Twilight: Representations of Gender and Sexuality in Vampire TalesFor a long time, storytellers have used the blood-sucking undead to portray a sexual deviant. Wilson recognized that the vampire theme first appeared as a popular reaction to Polidori's story in 1819 (579). The Twilight Saga, a romantic science fiction film adaptation of modern vampires, has grossed more than $3.3 billion in worldwide sales, according to Wikipedia (Par 1). The main thing that grabs the audience's attention is the sexual tension between the two main characters; a tension that remains unresolved until the couple gets married near the end of the series. This is also the main reason why I devoured these five Twilight series in one week, just to know where Bella and Edward's relationship would go. Despite the enormous success of the novel and film, it contains the underlying message of gender conformity in Twilight that makes me hesitant to give full support. In the film, Edward is strong and violent, saving the helpless Bella from danger at all times; Meanwhile, Bella suffers from low self-esteem and apparently does not get along well with her peer group, with the exception of Edward and his family. Through society's expectations regarding gender roles, Twilight perpetuates vampire tales as they relate to stereotypical depictions of gender and the sexuality of today's vampire figure by depicting women as being driven by their emotions and men as domineering and controlling when it comes to romantic relationships. Vampire characters have existed in different genres. literatures as a trope of sexuality – sometimes in the form of irresistible male vampires such as Dracula who seduce women with their gaze and prey on them. Although vampires have not always been depicted ... middle of paper ...... feeding on animals instead of preying on humans. Some might argue that Meyer ruined vampires by glorifying them as soulful superhumans like a fallen angel and suppressing their horrific nature of pure evil. When we look at the history of vampire myths, the representation of vampires transforms according to contemporary concerns about disease, natural phenomena and human emotions that we cannot control. There's no doubt about the enormous popularity and remarkable pop culture influences that Twilight has achieved, but one might have hoped to see an evolved adaptation of gender representations to modern times in the new vampire story. As much as we love mystery romance fiction about supernatural immortals like Twilight, it's important not to lose a critical eye and question the underlying messages analytically..