Breaking Dawn

I can't tell you how determined I was to hate Breaking Dawn. I had my mind made up.

I've been losing patience with each successive reread. We get it: Bella is hyperfocused on both Edward and Jacob. She can't conceive of a future without one or both of them dominating it. Meyer perpetually tries to spin being controlling and forceful as the strongest evidence of a man's love for a woman. Power dynamic issues only become more pronounced and intrusive as the series progresses. New Moon and Eclipse especially put the romance genre to shame. But the thing is, I don't think Breaking Dawn is romance at all.

I think it's horror.

Pregnancy is presented as grotesque, parasitic, emotionally and physically traumatic, life-threatening. Meyer pulls out all the body horror stops: blotchy bruised skin, snapping bones, projectile vomit that's human blood, and not even Bella's. Is this Twilight or Alien? It is truly disgusting. I don't know why we gave these books to children. And yet, pregnancy is also presented as undeniably worth it. But maybe only because against all odds, Bella survives. So much so that now she'll never die.

Meyer raises fascinating questions about autonomy and parenthood. Plenty of taboo subjects are front and center. Abortion, fertility, surrogacy. If a doctor tells a woman her pregnancy will kill her, who has say in whether to see it through? Her? Her partner? Her doctor? Some combination? When does autonomy begin and end? Meyer almost flips the abortion debate on its head—fighting for the human life of the mother is more pressing than any concerns about the gestating fetus.

Is it more cruel to force medical decisions on others, or stand by and watch your loved one choose a path that will kill them? Is it wrong to intervene? Is it wrong not to? How do we protect our loved ones from harm they subject themselves to? If Edward and Bella not only belong together, but belong to one another, are their choices their own? The premise that Edward keeps Bella safe has never held less weight. But for once, and at last, Bella gets to know best. She survives her pregnancy. She becomes a vampire. Despite the fierce opposition of men in her life, her choices work out, better than even she could have hoped. She gets to be right.

So then, is Meyer arguing women can only really grow up into adults by giving birth and becoming mothers? Why doesn't Bella get to narrate her own pregnancy? Is it so Jacob can be looped back in to imprint on a baby (don't even get me started) named Renesmee (don't even get me started)?

Is Rosalie the only one willing to defend Bella's agency, or is she living vicariously through her because Bella has choices she wishes were possible for her? (I maintain that Rosalie and Leah are the two most interesting female characters, though both are vilified. Leah is put through so much I wonder if Meyer based her on a real-life nemesis. The best male characters, if you were wondering, are Seth Clearwater and both Bens, Angela's short king and an Aang-like vampire abruptly introduced in the ninth hour.)

It do still be racist though. A superstitious cleaning lady who doesn't speak English provides us insight about Bella falling pregnant. Jacob is regularly referred to as a dog and mongrel by various vampires, and at one point is brought a meal in a dog bowl. Amun, an Egyptian vampire, doesn't let his wife speak. Despite being constantly ordered around and not consulted by Edward, Bella finds this off-putting. The Amazon vampires are described as feline-like and uncivilized, clad in animal skins. Bella meets a dark-skinned man (Meyer seems leery to say Black outright except in reference to Jacob's surname) in the “ghetto” whose eyes bug out at her pale beauty. Another dark-skinned character (his skin tone is described as impossible??) is later introduced whose father is absent and selfish, a man whose violent disposition endangers innocent women. Edward is held up in stark contrast to him, exemplifying a devoted, involved patriarch. Blech.

The end of the book is laughably anticlimactic, it's hundreds of pages too long, and imprinting has disturbing connotations that go unacknowledged. But you know what? Stephenie is right. Pregnancy is gross and scary, and motherhood elicits either the deepest joys or the darkest turmoil, depending on agency and autonomy. Or maybe it does a little of both, regardless. Weird message to end on, but I'm far more compelled than when Edward and Jacob were taking turns touching Bella's face.