, in order to
“convey to the reader what sort of people they are” and “make the reader get to
know and understand them” (Murphy, 1972: 161). He lists nine methods to
describe a character in literary works, namely through personal description such
as physical appearance and clothes, direct comment from the author, description
or comment about the character through other characters’ point of view, other
characters’ conversation about the character, the character’s speech, past life,
thoughts, mannerism or habits, and reactions to various situations and events
(1972: 161-171).
Characters can be classified into several types. Based on the character’s
qualities, Abrams classifies characters into two types, flat and round. Flat
characters are presented with simple details and are “built around a single
quality”, while round characters are “complex in temperament and motivation and
undergone by the characters, Holman classifies characters into two types, static
and dynamic. A static character undergoes little or no change at all. A dynamic
character is modified by his or her actions and reveal the consequences of the
actions (1986: 83).
2. Theory of Three-part Model of Personality
Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist, is considered as “the intellectual
founding father” of psychoanalytic literary criticism, upon whose theories and
techniques this criticism is based.
The foundation for all forms of psychoanalytic criticism irrefutably belongs to Freud and his theories and techniques developed during his psychiatric practice. Whether any practicicing psychoanalytic critic uses the ideas of Jung, Frye, Lacan, or any other psychoanalyst, all must acknowledge Freud as the intellectual founding father of this form of criticism (Bressler, 1999: 159).
One of Freud’s chief theories is known as the tripartite human psyche or the three-part model of human personality, which he published in his book The Interpretation of Dreams in 1900 then in his paper “The Ego and the Id” in 1923 (Pettijohn, 1987: 245-246). This theory states that every individual’s behavior is
the result of the interaction of three forces, namely the ego, the superego, and the
id (Pettijohn, 1987: 245-246). The ego and part of the superego forms the conscious mind, or “the part of personality that we are aware of in everyday life”,
while the id and another part of the superego forms the unconscious mind, which
is the larger part of our personality that is not readily available to us but has strong
The id is the most basic instinctual or biological drives in an individual’s personality. It “unconsciously and impulsively seek immediate pleasure and
consider nothing else” (Pettijohn, 1987: 245), or as discussed by Kasschau,
operates based on the pleasure principle, thus seeking to fulfill desires instantly without considering the consequences (Kasschau, 1995: 272). The id consists of
two major instincts, Eros and Thanatos. Eros or the life instinct is manifested for instance in sexual urges to reproduce, while Thanatos or the death instinct is
manifested in aggressive urges to destroy (Pettijohn, 1987: 245).
The superego is the moral aspect in an individual’s personality, which is commonly known as conscience. It consists of instilled values, such as values
learned from the family and society as an individual grows up, and operates based
on the moral principle (Pettijohn, 1987: 245). It functions to restrain the id and to compare the ego’s actions with an ideal of perfection and rewards or punishes the
ego accordingly, for instance through guilty feelings or low self-esteem (Morris,
1990: 452).
The ego is the conscious, rational, and thoughtful part in an individual’s personality. As the dominant force in the personality of a well-adjusted person, it
consists of “a conscious faculty for perceiving and dealing intelligently with
reality” (Pettijohn, 1987: 244-245), and as discussed by Kasschau, operates based
on the reality principle (1995: 272). It functions as the mediator between the id, superego, and reality; based on the condition in reality, it delays satisfying the id’s
Ego has the most difficult function, because it has to satisfy three
elements: the id, the superego, and reality. If the id is not satisfied, an individual
will feel extreme tension of longing, anger, or desire. If the superego is not
obeyed, he or she will feel guilty and inferior. If the external reality is not
responded appropriately, he or she will get negative reactions from other
individuals, the society, or cause some harm to himself or herself, for instance
starvation (Kasschau, 1995: 272).
3. Theory of Individuation
The theory of individuation is proposed by Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss
psychologist who worked with Sigmund Freud and was a part of the
psychoanalytic community in the 1950’s. He developed on psychology theories,
including Freudian psychoanalysis theories, further. Later, Jung’s school of
psychology is known as analytical psychology or Jungian psychology, while
individuation is the central concept described in analytical psychology (Jung,
1989: 209).
Individuation is defined in Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Volume 6: Psychological Types as “the process by which individual beings are formed and differentiated; in particular, it is the development of the psychological individual
as a being distinct from the general, collective psychology” (Jung, 1976: 757).
Individuation is considered as the goal of an individual’s psychological
development. The objective of individuation process is “the synthesis of the self”
not mean overcoming one’s personal psychology or becoming perfect, but rather
“to become familiar” with one’s personal psychology (Sharp, 1991: 82).
Jung states that individuation has two aspects. The first aspect is the
internal integration of an individual’s psychology, and the second aspect is the
individual’s objective relationship with everything outside him or her, including
the society.
Individuation has two principle aspects: in the first place it is an internal and subjective process of integration, and in the second it is an equally indispensable process of objective relationship (Jung, 1966: 448).
Related to the first aspect, to experience individuation, a person firstly
must have increasing awareness of his or her “unique psychological reality,
including personal strengths and limitations” (Sharp, 1991: 82). Therefore,
individuation “depends on a vital relationship between ego and unconscious”
(1991: 82). Related to the second aspect, a person must also be able to deeper
appreciate humanity in general (Sharp, 1991: 82). This is supported by Jung’s
ideas that an individual is not just a separate being, but is a part of collective
relationships.
As the individual is not just a single, separate being, but by his very existence presupposes a collective relationship, it follows that the process of individuation must lead to more intense and broader collective relationships and not to isolation (Jung, 1976: 758).
Individuation does not shut one out from the world, but gathers the world to itself (Jung, 1976: 758).
According to Jung, every individual cannot fully become integrated with
of guilt in his or her relation with the society. To redeem this guilt, he or she must
make or do something which reflects the values of the society.
That is the guilt which the individuant leaves behind him for the world, that is the guilt he must endeavor to redeem. He must offer a ransom in place of himself, that is, he must bring forth values which are an equivalent substitute for his absence in the collective personal sphere (Jung, 1954: 1095).
As the reward if the individual can produce values that are equivalent to
the society’s values, the society will give esteem to him or her. On the contrary, as
the punishment if the individual fails to produce equivalent values, the society
will give condemnation to him or her.
The individuant has no a priori claim to any kind of esteem. He has to be content with whatever esteem flows to him from outside by virtue of the values he creates. Not only has society a right, it also has a duty to condemn the individuant if he fails to create equivalent values (Jung, 1954: 1095).
Lastly, if an individual forces to raise his or her way as a norm, there will
be conflicts with collective norm.
C. Theoretical Framework
This part will discuss the contribution of the theories above to answer the
problems formulated in the first chapter. Firstly, Abrams’ theory of characters,
Murphy’s theory of characterization, and Abram and Holman’s theory of types of
characters are used to answer the first problem regarding how the characters of
Count Dracula in Stoker’s Dracula and Edward Cullen in Meyer’s Twilight are described. By applying these theories, the writer can discover both Count Dracula
of human personality is used to answer the second problem regarding how Count
Dracula, Edward Cullen, and their society reflect the Freudian three-part model of
personality. Lastly, Jung’s theory of individuation is used to answer the third
problem regarding how Count Dracula and Edward Cullen relate to their
18
A. Object of the Study
This study is a comparison of two works of fiction. Therefore, the object
of the study is comprised of two novels, namely Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight.
Dracula is a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. It was first published by Archibald Constable and Company in May 1897. As discussed in The Literary Encyclopedia, this novel is classified under the genre of gothic, horror, and even adventure novel (http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5509).
The myths and folklore of vampire have been existing in various cultures since
the beginning of the first century, from the Hindu goddess Kali in Asian culture to
Eastern European cultures such as the Magyars, Huns, and Transylvannia, which
became a source of inspiration for Stoker in writing the novel Dracula
(http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1670).
However, as discussed by Roxanne Rhoads in her article “The Erotic
Vampire: How Literature Has Changed the Image of Vampires”, the novel
Dracula has been considered as the birth of modern vampire myth in literature, which pertains until today’s literature (http://www.associatedcontent.com/
page.shtml?content_type=article&content_type_id=416037). Not only in
literature, but the novel has also been adapted to many movies all through the
Stoker's Dracula (1992), as well as hundreds other movies featuring Count Dracula as the character, as listed in the Internet Movie Database
(http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0002561).
This novel is presented as a series of journal entries, letters, and articles
from the characters. An English solicitor Jonathan Harker was sent to Count
Dracula’s castle in Transylvania to give information on a house that Count
Dracula just bought in London. He found many weird and frightening things in
the castle. He managed to escape although he was badly stressed. Meanwhile,
Dracula moved to London to find more victims and bit Lucy Westenra, the best
friend of Harker’s fiancée Mina Murray. Dr. Seward, the friend of Lucy and her
fiancé Arthur Holmwood, called his mentor Professor Van Helsing. They tried to
cure Lucy, who had turned into a vampire, but failed. Meanwhile, Mina went to
meet Harker in Budapest. They got married there and returned to England. Van
Helsing, Dr. Seward, Arthur, Arthur’s friend Quincey, Harker, and Mina worked
together to destroy the undead Lucy and Count Dracula. While they were working
to destroy Dracula, he attacked Mina and turned her into a vampire. The team
managed to send him back to Transylvania and destroyed him there, lifting the
curse off Mina, although Quincey was killed there.
Meanwhile, Twilight is a novel by American author Stephenie Meyer. It was first published by Little, Brown, and Company in October 2005. Twilight is the first of four books in the Twilight series, followed by New Moon, Eclipse,and
classified as “young adult book” as well as “teen romance”
(http://bitchmagazine.org/article/bite-me-or-dont).
Shortly after its publication, it gained widespread commercial and critical
success. It has sold 50 millions copies in the USA, finally defeating Harry Potter
series as the most popular book for young adult readers
(http://bitchmagazine.org/article/bite-me-or-dont) and has been translated into 20
languages, including Indonesian. It has also won many awards, including USA Today’s “Top 100 titles of 2008” (http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/ 2009-01-14-top-100-titles_N.htm), New York Times Editor's Choice and New York Times Best Seller, Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, American Library Association “Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults” and “Top Ten Books for
Reluctant Readers” according to Stephenie Meyer’s website
(http://stepheniemeyer.com/twilight_reviews.html). It has also been adapted to a
successful movie version in November 2008, directed by Catherine Hardwicke
and starring Hollywood actor and actress Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1099212).
The story is set in present-day Forks, a small town in Forks, Washington,
USA. Seventeen-year-old Bella Swan just moved there to live with her divorced
father. At her new school, she met Edward Cullen, whom she later found out to be
a vampire. Edward and his family are vampires who drank animal's blood and
reside in Forks. Gradually, Bella and Edward fell in love. Bella was willing to be
a vampire to be with Edward forever, but Edward refused to bite her. Meanwhile,
relationship with humans. James wanted to hunt Bella and tried to bait her, but in
the end she was saved by the Cullens siblings. In the end of the novel, Edward bit
Bella upon her own request and they spent life together eternally.
B. Approach of the Study
Psychoanalytic approach is used to examine the topic in this study.
According to Bressler in Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice, psychoanalysis was originally as a method to treat emotional and psychological disorders, based on neurologist Sigmund Freud’s division of human
mind into conscious and conscious, and Freud’s theory of human’s development
phases. Later, psychoanalysis also incorporates the ideas of Freud’s successors
such as Carl Jung and Jacques Lacan, which are the expansion or development of
Freud’s theories (1999:148).
In the 1920s and 1930s, theories from psychoanalysis began to be used as
an approach to analyze literary works. In literary criticism, psychoanalytic
approach is a form of approach that applies the ideas in psychoanalysis to
interpret a literary work. Barry in Beginning Theory states that this approach can be used to analyze the characters, plot, motifs in literary works, the author's
attitude, or even applied to a larger scale, such as society or literary history (2002:
105).
Although psychoanalysis approach originally came from the field of
psychology, it is relevant to be used as an approach to analyze literary work
Bornstein’s Psychology and Its Allied Disciplines states that literature is best at describing human condition in dramatic form (in Bornstein, 1984: 144). While
Lindauer also states that psychology studies human characteristics systematically,
both in real life as well as in literature, which is “the reflection of human feeling,
experience, and life” (Wellek and Warren, 1956: 94). Thus, both psychology and
literature study about human characteristics or condition. Kalish in The Psychology of Human Behaviour states that good literary works communicate the characters’ feelings in a life-like way, and scholars from both fields may benefit
from the connection between psychology and literature.
Writers can use the understanding provided by psychologists to enrich their stories, and psychologists can gain in their understanding of human behavior by drawing from the deep sensitivity of good authors (1973: 8).
Psychoanalytic approach is considered the most suitable approach to
analyze the topic and work in this study because this study uses one of the chief
theories in psychoanalysis, namely Freudian three-part model of personality. The
psychoanalysis approach will help explain some traits in the vampire characters
and how they relate to their society based on psychoanalytic theories.
C. Method of the Study
Library research is used as the method of the study, since the data for this
study originate from books and articles. The primary source consists of two
novels, namely Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight. The secondary sources consist of theories and related studies from various relevant
The related studies are Emmanuela Mau’s undergraduate thesis entitled
“An Analysis of Count Dracula as the Major Character in Bram Stoker’s Dracula
and Its Resemblance to That of Prince Vlad the Impaler” and Christine Seifert’s
article entitled “Bite Me! (Or Don't)” published in August 2008 edition of Bitch Magazine. The theories used in this study are Abrams’ theory of characters in literature, Murphy’s theory of characterization, Abrams and Holman’s theory of
types of characters in literary works, Freud’s theory of three-part model of human
personality, and Jung’s theory of individuation. The theories of character,
characterization, and types of characters are used to answer the first problem, to
discover how the characters of Count Dracula in Stoker’s Dracula and Edward Cullen in Meyer’s Twilight are described. Freud’s theory of three-part model of human personality is used to answer the second problem, to discover how Count
Dracula, Edward Cullen, and their respective society reflect the Freudian
three-part model of personality. Jung’s theory of individuation is used to answer the
third problem, to discover the form of Count Dracula and Edward Cullen’s
relationship with their respective society based on the Freudian three-part model
of personality.
Several steps are taken to complete this study. The first step is to read the
works under discussion; the second step is to gather related studies and theories;
the third step is to analyze the literary works using the theories, and the final step
24
This chapter discusses the questions put forth in the problem formulation
in three parts. The first part answers the first problem about the description of
Count Dracula and Edward Cullen. The second part answers the second problem
about the Freudian structures of personality reflected by Count Dracula, Edward
Cullen, and their society, while the last part answers the last problem about how
Count Dracula and Edward Cullen relate to their respective society.
A. The Description of Count Dracula and Edward Cullen
1. The Description of Count Draculaa. Physical Appearance
This part discusses the physical appearance of Count Dracula in Bram
Stoker’s Dracula, based on descriptions or comments through other characters’ point of view and other characters’ conversation about him, in accordance to
Murphy’s theory of characterization.
Count Dracula is described as a thin and tall old man clad in black with
striking physical features. Unlike ordinary humans, he has unusual, prominent
features such as bright red eyes, red lips, sharp teeth, and very pale skin. Based on
the other characters’ descriptions throughout the story, Count Dracula’s
Jonathan Harker, one of the novel’s major characters, is a solicitor’s clerk.
He is sent by his boss in London to stay in Castle Dracula for work. He is
therefore able to observe Count Dracula in detail. When he first sees Count
Dracula in the dark, Harker could only notice the strongest details such as bright
eyes, black clothes, moustache and beard, but later he could see Count Dracula
more clearly, as described below.
They were driven by a tall man, with a long brown beard and a great black hat, which seemed to hide his face from us. I could only see the gleam of a pair of very bright eyes, which seemed red in the lamplight (1897: 13).
Within, stood a tall old man, clean shaven save for a long white moustache, and clad in black from head to foot, without a single speck of colour about him anywhere (1897: 13).
His face was a strong, a very strong, aquiline, with high bridge of the thin nose and peculiarly arched nostrils, with lofty domed forehead, and hair growing scantily round the temples but profusely elsewhere. His eyebrows were very massive, almost meeting over the nose, and with bushy hair that seemed to curl in its own profusion. The mouth, so far as I could see it under the heavy moustache, was fixed and rather cruel-looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth. These protruded over the lips, whose remarkable ruddiness showed astonishing vitality in a man of his years (1897: 15).
Harker further observes Count Dracula’s features such as “hard-looking
mouth, with very red lips and sharp-looking teeth, as white as ivory” (1897: 19),
“very marked physiognomy” and “protuberant teeth” (1897: 24), “quiet smile,
with the sharp, canine teeth lying over the red underlip” (1897: 24), and his
“malignant and saturnine” smile (1897: 27) which does not match his noble,
refined words.
Later, Jonathan and his wife Mina Harker see Count Dracula again in the
From afar, she describes Count Dracula as a “dark figure” that has “great eyes like
burning flames” (1897: 74). She describes him further in the following quote.
He gazed at a tall, thin man, with a beaky nose and black moustache and pointed beard, who was also observing the pretty girl. He was looking at her so hard that he did not see either of us, and so I had a good view of him. His face was not a good face. It was hard, and cruel, and sensual, and big white teeth, that looked all the whiter because his lips were so red, were pointed like an animal's (1897: 74).
Another major character, Dr. Seward, gives a similar description about
Count Dracula’s appearance below.
His eyes flamed red with devilish passion. The great nostrils of the white aquiline nose opened wide and quivered at the edge, and the white sharp teeth, behind the full lips of the blood dripping mouth, clamped together like those of a wild beast (1897: 53).
Dr. Seward is the director of a mental asylum near Count Dracula’s estate in
London. While Renfield, a patient in the asylum, describes Count Dracula as
having eyes that are “fierce like a man’s when angry”, “red mouth”, and “sharp
white teeth” which “glinted in the moonlight” (1897: 58).
Lastly, another major character and protagonist, Professor Van Helsing
describes Count Dracula as “a tall man, thin and pale, with high nose and teeth so
white, and eyes that seem to be burning” (1897: 256).Van Helsing also describes
Count Dracula’s unusual clothing style in his statement that “he be all in black,
except that he have a hat of straw which suit not him or the time” (1897: 307).
b. Background as a Vampire
This part discusses Count Dracula’s background as a vampire based on his
characters’ point of view, other characters’ conversation about him, and his
mannerisms or habits, in accordance to Murphy’s theory of characterization.
Regarding his past life, Count Dracula originates from an old, formidable
family of Transylvanian nobleman. It is presented through his speech, “I myself
am of an old family” (1897: 27), and “Here I am noble. I am a Boyar. The
common people know me, and I am master” (1897: 27). Boyar is a nobleman title.
He is part of the Szekelys, one of the nationalities in Transylvania known as
brave, strong people. He says, “We Szekelys have a right to be proud, for in our
veins flows the blood of many brave races who fought as the lion fights, for
lordship” (1897: 27).
Count Dracula is very clever and brave but also cruel, even before he
became a vampire. This information is presented through the comment of
Professor Van Helsing, a major character who got the information from a credible
source, namely the records obtained by his friend from Buda-Pesth University.
He must, indeed, have been that Voivode Dracula who won his name against the Turk, over the great river on the very frontier of Turkeyland. If it be so, then was he no common man, for in that time, and for centuries after, he was spoken of as the cleverest and the most cunning, as well as the bravest of the sons of the 'land beyond the forest.' That mighty brain and that iron resolution went with him to his grave, and are even now arrayed against us. The Draculas were, says Arminius, a great and noble race, though now and again were scions who were held by their coevals to have had dealings with the Evil One (1897: 188).
Based on Van Helsing’s description, Count Dracula became a vampire by
making deals with “the Evil One” to learn its secrets. In this novel, the vampire,
also known as the Undead, is described as\an immortal being that feeds on human
blood and turns its victims into vampires. This information is presented through
Van Helsing’s descriptions based on his research below.
It is out of the lore and experience of the ancients and of all those who have studied the powers of the UnDead. When they become such, there comes with the change the curse of immortality. They cannot die, but must go on age after age adding new victims and multiplying the evils of the world. For all that die from the preying of the Undead become themselves Undead, and prey on their kind. And so the circle goes on ever widening, like as the ripples from a stone thrown in the water (1897: 165).
As shown in Van Helsing’s comment below, vampires are described as strong,
cunning, heartless, callous, heartless, and evil.
There are such beings as vampires, some of us have evidence that they exist. … The nosferatu do not die like the bee when he sting once. He is only stronger, and being stronger, have yet more power to work evil. This vampire which is amongst us is of himself so strong in person as twenty men, he is of cunning more than mortal, for his cunning be the growth of ages, he have still the aids of necromancy, which is, as his etymology imply, the divination by the dead, and all the dead that he can come nigh to are for him at command; he is brute, and more than brute; he is devil in callous, and the heart of him is not (1897: 193).
As also stated in the quote above, Count Dracula possesses many abilities
as a vampire. The first ability is extraordinary physical strength. Dracula’s
strength is presented through Jonathan Harker’s comments. When Count Dracula
pulls Harker to and off the caleche, he comments that “His strength must have been prodigious” (1897: 14), and that “his hand actually seemed like a steel vice
hands, Harker comments again on Count Dracula’s “strength which made [him]
wince” (1897: 14)
The next ability is to change into animals and control animals. This ability
is presented through Van Helsing’s comment about Count Dracula’s
transformations into animals below.
He has the strength of many of his hand, witness again Jonathan when he shut the door against the wolves, and when he help him from the diligence too. He can transform himself to wolf, as we gather from the ship arrival in Whitby, when he tear open the dog, he can be as bat, as Madam Mina saw him on the window at Whitby, and as friend John saw him fly from this so near house, and as my friend Quincey saw him at the window of Miss Lucy.
Count Dracula’s ability to control animals is presented through the descriptions
from several other characters. Jonathan Harker describes how Count Dracula can
force the scared horses to keep drawing the caleche by speaking to them. After he speaks to the horses, they “quieted down, but shivered and sweated as though
after a runaway from sudden fright” (1897: 16). When they encounter wolves on
their way, Harker comments that Count Dracula “could control the wolves by
only holding up his hand for silence” (1897: 16).
How he came there, I know not, but I heard his voice raised in a tone of imperious command, and looking towards the sound, saw him stand in the roadway. As he swept his long arms, as though brushing aside some impalpable obstacle, the wolves fell back and back further still (1897: 16).
Renfield, Dr. Seward’s mental patient who is obsessed about eating
animals, describes how Count Dracula promises to call millions of rats, cats, and
dogs. In response to Renfield’s disbelief, Count Dracula at once calls some dogs
and thousands of rats to cover the ground. Based on Renfield’s account, Count
every one a life. And dogs to eat them, and cats too. All lives! All red blood, with
years of life in it, and not merely buzzing flies!” (1897: 219), and that whisper
summons “thousands of rats with their eyes blazing red, like His only smaller”
(1897: 219).
Beside the abilities above, Count Dracula also has other abilities. Beside
the abilities described by Van Helsing in the following quotation, Count Dracula
is also able to become so small, come up through doors, windows, or any other
materials, and see in the dark.
He can, within his range, direct the elements, the storm, the fog, the thunder; he can command all the meaner things, the rat, and the owl, and the bat, the moth, and the fox, and the wolf, he can grow and become small; and he can at times vanish and come unknown. … He come on moonlight rays as elemental dust, as again Jonathan saw those sisters in the castle of Dracula. (1897: 180).
On the other hand, Count Dracula also has weaknesses and limitations as a
vampire. He is weakened by garlic and sacred things like crucifix and the Holy
Wafer. This is presented through the other characters’ comments. Based on his
research, Van Helsing describes the things that make Count Dracula powerless.
Then there are things which so afflict him that he has no power, as the garlic that we know of, and as for things sacred, as this symbol, my crucifix, that was amongst us even now when we resolve, to them he is nothing, but in their presence he take his place far off and silent with respect (1897: 180).
Van Helsing’s statement above is proven by his actions. He puts garlic in
Lucy’s room and round her neck. As a result, that night Count Dracula cannot
come near Lucy as a bat. Lucy makes a comment about Van Helsing, “he must
have been right, for I feel comfort from them already. Somehow, I do not dread
flapping outside the window” (1897: 205).Van Helsing lays garlic and other
similar things in the graveyard to prevent Count Dracula from entering and taking
more victims. He succeeds and Count Dracula cannot come there because of the
garlic, something “which the UnDead cannot bear” as described by Van Helsing
(1897: 208).
Beside Van Helsing, Jonathan Harker and Dr. Seward have also proven
that crucifix can make Count Dracula powerless. When Jonathan accidentally cuts
himself, the sight of Jonathan’s blood make him want to bite Jonathan. However,
his hand accidentally almost touches the crucifix around Jonathan’s neck and he
instantly stops trying to bite Jonathan.
When the Count saw my face, his eyes blazed with a sort of demoniac fury, and he suddenly made a grab at my throat. I drew away and his hand touched the string of beads which held the crucifix. It made an instant change in him, for the fury passed so quickly that I could hardly believe that it was ever there (1897: 25).
In their confrontation with Count Dracula, Dr. Seward and his friends
succeed in forcing Count Dracula back by lifting their crucifixes towards him.
They advance lifting their crucifixes, and Count Dracula “further and further back
cowered” (1897: 382).
The other limitations of Count Dracula as a vampire are that he cannot
stand sunlight, cannot enter any place outside his home without being invited, and
can only change himself at certain times, as told by Van Helsing’s below.
Beside the limitations described above, Count Dracula can only change
himself “at noon or at exact sunrise or sunset” (1897: 200). Because of those
limitations, Count Dracula cannot easily break into every human residence to bite
his victims, and he cannot wander freely during the day.
Vampires like Count Dracula can only be killed in certain ways, namely
by putting branch of wild rose on his coffin, driving a stake through his body, or
cutting off his head, as shown in Van Helsing’s description below.
The branch of wild rose on his coffin keep him that he move not from it, a sacred bullet fired into the coffin kill him so that he be true dead, and as for the stake through him, we know already of its peace, or the cut off head that giveth rest (1897: 379).
c. Life as a Vampire
This part discusses Count Dracula’s way of life as a vampire based on his
mannerisms or habits, speech, descriptions and comments about him through
other characters’ point of view, and other characters’ conversation about him, in
accordance to Murphy’s theory of characterization.
As a vampire, Count Dracula’s lifestyle is much different from ordinary
human beings. He lives alone in a big, old, luxurious castle called Castle Dracula.
One of the main characters, Jonathan Harker, is sent there by his boss. Based on
Harker’s description, the castle is “a vast ruined castle, from whose tall black
windows came no ray of light, and whose broken battlements showed a jagged
line against the sky” (1897: 25). It is located in “one of the wildest and least
known portions of Europe” (1897: 8). Count Dracula also buys an estate in
Carfax and located in an isolated area in Purfleet, London. It is old, big, and has
gloomy atmosphere, as presented through Harker’s comment below.
It contains in all some twenty acres, quite surrounded by the solid stone wall above mentioned. There are many trees on it, which make it in places gloomy, and there is a deep, dark-looking pond or small lake, evidently fed by some springs, as the water is clear and flows away in a fair-sized stream. The house is very large and of all periods back, I should say, to mediaeval times, for one part is of stone immensely thick, with only a few windows high up and heavily barred with iron (1897: 19).
In his Transylvania castle, Count Dracula lives with three female
vampires. They are described by Harker as “young women, ladies by their dress
and manner” (1897: 40). Their identity is not described specifically, but it is
implied they might be related to Count Dracula, as two of them have similar
physical features such as high aquiline noses and reddish piercing eyes, as seen in
Harker’s following comment.
Two were dark, and had high aquiline noses, like the Count, and great dark, piercing eyes, that seemed to be almost red when contrasted with the pale yellow moon. The other was fair, as fair as can be, with great masses of golden hair and eyes like pale sapphires. All three had brilliant white teeth that shone like pearls against the ruby of their voluptuous lips (1897: 40).
The relationship between Count Dracula and the vampire sisters is not good
because they quarrel over human victims. When one of the vampire sisters tries to
bite Harker, Count Dracula gets very angry because he brought Harker there and
thus has the right to suck Harker’s blood.
eyebrows that met over the nose now seemed like a heaving bar of white-hot metal.
"How dare you touch him, any of you? How dare you cast eyes on him when I had forbidden it? Back, I tell you all! This man belongs to me! Beware how you meddle with him, or you'll have to deal with me" (1897: 41).
The vampire sisters respond to Count Dracula’s anger with “a mirthless, hard,
soulless laughter”, accusing him that he “never love” (1897: 41). It is clear that
they do not have good relationship although they live together.
Count Dracula never eats or drinks like ordinary human beings. When he
invites Harker for dinner, he does not eat with Harker, saying “You will I trust,
excuse me that I do not join you, but I have dined already, and I do not sup”
(1897: 14). Rather, he sucks human’s blood and turns them into vampires. He
usually gets his victims from the nearby villages. He takes a human child from the
nearest village, smothers it, and brings it home to be sucked together, as shown in
the conversation of the vampire sisters and Count Dracula below.
"Are we to have nothing tonight?" said one of them, with a low laugh, as she pointed to the bag which he had thrown upon the floor, and which moved as though there were some living thing within it. For answer he nodded his head. One of the women jumped forward and opened it. If my ears did not deceive me there was a gasp and a low wail, as of a half smothered child.
When the baby’s mother comes, he kills her by feeding her to the wolves.
Later, he transforms into a bat and sucks the blood of Lucy Westenra, who is
sleep-walking outside. He tries to suck the blood of Mina Harker just to revenge
the men who try to slay him. He sucks her blood until she is dying of blood loss,
as shown in Mina and Count Dracula’s conversation below.
refreshment to reward my exertions. You may as well be quiet. It is not the first time, or the second, that your veins have appeased my thirst!'
"I felt my strength fading away, and I was in a half swoon. How long this horrible thing lasted I know not, but it seemed that a long time must have passed before he took his foul, awful, sneering mouth away. I saw it drip with the fresh blood!" (1897: 248)
It is clear that harming people, including sucking their blood and turning them
into vampires, has been a regular part of Count Dracula’s lifestyle.
2. The Description of Edward Cullen a. Physical Appearance
This part discusses the physical appearance of Edward Cullen in Stephenie
Meyer’s Twilight, based on descriptions or comments through other characters’ point of view and other characters’ conversation about him, in accordance to
Murphy’s theory of characterization.
Edward Cullen is described as a good-looking teenager. Despite some
unusual features such as excessive good looks and very pale skin, his appearance
is generally seen favourably by humans around him, as shown in the descriptions
and comments of Bella Swan, and her friend Jessica.
Bella Swan, the main character of the novel, is in the same Biology class
as Edward Cullen in Forks High School. Bella’s descriptions and comments
depict much information on Edward’s physical appearance. When Bella first sees
Edward and his siblings, she is fascinated by their beauty, as shown below.
Throughout the story, Bella describes Edward’s “quiet, musical voice”, “dazzling
face” which was “friendly, open”, and “flawless lips” (2005: 43). She also
describes his “straight, perfect, angular” nose and features (2005: 19), “perfect,
ultrawhite teeth” (2005: 50), and “ice-cold” fingers (2005: 45). She comments that
Edward has “a crooked smile so beautiful” (2005: 44), and that he “looks more
like a Greek god than anyone had a right to” (2005: 206).
Jessica, Bella’s friend at school, also comments on Edward’s physical
appearance favourably, which can be seen in her conversations with Bella. When
Bella says Edward is “very nice-looking”, Jessica “agreed with another giggle”
(2005: 20). She also says Edward “is unbelievably gorgeous” (2005: 204).
Apart from having good physical features, Edward Cullen is also
described as a well-dressed person, as shown in Bella’s comments below.
I hadn't noticed their clothes before — I'd been too mesmerized by their faces. Now that I looked, it was obvious that they were all dressed exceptionally well; simply, but in clothes that subtly hinted at designer origins (2005: 152).
On the other hand, Edward also has physical features that differ from
ordinary human beings, such as pale skin and eyes that change colours. As shown
in Bella’s comment, Edward is described as “chalky pale, the palest of all the
students living in this sunless town”, and he has “very dark eyes” and “dark
shadows under those eyes” (2005: 18). Edward’s eyes change colours depending
on his condition. When his mood is bad, his eyes are black, but when his mood is
good, his eyes are light, as described in Bella’s comment below.
color: a strange ocher, darker than butterscotch, but with the same golden tone (2005: 46).
In essence, despite some irregularities, Edward Cullen’s appearance generally fits
well into the human society which he lives in.
b. Background as a Vampire
This part discusses Edward Cullen’s background as a vampire based on his
past life, his speech, descriptions and comments about him through other
characters’ point of view, other characters’ conversation about him, and his
mannerisms or habits, in accordance to Murphy’s theory of characterization.
Regarding Edward Cullen’s past life, he was born in Chicago in 1901.
There is no further information about his life as a human before being a vampire,
however. In the summer of 1918, he was dying of influenza epidemic, which had
killed his family, at the age of seventeen. A vampire named Carlisle Cullen
worked as a doctor in the hospital and found him. Carlisle bit him and turned him
into a vampire in order to save him. The transformation enabled Edward to live on
as a vampire; otherwise he would die. This information is presented through
Edward’s speech.
Carlisle then took Edward to live with him. Five other vampires, namely
Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper, joined them afterwards. Like Edward,
Carlisle only bit them because they had no choice of living otherwise. All of them
live as a family. Edward himself came to regard them as his real family; Carlisle
is his father, Esme is his mother, and Emmett, Alice, Jasper, and Rosalie are his
"Carlisle and Esme have been my parents for a long time now."
"And you love them." It wasn't a question. It was obvious in the way he spoke of them.
"Yes." He smiled. "I couldn't imagine two better people."
As vampires, the Cullens drink animals’ blood instead of human blood.
They do not want to take human lives due to their compassionate nature. This
information is presented through Edward’s speech in his conversation with Bella.
When Bella asks why he hunts animals instead of people, he answers that he does
not want to be a monster.
"I don’t want to be a monster." His voice was very low. "But animals aren't enough?"
He paused. "I can't be sure, of course, but I'd compare it to living on tofu and soy milk; we call ourselves vegetarians, our little inside joke. It doesn't completely satiate the hunger — or rather thirst. But it keens us strong enough to resist. Most of the time" (2005: 187-188).
Information about Edward Cullen’s background as a vampire is also presented
through Bella’s conversation with her friend, Jacob Black. Jacob’s father and
great-grandfather are tribal elders of the Quileutes, a Native American tribe. In
their tradition, vampires are called “the cold ones” or “blood drinkers” (2005:
124). The Cullens came to Forks during Jacob’s great-grandfather’s era. Because
they did not hunt humans, Jacob’s great-grandfather was willing to make a treaty
with them. He would not expose their identity as vampires to the white people, but
they must stay off the Quileutes’ land. This information is presented through
Jacob’s comment in his conversation with Bella.
As a vampire, Edward Cullen has many special abilities. Firstly, he has
extraordinary physical strength. He saved Bella from a van crash by holding up
the car with one hand and snatching Bella with his other hand (2005: 64). He
could also rip and throw a big tree easily. Those examples are shown in Bella’s
descriptions.
He reached up with one hand and, with a deafening crack, effortlessly ripped a twofoot-thick branch from the trunk of the spruce. He balanced it in that hand for a moment, and then threw it with blinding speed, shattering it against another huge tree (2005: 264).
Secondly, Edward has the ability to move very fast. He is able to circle a
large meadow in half a second (2005: 264). He runs so fast in the forest that he
cannot be seen, as shown in Bella’s descriptions below.
He streaked through the dark, thick underbrush of the forest like a bullet, like a ghost. There was no sound, no evidence that his feet touched the earth. His breathing never changed, never indicated any effort (2005: 280).
Thirdly, Edward can charm people with his look and voice. He can make
people obey him just by talking to them. She charms Ms. Cope, a school staff, to
excuse Bella and himself from class. She gives him permission right away without
doing the normal procedure, as shown in their conversation below.
"Bella has Gym next hour, and I don't think she feels well enough. Actually, I was thinking I should take her home now. Do you think you could excuse her from class?"
His voice was like melting honey. I could imagine how much more overwhelming his eyes would be.
"Do you need to be excused, too, Edward?" Ms. Cope fluttered (2005: 102).
Lastly, Edward also has a special ability to read people’s mind, which is
