This is really an awful comparison to make, but it must be made, as it keeps floating around in my head wanting to escape. The love triangle of Peter, Richard, and Clarissa is pretty comparable to that of Edward, Jacob, and Bella, with a little imagination of course. Before I delve deeply into the comparison of the two sets of lovers, I just need to say that I haven't actually read the books of the Twilight Saga. I have, however, seen the movies and so all of my points are based off the movies. I am sorry if I insult any of you hard core Twilight fans with my ignorance. So now I can begin.
To start out, we must match each character to their respective twin from the other book. Obviously, Clarissa and Bella are each others counterparts. I think Jacob is like Richard and Edward is like Peter. Before you think that I am wrong because Clarissa and Bella choose different boys, let me explain myself and I'll get to that discrepancy later. Clarissa and Bella are partners because they are both the only girl in their love triangle and they have the choice between two men they love. Although they are very different people they face similar problems when it comes to love. Jacob and Richard are similar because they are both the "safe choices" (or at least the safer choice as I feel a vampire that doesn't age and wants to kill you is not quite as safe as a werewolf). They both love the girl in their book and the girl loves them but not with the same passion as the girl loves the other suitor. Edward is like Peter and vice versa because they are the dangerous, passionate choices.
The one problem that the analogy faces is that Clarissa and Bella make different choices in the end. To put it bluntly, the choices made are different because Twilight is a highly fictitious, angsty set of teen love/drama novels while Mrs. Dalloway is a refined critique of many aspects of British society. That is to say that choosing the dangerous choice as Bella does in the highly fictitious, angsty set of teen love/drama novels is way more exciting than choosing the safe man of Parliament as Clarissa does in Woolf's novel. Along the same lines, Clarissa and Bella are just completely different characters who share very little personality wise. Also, Woolf is making her world somewhat realistic while the world of Twilight is blatant fantasy. Thus, Clarissa chooses the safe choice because it is more realistic in the scheme of her life and Bella chooses the dangerous boy because it is exciting and she doesn't need to be logical because she is a teenager who is choosing between a vampire and a werewolf.
Thus ends my comparison of Mrs. Dalloway and the Twilight Saga. I hope their is some appreciation for it somewhere. Just note that the substantial content of the two works, other than the love triangle, is not at all similar. Just in case that was unclear.
No comments:
Post a Comment