Eclipse (Meyer Novel) - Development, Inspirations and Influences

Development, Inspirations and Influences

Meyer finished the rough draft of Eclipse before the release of Twilight in October 2005; however, she said that the final manuscript did not differ much from the rough draft. Originally, the book had a different ending when Eclipse was intended to be the final book in the series, as Meyer was signed to a three-book deal with Little, Brown and Company. Meyer stated that the events of Eclipse are centered on Bella's choice to become a vampire and fully comprehending the price she has to pay to undergo the transformation, which she didn't understand in Twilight and New Moon. She said that "every aspect of the novel revolves around this point, every back story, every relationship, every moment of action."

According to Meyer, the book was inspired and influenced by Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, although she does not like the book. She said that characters of the book fascinate her and she enjoys reading certain parts, but does not enjoy the book as a whole because she finds it very depressing—an opinion expressed by Edward in Eclipse. When comparing Edward and Jacob to Heathcliff and Edgar Linton of Wuthering Heights, she said, "You could look at Edward and Jacob from one perspective and say: Okay, this one is Heathcliff and this one is Edgar. And someone else might say: No, wait a second. Because of this reason and that reason, that one is Heathcliff and the other one is Edgar...I like that confusion, because that's how life is." In August 2009, The Telegraph reported that HarperCollins' Wuthering Heights edition—which has a "gothic" cover similar to the Twilight covers—has sold more than 10,000 copies since May of that year, more than twice as many as the traditional Penguin Classics edition, and topped the newspaper's classic books chart for the first time due to Meyer referencing the novel.