When Stephenie Meyer’s publisher approached her about contributing a foreword to the 10th anniversary edition of “Twilight,” the author rejected the idea as boring. Instead, she decided to rewrite the book that started it all.

Meyer reworked the novel to feature a male protagonist and a female love interest. Released last Tuesday, “Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined” trades Bella Swan and Edward Cullen for Beau Swan and Edythe Cullen.

The decision to gender-swap the characters of “Twilight” is praiseworthy. Despite its cult status — No. 1 on the “The New York Times” Best Seller List, published in almost 40 languages, grossed over $3.3 billion in its film adaptations — Meyer’s vampire romance saga has faced criticism for romanticizing abusive relationships.

Informed “Twilight” readers have found Bella to be a “damsel in distress.” Bella’s weak characterization reinforces her powerlessness in her relationship with Edward. Due to Edward’s dominance, there is tension throughout the series between his restrictive, hyper-masculine nature and Bella’s autonomy.

The concern of most “Twilight” naysayers, particularly when the series was at peak popularity, was that the saga’s young fans would internalize the glamorous nature of lethal vampires and controlling boyfriends.

By releasing “Life and Death,” Meyer turns the much-criticized gender power imbalance on its head. The vampires still have the upper hand over the humans and the werewolves, but, this time, the central female character isn’t completely powerless at the hands of the men in her life.

Meyer’s motivations for gender-flipping “Twilight” are just as interesting as the new dynamic at play. While she shied away from giving her detractors all of the credit, Meyer acknowledged in a recent NPR interview that negative perceptions of Bella played a part her decision.

However, the author made the distinction that, ultimately, “Life and Death” was a chance to show that the genders of the original characters were arbitrary. From her point of view, Meyer saw any power that Edward had over Bella as the result of his supernatural qualities and her human fragility.

While gender-swapping is already a phenomenon in fan fiction, it’s not often that the author puts a new face on their own work. However, those who have kept up with Meyer know that she always seems to have some clever literary innovation up her sleeve. Apart from the four main books, “The Twilight Saga” extends to graphic novels, the first unpublished “Twilight” reimagining and the spin-off novella “The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner.”

The star-crossed love of Edward and Bella has survived a decade of literary analysis and sociological scrutiny. Despite all of the controversy, “Twilight” has become a modern classic — if not for its intellectual value, then for its cultural impact.

Taking into account how critics have said “Twilight” has negatively influenced tween and teenage readers, “Life and Death” has the potential to effectively challenge these perceptions of Hollywood’s favorite vampire couple.

Meyer should be commended for working to dispel the notion that she reinforced gender roles in her original book. “Life and Death” is Meyer’s opportunity to right the reverberating wrongs of the first incarnation of “Twilight.”

Caroline Colvin is a sophomore magazine journalism major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at ccolvin@syr.edu and followed on Twitter at @fkacaro.

Published on October 13, 2015 at 12:14 am