Eclipse Setting

Where It All Goes Down

Forks, Washington and Jacksonville, Florida

Most of the story plays out in Forks with a short jump to Jacksonville, Florida, where Bella visits her mother.

Forks

For Twilight aficionados, Forks has probably become a second home. It's been the central setting for Stephenie Meyer's entire series. When it comes to weather in Forks, no surprises. After a short summer, it's – can you guess? – raining! In Eclipse, the woods are still filled with vampires and werewolves. Despite that small supernatural kink, though, Forks remains your average small town. Sleepy, predictable, and pretty peaceful – what with vegetarian vampires and werewolves who protect humans.

Eclipse leaves us with the possibility that, if Bella becomes a vampire, she might lead the werewolves to attack the Cullens, but it's hard to believe they actually would. It's probably even harder to believe that they actually unite with the Cullens to fight a murderous vampire army that's headed straight for Forks. For the first time, the little town and all its inhabitants are in danger – on the brink of a supernatural war. What exacerbates the tension is that all the inhabitants are completely unaware of the danger approaching and then passing. Only Charlie notices a few wolves howling in the woods and somehow feels the tension in the air that day, wondering about his friend Billy's strange behavior.

The Tent in the Woods

Also notable is the setting of the tent in the woods near the big battle. Huddled up in a snowstorm, Edward and Jacob have a heart-to-heart about their feelings for Bella. The forces of nature outside the tent seem to heighten the forces of nature inside as well, where Jacob and Edward fight for Bella. The apocalyptic nature of the storm also places the setting of the tent in a dream world, a world far away from reality, where it's possible for Edward and Jacob to form a truce and to talk to each other truthfully.

Similar to in Twilight and New Moon, the woods represent the world of the supernatural. It's where the Cullens and werewolves meet to prepare for battle and where the actual battle takes place.

Jacksonville, Florida

Although Bella loved the Phoenix sun and hated Forks for the cold and rain when she first moved to Washington, her relationship with Edward has changed her mind. It's not that she doesn't like the sun anymore, it's just that her mind and heart now associate Forks with Edward. Her visit to sunny Florida, where her mother now lives, reveals that both Bella's her mind and body have become unused to the heat. She describes the climate as so "smothering… just breathing in and out was giving my lungs a workout" (3.13).