Edward Cullen (Twilight)

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Edward Cullen
Twilight series character

Edward Cullen as portrayed by Robert Pattinson in the upcoming Twilight movie.
First appearance Twilight
Created by Stephenie Meyer
Portrayed by Robert Pattinson
Information
Aliases Edward Anthony Masen (human name)
Species Vampire
Gender Male
Age 17 (physically)
Date of birth 20 June 1901
Date of death 1918 (as a human)
Occupation Student
Family Edward Masen (biological father)

Elizabeth Masen (biological mother)

Esme Cullen (adoptive mother)

Carlisle Cullen (adoptive father)

Alice Cullen and Rosalie Hale (adoptive sisters)

Jasper Hale and Emmett Cullen (adoptive brothers)
Spouse(s) Bella Swan (fiancée)
Children None

Edward Cullen (born Edward Anthony Masen) is a fictional character in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. He is currently featured in the books Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse. He will also appear in the upcoming books, also by Stephenie Meyer, Breaking Dawn and Midnight Sun, the latter of which will be from Edward's point of view.

Contents

[edit] Personal history

Edward Cullen was born Edward Anthony Masen on June 20, 1901 to Edward Snr. and Elizabeth Masen. He and his parents contracted the Spanish influenza during an epidemic that devastated Chicago, Illinois in 1918. Orphaned and nearly dead from the disease, Edward was changed into a vampire by one of the physicians caring for him, Carlisle Cullen, acting on the directions from his loving, dying mother to "save him". From that point onward, Carlisle raised Edward as his son, instilling in Edward a morality unusual among the vampires of Meyer's fictional universe. Central to this way of life is a refusal to consider humans as food. Edward had a rebellious period near the beginning of his life as a vampire, and used his mind-reading abilities to prey on only the worst of society. However, after a few years he became guilt-ridden and returned to Carlisle and his way of life. In the series, Edward and his vampire family, which includes his parents Carlisle and Esme and siblings Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett, often come into conflict with other vampires as a result of this morality, which goes against their natural vampiric nature. A particular source of conflict is Edward's relationship with the human Isabella (Bella) Swan.

[edit] Twilight

When Edward first meets Bella in Twilight he is overwhelmed by the scent of her blood, to the point of contemplating slaughtering Bella on the spot, along with twenty other schoolchildren to avoid any living witnesses.[1] To prevent calamity he temporarily runs away to Alaska, but eventually returns to Forks. Determined not to allow Bella to disrupt the life he and his family have created in Forks, Washington, Edward starts to converse with Bella in class. The day after his return, he risks exposing himself as inhuman by using his supernatural speed and strength to save Bella from being hit by a van. She witnesses his abilities and becomes suspicious, but Edward denies having done anything out of the ordinary. The two become friends and eventually fall in love. On a trip to the La Push reservation, Bella learns from Jacob Black that the Cullen family is supposedly a coven of vampires who existed during his great-grandfather's time, and who feed on animal blood.

Being with Edward is a lethal risk for Bella because he must always fight his desire for her blood. He constantly warns Bella against being with him, trying to instill in her a healthy fear for her life which he perceives as continually at risk if she continues to associate with him. However, Bella's love and confidence in Edward's restraint is such that his warnings fall on deaf ears, even after his worst fears are justified when through her association with Edward and his family, Bella becomes the target of a "non-vegetarian" vampire, James. With his family's help, Edward is able to save Bella from James' predations, but the question of how to assure Bella's continued safety remains an open one.[2]

[edit] New Moon

The story of New Moon begins with Bella being very upset by her 18th birthday, because it will make her "older" than the permanently 17-year-old Edward. During her birthday party Bella accidentally cuts herself, and his brother Jasper's instinctive hunger for Bella's blood reminds Edward of the continual danger their relationship puts her in. In a misguided attempt to protect Bella, he convinces her that he does not love her anymore and leaves with his family, leaving her heartbroken and "like a zombie".

Although Edward lived as a vampire without romantic love for nearly a century before meeting Bella, he finds it difficult to live without her, becoming severely depressed at the prospect of an infinitely long and meaningless life. After mistakenly believing that Bella has committed suicide, Edward attempts to convince a group of Italian vampires, the Volturi, to kill him. Together with his sister Alice, who has some prophetic ability, Bella rushes to Italy and stops Edward before the Volturi can destroy him.

Realizing that their current situation– misery apart, fear for Bella's humanity while they are together– is untenable, Bella successfully seeks Edward's family's support for the idea of turning her into a vampire. Edward becomes furious at the thought of Bella losing her humanity in order to be with him, but later agrees to change her himself if she agrees to marry him first.[3]

[edit] Eclipse

Eclipse continues the drama of Bella and Edward's relationship. Edward explains that he is reluctant to change Bella into a vampire because he believes that vampires are soulless creatures who have no place in heaven. Bella, whose opinion of marriage is jaded by the early divorce of her own parents, agrees to marry Edward on the condition he will sleep with her while she is still human. He initially refuses, saying that he could easily lose control in the heat of the moment, however, seeing how important it was to Bella, he agrees to try and make love to her while she is still human, but only after they are married.

The plot is driven by the machinations of the vampire Victoria, who first met Bella and the Cullens during the first book, Twilight. Victoria is hunting Bella and creating new vampires to build an army. To combat this threat, a grudging truce is made between the Cullens and the Native-American werewolf pack led by Sam Uley and Jacob Black, a childhood friend of Bella's. However, the truce is endangered when Bella, despite her engagement to Edward, falls for Jacob as well. Ultimately, Edward accepts that Bella cares for Jacob and successfully destroys Victoria, and Bella acknowledges that Edward is the most important person in her life, agreeing to tell her father of her and Edward's engagement. Edward tells Bella that they can sleep together before they get married, as he realizes that she spends too much of her life trying to please other people. However, she refuses his offer and says that she will do everything the right way: engagement, marriage, making love and then becoming a vampire. [4]

[edit] Breaking Dawn

Little is said about Edward in the exclusive preview of Breaking Dawn that has recently been released. It is known that he bought Bella an expensive, flashy sports car that "isn't even available in The United States yet" after her ancient Chevy truck finally died, and that his sister Alice is busy making preparations for his and Bella's wedding.

[edit] Physical appearance

Like all the vampires in the Twilight series, Edward is described by Bella as being impossibly beautiful. At various points in the series, she compares him to the mythical Greek god Adonis. His skin is "like marble"– very pale, ice cold, and sparkles in the sunlight. His face has very high cheekbones and Bella describes that models would sell their souls to have a face like Edward's. His hair, which is always in casual disarray, retains the unusual bronze shade that he inherited in his human life from his biological mother. His eyes, once green, are now described as a liquid golden topaz. His fingers are described often as slender and he is said to have a dazzlingly crooked smile. His appearance changes if he goes long without feeding: his eyes darken, becoming almost black, and purple bruises appear beneath his eyes. Edward stands at 6'2", and has a slender but muscular build.

[edit] Romantic relationships

[edit] Bella

Bella is Edward's first and only girlfriend, though they generally use the term "soul mates". Edward has a strong attraction to Bella's blood, making it extremely difficult for him to even be in her presence. Early on in Twilight, Edward struggled to stay away from Bella in an attempt to protect her, but he eventually fell in love with her despite his apprehensions. For this reason Edward sees himself as selfish, knowing that he should stay away from Bella for her safety but not being able to bring himself to do it. As much as he loves her, Edward is adverse to changing Bella into a vampire, despite her strong desire to become one, because of his belief that vampires are damned and soulless creatures. However, in Eclipse he agrees to do so after they are married, and she eventually accepts his proposal.

[edit] Rosalie

Rosalie Hale was changed into a vampire by Carlisle Cullen after he found her near death in the street. She has blond hair and is described as the most beautiful woman in the world. Carlisle had originally hoped that she would be a daughter to him and a romantic companion for Edward. However, their feelings for each other remained those of loyal siblings, and Rosalie eventually fell in love with Emmett Cullen instead.

[edit] Tanya

Tanya is a strawberry-blonde vampire who lives in Denali, Alaska with her family, the only other known group of vampires who, like the Cullens, have chosen not to feed on the blood of human beings. She expressed an interest in Edward when they first met, but he turned her down in a characteristically gentlemanly way. Edward later tells Bella that Tanya poses no threat to their relationship, teasing Bella that he prefers brunettes.

[edit] Vampiric traits

Edward, like all vampires in the Twilight series, possesses superhuman beauty, strength, speed, endurance, and agility. His breath and voice are enormously seductive, so much so that he occasionally sends Bella into a pliant daze entirely by accident. In Twilight, Edward explains that like other vampires, he does not need to breathe, though he chooses to do so out of habit and because it is helpful to smell his environment. He cannot digest regular food, and compares its attractiveness for him to the prospect of eating dirt for a regular person. As well, like other vampires, Edward is not able to sleep.

In addition to the traits he shares with his fellow vampires, Edward has certain abilities that are his alone. He is the fastest of the Cullens, easily able to outrun any of them. Perhaps as a result of a talent for empathy in his human life, Edward can also read the mind of anyone within a few miles of himself; Bella is the sole exception to this rule, which Meyer has stated is due to Bella having a very private mind.[5] Edward also retains some of the traditional mindset and dated patterns of speech from his early-20th century human life.

[edit] Personality and traits

Edward is described in the book and by Bella as being charming, polite, determined, stubborn and "completely and utterly perfect". He is very protective over Bella and puts her safety, humanity and welfare before anything else. Also, he often over-analyzes situations and has a tendency to overreact, especially in situations where Bella's safety is at risk. He retains some outdated speech from his human life in the early 20th century, and can be very romantic.

[edit] Movie portrayal

Robert Pattinson will play the role of Edward Cullen in the upcoming film adaptation of Twilight.[6] Robert Pattinson was once quoted as saying that twimoms and IMDB Twilighters have dry and wrinkley vags while Twatlighters are animals bed.

[edit] References

  1. ^ StephenieMeyer.com | Midnight Sun
  2. ^ Meyer, Stephenie. (2005) Twilight. 498pp.
  3. ^ Meyer, Stephenie. (2006) New Moon. 563pp.
  4. ^ Meyer, Stephenie. (2007) Eclipse. 629pp.
  5. ^ Twilight Lexicon | Personal Correspondence #10
  6. ^ MTV Movies Blog » Kristen Stewart Wants A ‘Twilight’ Series That Sucks…In All The Right Ways

[edit] External links

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