Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Twilight, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love and Lust
Self-Restraint and Morality
Good, Evil, and Perspective
Family
Summary
Analysis
When Bella wakes up, she finds Edward sitting in her rocking chair. She races to crawl into his lap, ecstatic that he stayed. Bella leaps up a moment later, concerned about Charlie, but Edward explains that Charlie left an hour ago. Afraid she has morning breath, Bella runs to the bathroom to brush her teeth and then hurries back to Edward. He rocks Bella until she realizes he’s wearing different clothes—he left last night to change. Edward assures Bella that he didn’t miss her talking last night—she said she loved him. Embarrassed, Bella says she does love him. Edward responds simply with, “You are my life now.”
After their outing the previous day , it’s clear to both of them that they’re in love. There’s no getting around it; to them, it’s an inarguable fact. That said, Edward saying that “you are my life now” could read as somewhat controlling and overbearing. But in this context, when Edward has spent the last 90 years questioning why he even exists, his point is that Bella has given his life meaning and he is entirely focused on her.
Themes
After a while, Edward says Bella should eat breakfast. They joke and banter as Bella gets cereal and asks what they’re doing today. Edward suggests that Bella come meet his family. This is an anxiety-inducing prospect, but Edward assures Bella it will be fine. He says his family took bets yesterday on whether Edward would bring Bella back, though he doesn’t know why anyone would bet against Alice. Bella asks if Alice saw her coming, and in an odd voice, Edward says it was “something like that.” Bella puzzles over his reaction until Edward says that Bella should also introduce him to Charlie as her boyfriend. It’s necessary if Edward is going to be hanging around.
Bella and Edward’s relationship may be fantastical, but they still have to go through the very human motions of introducing each other to their parents and families. The aside that the Cullens took bets on whether Edward would be successful shows Bella again how much danger she’s in spending time with Edward—even his own family doubts his self-control. Edward’s response when Bella asks about Alice’s visions is interesting—Alice clearly saw something, but it seems like whatever she saw isn’t something that Edward wants Bella to know about.
Themes
Done eating, Bella gets dressed. She bounds down the stairs, declaring that she’s “decent,” and runs right into Edward. Edward insists she’s not decent at all—she’s extremely tempting. As Edward kisses her, Bella faints. When she comes to, she says she just forgot to breathe and asks if they can get on with it. She doesn’t want to think too hard about meeting Edward’s family, since she’s so afraid they won’t like her. Edward rolls his eyes. He drives them in Bella’s truck out of town, down a rural road. A few miles after it turns to dirt, they emerge from the trees into a clearing with a huge old house that’s been impeccably restored.
Referring to Bella as “tempting” recalls the way that Edward initially thought of Bella as a temptress and as a “demon,” sent to destroy his family’s way of life. Now, Edward is pretty sure that Bella isn’t going to ruin the Cullens, but that doesn’t mean she’s not still wildly tempting in terms of her smell and sex appeal. Bella shows how different she is from many humans when she notes that she’s afraid the Cullens won’t like her—the fact that they’re vampires is no big deal to her.
Themes
Edward leads Bella inside. It’s been remodeled into an open floorplan with a wall of windows on one side. Dr. Cullen stands with his wife, Esme, on the staircase, ready to welcome Bella. They greet her warmly, and then Alice and Jasper appear at the top of the stairs. Alice kisses Bella on the cheek, but Jasper keeps his distance and offers a polite hello. Bella sees Carlisle give Edward a meaningful look, and then she notices a grand piano. Esme reveals that Edward plays, and Bella quips that Edward can apparently do anything. Jasper snickers, and Esme scolds Edward for showing off. She tells Edward to play for Bella.
The banter between Edward, his parents, and his siblings reads as pretty normal family behavior—the Cullens aren’t so different from any other family, aside from being vampires. Greeting Bella so warmly also allows them to show Edward their support for this relationship. They essentially welcome Bella as a de facto family member. The revelation that Edward plays piano further humanizes; it makes the idea that he might be an evil supernatural being seem even more ridiculous.
Themes
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Bella sits next to Edward on the piano bench, and he begins to play. He’s shockingly good, and he reveals that he wrote this piece for Esme. Then, the music changes, and Edward says he wrote this for Bella. She’s awestruck. As Edward plays, he tells Bella that his family likes her, and Bella realizes that they’re alone in the room now.
Edward’s compositions allow him to show his family members how much he cares for them. He also confirms that Bella has been accepted into the Cullen family, which means that Bella herself will also have more people to support her going forward.
Themes
Bella sighs that Rosalie and Emmett are absent, and Edward tells her to be patient. Emmett understands, but Rosalie is stubborn. She struggles with being a vampire, so she doesn’t like that Bella knows the truth about them—and she’s jealous of Bella, as she wishes she were human. Edward says that he warned Jasper to keep his distance, and Esme and Carlisle are just happy that Edward is happy. When Bella asks about Alice, Edward says that she looks at things in her own way.
Like Edward, Rosalie doesn’t see being a vampire as something good—she sees being human as superior. So Rosalie doesn’t understand at all where Bella’s coming from.
Themes
Edward clearly isn’t going to elaborate, so Bella asks about the look Carlisle gave him. Edward sighs that he’s going to be a bit protective over the next few weeks, since Alice has seen visitors coming soon. They might not even come into town, but Bella shivers anyway. Edward rolls his eyes; this is the response he’s been waiting for all along. Then, the conversation turns to the house. Edward explains that this is the one place his family doesn’t have to hide. He finishes his song and then takes Bella on a tour of the house. They head upstairs, where Edward points out everyone’s rooms. Then, Bella stops dead when she sees a huge wooden cross hanging above her.
Bella knows and trusts the Cullens, so she doesn’t see any reason to be afraid of them. The prospect of possible newcomer vampires, though, are something entirely different. Since Bella trusts Edward to keep her safe, she’s willing to go along with his assessment that these newcomers could pose a threat. Edward saying he’s going to be more protective of Bella again highlights how much he cares about her, as well as his sense that he has to be protective of her—that he is the strong one and she the one who needs protection.
Themes
Edward chuckles, says it’s from the 1630s, and explains that Carlisle’s father carved it. Carlisle was born in London sometime in the 1640s, the only son of an Anglican pastor. His father was thrilled when the Protestants came into power and enthusiastically went after Catholics—as well as vampires, werewolves, and witches. Edward says that Carlisle’s father put him in charge when he was old enough, and Carlisle discovered a coven of real vampires hiding in the sewers. He led a raid on the coven, and one of the vampires bit Carlisle. Knowing his father would burn his body, Carlisle hid in an alley—and became a vampire. Seeing Bella’s curious expression, Edward agrees to tell her more.
Carlisle was born in a time when, according to Edward, it was commonplace to prosecute groups of different people or beings simply because one’s religion or culture said to do so. Edward very specifically leaves out the “why” when he mentions Carlisle hunting these groups down—the reason he went along with it is because that’s just how it was at the time. Interestingly, Edward also notes that Carlisle hunted werewolves. The werewolves were seen as evil in 17th-century England, while the werewolves in La Push obviously don’t see themselves as evil. When Carlisle himself was forced into becoming a vampire, he was suddenly that which he had been taught to hate.
Themes
