Previous
Mom
Carlisle is Edward’s adoptive father. He works at the county hospital as a doctor and surgeon, and he’s responsible for changing Edward, Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie into vampires. An immortal vampire, Carlisle was born in the mid 17th-century to an Anglican pastor father. As was common at the time, Carlisle led hunts for Catholics, witches, and vampires—and one of those hunts resulted in a starving vampire biting Carlisle, turning him into a vampire. An extremely moral person, Carlisle detested being a vampire (which he considered evil) and tried to destroy himself. But, ultimately, he realized he didn’t have to be a monster: he could feed on animals, just as he did when he was a human. This discovery allowed Carlisle to throw himself into learning. After 200 years of practice and study, Carlisle developed the self-control necessary to be able to work as a doctor and surgeon without feeling any urge to feed on human blood. Much of Carlisle’s early life as a vampire was lonely, which is why he decided to change dying humans whom he encountered in his work as a doctor, like Esme and Edward, into vampires. Carlisle is calm, dignified, and extremely diplomatic—he developed the treaty with the Quileutes a century before the novel begins that forbids the Cullens from setting foot on Quileute land, and he also calmly defends Bella to James, Laurent, and Victoria despite their rudeness.
Dr. Carlisle Cullen Quotes in Twilight
The Twilight quotes below are all either spoken by Dr. Carlisle Cullen or refer to Dr. Carlisle Cullen. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1 Quotes
“They’re all adopted. The Hales are brother and sister, twins—the blondes—and they’re foster children.”
“They look a little old for foster children.”
“They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen, but they’ve been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She’s their aunt or something like that.”
“That’s really kind of nice—for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they’re so young and everything.”
“I guess so,” Jessica admitted reluctantly […] “I think that Mrs. Cullen can’t have any kids, though,” she added, as if that lessened their kindness.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2 Quotes
“He’s an asset to the community, and all those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them. But they’re all very mature—I haven’t had one speck of trouble from any of them. That’s more than I can say for some of the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should—camping trips every other weekend…Just because they’re newcomers, people have to talk.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes
“When you walked past me, I could have ruined everything Carlisle has built for us, right then and there. If I hadn’t been denying my thirst for the last, well, too many years, I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself.” He paused, scowling at the trees.
He glanced at me grimly, both of us remembering. “You must have thought I was possessed.”
“I couldn’t understand why. How you could hate me so quickly…”
“To me, it was like you were some kind of demon, summoned straight from my own personal hell to ruin me.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes
“The others—the majority of our kind who are quite content with our lot—they, too, wonder at how we live. But you see, just because we’ve been…dealt a certain hand…it doesn’t mean that we can’t choose to rise above—to conquer the boundaries of a destiny that none of us wanted. To try to retain whatever essential humanity we can.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes
“His father was an intolerant man. As the Protestants came into power, he was enthusiastic in his persecution of Roman Catholics and other religions. He also believed very strongly in the reality of evil. He led hunts for witches, werewolves…and vampires.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes
“One night, a herd of deer passed his hiding place. He was so wild with thirst that he attacked without a thought. His strength returned and he realized there was an alternative to being the vile monster he feared. Had he not eaten venison in his former life? Over the next months his new philosophy was born. He could exist without being a demon. He found himself again.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes
“You have saved me,” he said quietly.
“I can’t always be Lois Lane,” I insisted. “I want to be Superman, too.”
[…]
“Do you wish Carlisle hadn’t saved you?”
“No, I don’t wish that.” He paused before continuing. “But my life was over. I wasn’t giving anything up.”
“You are my life. You’re the only thing it would hurt me to lose.” I was getting better at this. It was easy to admit how much I needed him.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Twilight LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Dr. Carlisle Cullen Character Timeline in Twilight
The timeline below shows where the character Dr. Carlisle Cullen appears in Twilight. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...are Edward, Emmett, and Alice Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. They live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife. In a scandalized voice, Jessica says that Emmett and Rosalie are a...
(full context)
Chapter 2
...of the Cullens; the kids, she says, are “different.” Charlie looks angry. He says that Dr. Cullen is brilliant, and that the town is lucky to have him. He was concerned at...
(full context)
Chapter 3
Dr. Cullen comes around the corner, and Bella’s jaw drops—he’s young, blond, and extremely handsome. He looks...
(full context)
As soon as Dr. Cullen leaves, Bella asks Edward to speak privately. They move into the hallway, and suddenly, Edward...
(full context)
Chapter 6
...when he learned that some Quileutes weren’t going to go to the county hospital after Dr. Cullen got his job there.
(full context)
Chapter 12
...Billy will tell Charlie about seeing Bella with Edward. The men haven’t spoken much since Dr. Cullen moved to town.
(full context)
Chapter 13
...first walked into the biology classroom. She seemed like a demon designed to ruin everything Carlisle had worked so hard for. He almost killed her again in the office that afternoon;...
(full context)
Chapter 14
...how old he really is. With a sigh, Edward says he was born in 1901. Carlisle found him dying of the Spanish flu in 1918, at 17 years old. His parents...
(full context)
Edward says that Carlisle changed Rosalie next. Carlisle had hoped that Rosalie would be a partner for Edward, but...
(full context)
...to hold onto their humanity. Then, with Bella’s prodding, Edward talks about vampires’ special gifts. Carlisle suspects that vampires’ gifts expand on some quality they had when they were still human—for...
(full context)
Chapter 15
...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...
(full context)
...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...
(full context)
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...
(full context)
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...
(full context)
Chapter 16
Edward leads Bella to Carlisle’s office, and Carlisle invites them in. The walls are covered in bookshelves, and Carlisle looks...
(full context)
Bella asks Edward to finish Carlisle’s story. Edward sighs that at first, Carlisle tried to destroy himself by leaping from great...
(full context)
Edward says that Carlisle and the others couldn’t reconcile their different ideas about what to eat, so Carlisle decided...
(full context)
...he was saving people. But Edward ultimately couldn’t justify taking human lives and returned to Carlisle and Esme.
(full context)
Chapter 17
Bella takes stock of the teams. Edward, Carlisle, and Alice are in the outfield, while Emmett swings an aluminum bat. After one strike,...
(full context)
Carlisle deliberates and then suggests that they continue playing; the newcomers, according to Alice, are just...
(full context)
Chapter 18
...a third man takes the lead. These three seem catlike and are dressed like backpackers. Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper step up to meet them, looking polished in comparison. When the newcomers...
(full context)
Laurent asks Carlisle what his hunting range is, and Carlisle says they hunt in the nearby mountains and...
(full context)
...James lurches forward, and Edward crouches and snarls in response. Chills run down Bella’s spine. Carlisle says that Bella is with them, and Laurent asks if Bella is a “snack.” James...
(full context)
Chapter 19
...insists, is unstoppable and lethal. Laurent then asks if this is really worth it, and Carlisle tells Laurent he must choose who to support.
(full context)
Downstairs, Emmett and Edward are ready to head out into the night to chase James. Carlisle offers Esme and Alice small cell phones and says that Esme and Rosalie will take...
(full context)
Chapter 20
...still. Bella asks what’s wrong, and Alice’s answer—nothing—seems too honest. Bella ascertains that Alice expected Carlisle or Edward to call before now, and Bella feels suddenly panicky. Jasper reminds Bella that...
(full context)
...Bella starts to feel panicky. She asks Alice what’s going on. Calmly, Alice says that Carlisle was going to lead James north and then ambush him, while Esme and Rosalie were...
(full context)
The phone rings, and Alice picks up; it’s Carlisle. She tells him about her vision, and Carlisle says James just got on a plane....
(full context)
Chapter 21
...feel dull. When Alice hangs up, she says that Edward is on his way; he, Carlisle, and Emmett are going to take Bella somewhere else. They’ll meet him at the airport,...
(full context)
Chapter 23
...something else snapping and breaking. The angel tells Bella to please stay and calls for Carlisle. He weeps, but Bella can’t tell him to stop. Carlisle says Bella’s leg is broken....
(full context)
Edward and Carlisle realize that James bit Bella. Alice says that Edward has to do it, and Carlisle...
(full context)
Chapter 24
...room; they couldn’t handle Bella’s blood. Alice was able to stay, along with Edward and Carlisle. Edward adds that Alice has seen the tape.
(full context)
Epilogue
...was very angry when Bella got hurt in Phoenix. Bella tells Jacob that Edward and Carlisle saved her, but Jacob makes it seem like there’s more. With prodding, Jacob says that...
(full context)
