By Shelly Voss

   Every little girl dreams about meeting her Prince Charming. The man who will bring her flowers for no reason, dance with her in the rain, kiss her before she’s brushed her teeth, love her when she’s bratty, and see her as beautiful after she’s grown old and gray.

   But as little girls grow into young women in this society, they are inadvertently taught that such expectations and dreams are unreasonable and unrealistic. They learn from the media, marriages they observe, and relationships they experience that finding Prince Charming is like meeting the Tooth Fairy. So, in response to this discovery, they compensate by building walls around their hearts that keep love at a distance, instead of waiting for someone worth waiting for.

   Stephenie Meyer conveys this message of “true love waits” to her readers by painting a picture of what love looks like when it’s sincere. Through her character, Edward Cullen, she portrays a man whose love for his girl is fierce and unending; Edward and Bella play out a relationship that is loyal and unconditional. Edward fights for Bella with the fury of a lioness protecting her cub (“…and the lion fell in love with the lamb…”) and loves her “as Christ loves the Church.” Meyer hyperbolically gives girls a standard to compare to and suggests that happily ever after does indeed exist.

   However, some find Twilight’s ideology too extreme and overbearing. Edward and Bella exemplify a relationship perpetuated to the point of obsession, and, while faithfulness is a relational characteristic to be heralded,  their lack of ability to cope without the other can quite easily send impressionable young girls the wrong message.

   Balance is important when it comes to the world of romance. While one must remember that no earthly love, however deep and great, should be what gives life purpose, genuine love is indeed a joy worth pursuing. For girls that have settled for less than the best because they have been led to believe that the best doesn’t really exist: Twilight is the story they need to hear!