Breaking Dawn Cover…
May 30th, 2008 | By Kallieross | Category: Book News
It has been officially released! Make sure to leave your speculations in the Comments section! We want to know what you think this cover means for Breaking Dawn!?!?!?
Barnes & Nobles has the cover up, and you can save 5% by pre-ordering the book! Click here!
Sabrina, I completely agree with your theory and want to take it a little further:
Isn’t the queen normally used to checkmate the king? Perhaps Bella as the white queen has to fight a black king? First she is this insignifacant pawn, then becomes the queen and has to destroy the black king, perhaps the Volturi??
I totally love it and I think the queen is bella now and after she has chosen edward completly and the red pawn is the small peice of bella that loves jacob and she is going to have to deal with that part of her again. it’s just not going away. kay <3 it!!!!
I also agree with the whole pawn gets knoked around theory. pawns are the most vunerable whereas in chess the queen is the strongest peice, stronger than even the king. i think this means that bella will be incredibly powerful not just physically but with her mind but she ned to be able to controll that power.
Dunh Dunh Duuuunnnnhhhh no i think she can handle it along with her king. Oh wait, I had a thought. maybe edward(because the king is actually the weakest peice and needs to be protected) is going to be in trouble and bella being a strong but capable newborn needs to save him but instead of being all bloodthirsty and psyco something will happen with her power and she will be able to save him with out anything really bad happening.
ok i was reading the theories above and one from LAUREN said that SM wouldn’t mention witches randomly. I think you may be onto something. she mentions werewolves in the 1st book but really briefly and she mentions witches in the 1st and 3rd books she also says apart from the quote you had, that bella says”if angela turns out to be a witch she can join the party too” along with carlile’s dad leading vampire, werewolf and witch hunts. so idk if ti will turn out to be anything but it could be interesting.
I think that the white queen represents Bella as a vampire. She is now strong and powerful but is still in constant danger from the red pawn (her enemies) as long as it is on the board. Like in chess, even though the pawn is the weakest piece, it can still capture the queen, the strongest piece, if you play your moves right. Sorry if this doesn’t make any sense, but I couldn’t think of any other way to explain it. I hope you can kind of see where I am going from this, but we all won’t know for sure until the book comes out. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
The white queen could be Bella after she changes. the red pawn could be anything. I was thinking maybe Seth… Jacob’s in Canada, in trouble, Denali, and Bella and Seth have to find him. Just a shot. We’ll have to wait and see.
Totally exciting!!! Love it!
Yet again, I have another theory. I still believe that the queen is Bella after she changes, and the pawn is Bella before she changes. But, as people have said before, their is only one available move to the pawn and that will still get it capturered by the queen. Maybe something will happen where Bella HAS to be captured by the queen, signalling the end of human life and the start of vampire life. The queen is also on a black square, which could mean danger is ahead. Maybe there’s a problem with being a vampire.. The Volturi or the wolves. Perhaps even Tanya’s family come to visit and all hell breaks loose (Remember the marble chess board / marble vampires). Hopefully the wolves will stick with the Cullens, i wouldnt want them to fighting against eachother.
Like i said before, the “K” is pointing at the queen. So this could mean Edward = King. King & Queen end up together, but because the “K” is pointing towards the white queen, Bella will not be in the human form.
Sorry for the long post and the fact that I have been posted a tonne of theories, but my imagination is creative today =]
BOOK! BOOK! BOOK!
I ttly agree with allison…
Edward is the King!!! Jacob is the stupid pawn in the backround.
And the fact of the chess board is about thw dificulties of this triangle of love…passion…and some serious problems!
First theory: I think Bella (still human) is the White Queen, and Edward the pawn, but with the way they are placed on the chessboard the pawn can’t actually take the Queen, because it can’t make diagonal moves. So basically they are soooo close, but they will never touch… So she won;t be changed.
Second theory: Same as the first except that IF another piece (Jacob?) comes along next to her and gets taken by the pawn (’cause pawns take other chess pieces by moving diagonally over them) and THEN the Queen could be taken.
Does that make any sense?
The white represents Bella (and the Cullen family), and the red is the Volturi (that might be spelled wrong). If this was an actual chess game neither piece could take out the other in one move.
This suggests that their will be an intense (and strategic) war between the Cullens and Volturi. In that scenario, White, or the Cullens, are the stronger force thanks to their new addition (Bella) making them the Queen piece which is a very versatile and useful chesspiece.
The white piece is the queen (Bella) stands in the forefront. She is the dominate winner. The white is an interesting pick as opposed to the black piece. Edward is often described as white marble. So…. Bella must be a vampire!!!!! The red pawn is ominous, usually chess pieces are not red and it could represent the Voulturi but the Vouturi to me are not pawns. the pawn could represent Bella coming blood lust!
OMG! OMG! the preveiw was amazing!
WOW! Everyone’s opinions about the cover are simply amazing! All of them sound possible and i agree with a lot of them. Even so i felt like posting one of my millions of thoughts(even if this one’s WAY out t.here!) about the cover art so i hope u enjoy!
**sorry if anyone’s already said this!**
The red pawns represents Bella’s emotions and the white queen represents Bella as a vampire. My explanation is that red is the color of passion and emotions are passionate. White usually means purity but it can also mean rebirth as in Bella’s rebirth as a vampire. Chess is a stratigical game but it was origanally a game of war for nobles to play and pratice war SO i think the whole chessboard thing means that Bella is warring with her emotionsand since the emotions are the pawn Bella will have to sacrafice those emotions that make her Bella to protect her new life as a vampire.
***SORRY IF THIS OFFENDS ANYBODY IM SORRY!***
***********on that last sentence (near the end) i meant her new family NOT her new life! SORRY!!!!***********
I don’t know if anyone else was curious about this but because I am naturally looking for hidden meanings in everything I looked up the pieces on the cover to see just what they were and here’s what I found.
The white piece in the front is the Queen and the red piece in the back is a pawn.
That’s very, very interesting to me. I think it has something to do with Bella and Jacob, very obviously, because I don’t think Edward, were he a chess piece, could be classified as a pawn. He would be a knight at the very least, or maybe even a king. It’s just something cool I found. Kind of makes you think, huh?
I have another theory about this cover, but i am going to the theory where both pieces are bella.
i think that bella is the pawn before she is turned and the red represents her blood, but the shadow shows her blood being spilt, by what i’m not sure, maybe during her transformation or some accident that ends up MAKING her transform into the vampire, and i think that the white queen is bella after her transformation, but the black square means the danger has not left and there is still a threat for bella, im not sure what the white queen’s shadow means though…
ok so i think the white queen is deffinately Bella! omg yes! ok, i havnt even read the first chapter of Breaking Dawn and someone better tell me what its about cause im freaking out here!! so anyways I think the white queen signifies bella as a vampire stronger than any other vampire, because you know how the world seems to revolve around bella, no matter what happens she seems to get her way, no one can get into her mind, she reads peoples emotions soo well, and seems to know what their thinking, i think that she will have the most amazing power over everyone! I also think that because she doesnt like blood at all and when you become a vampire even though she might have cravings i dont think she would like blood maybe it sickens her when she is a vampire as well.
As for the chessboard being marbel i think that that means she is in a sea of vampires, she has finally become one herself and is on the battlefield. the battle zone of the vulturies and all other vampires, the vampire wars, etc.. you get the picture, and i think jacob is the red pawn, at the end of eclipse he was running away and made the hint that he would never return. i think its one wherewold in a sea of vampires and bella at the head cause she is the strongest, I think the red pawn is jacob all alone, vulnerable, “in pain” whatever i totally think im right! so hahahaha HA =)
OK so…
I get the whole Edward vs. Jacob thing however,
Shes already chosen Edward and explained the kind of love she has for Jacob is not the same as she has for Edward.
Im sure that the cover has to do with something that has not already been dealt with. (not saying that there is no chance for Jacob). I like Jacob but I definately believe in Edward and Bella. ( go Team Edward!!)
I also LOVE the idea of the queen (the most powerful piece in chess) as Bella in her “hopefully” vampire transformed self and the pawn being left behind as all things human.
Now I may be reading waaaayyy to much into this but here is a random fact:
TThe queen is archaichly known as the *minister which could have something to do with Carlisle and the rest of the Culllens(including Bella). Maybe the queen or minister represents the Cullens as the knew and improved “Volturi” making them vampire royalty which in turn would make the world a better place.lol
and the red represents the defeated volturi?
I dunno…that was my shot at sounding somewhat smart. haha
I am probably completely way off.
Just a different way to look at it. I didnt want to repeat anyone else so if I did…sorry
let me know what you think and please correct me if Im wrong about the minister thing I just remember hearing it somehwere.
That’s cool! Perhaps the Volturi come up with a crazy plan to conquer the entire vampire world / human world and only Bella & the Cullens can stop them! *SHOCKER*
Ok so I know that this theory has pretty much been beaten to death but I figured I’d throw out there how I personally came to this conclusion.
I think the two chess pieces both represent Bella ( the red pawn and the white queen)
Now I really don’t know much about chess ok I hardly know anything I avoid the game like the plague but usually the chess pieces are black and white. I think I’ve seen them made out glass or crystal and I may have seen them as other colors but generally they’re black and white.
So the fact that the pawn is red could represent Bella as human with blood pumping through her veins. The pawn itself could represent the weakness and fragileness of her humanity compared to the vampires. Also I think and I’m not positive but if the pawn is able to advance all the way to it’s 8th rank it is almost always promoted to a queen.
Which brings me to the queen which represents Bella after the change. It represents the strength and near indestructibility that she has gained as well as the humanity she has lost (the white color of the queen representing the vampire qualities)
If you want to look deeper in to the use of the game of chess in general I agree with a lot of the other comments that it may represent war and the strategy and planning it takes to win a war.
I completely agree with you Siren Erin. I too have been remembering my chess rules from long ago.
In the past the covers have always represented something beyond just characters, with the exception of New Moon.
Twilight – Knowlege of Good vs. Evil
New Moon – No idea, it looked cool
Eclipse – There is never truely a clean break
Breaking Dawn – Pawn to Queen (Weak to Strong)
I really can’t wait to read the rest!
I thought that the pawn could represent Bella as a human – weak, but once it gets to the other side of the board it can be anything. The Queen could be Bella as a vampire – the strongest piece on the board. Plus, the red and white motif works with it, too: red pawn: blood in a human, white queen: marble, no blood
Okay Seriously!!! Why does everything have to be about SEX?!! Its so annoying. Sorry just I really hope it is not in the Breaking Dawn. it would ruin the whole book for me. I would throw it away. No joke. Im not going to read porn.
Forget my last comment. Not for this blog
I think that the red pawn represents mortality of humans which she will probably leave behind for the white queen which represents the immortality and dominance of the vampires and obviously chess is a complex game one which I don’t play or know rules too but I think it shows that the book is going to be complex and and every move Bella makes is going to have big consequences.
I like Jena’s idea above.
“Pawn to Queen = Weak to Strong”
It works and makes sense and it’s what I want so there!
And, it’s simple!
While agree all the theroys are plausible I have one thing to add to them. Am I the only one that has noticed that EVERY cover was red black and white? I almost wonder if the color has nothing to do with it. Just the peices alone… Time will tell I suppose but its killing me not knowing lol!!!!.
I was looking at the cover again, and as i was looking at the way the chess board is set up, if you just glance at it for a second or two, it sort of looks like a path or road because of the way the black surrounds it and is cut off, i hope this is making sense to someone other than me, but what i am thinking is that it shows the path that bella took, from being the red pawn (human and weak) to the white queen (strong and immortal). but that is just me.. haha, just another theory to throw out there! : ]
I think it is refering to some sort of power that Bella will have once she is turned, (like how Alice and Edward used their powers to play chess in Twilight)but the Team Jacob/Teamd Edward White/Black theories sound good.
We probably will not be able to guess. I hope Stepenie has some faulous theory that none of us can come up, because that will make the book good.
Did anyone read the section under the “poster” of the breaking dawn front cover that is on the back of the cover of the new edition of eclipse? What in the world does that mean?
Correct me if I am wrong but can’t the pawn bring back any piece that the player wants if it reaches the other side? Maybe the pawn isn’t complete weakness. They do serve a huge purpose. I don’t know. Just a random thought. Hope this can add to someone’s idea.
Okay, I think the white queen represents Bella as a vampire and the tiny red pawn is… well, food? Kind of creepy theory, but I’m sure the cover art has a more sophisticated meaning in reality.
And now that I’ve read the entire comment thread, I wanted to add that I seriously doubt that there will be witches in BD! As a matter of fact, didn’t Meyer crack a joke somewhere on her site about Buffy similarities and her story just lacking a witch? I just don’t see how witchcraft can fit into the mythology when were down to the last book of the series and there already are many other things that needed to get wrapped up.
For the person who is worried about the Team stickers, those actually go with the special ed. of Eclipse, not Breaking Dawn. It actually makes perfect sense because Eclipse is the book where there is competition between the two guys.
Another thought about this BD cover is that the covers generally reflect Bella’s feelings. One can even argue that the sad-looking flower on New Moon represents Bella’s mourning the loss of Edward. Anyway, the chess pieces would not likely represent Edward and Jacob, since she already made that choice (and we see that represented on the cover of Eclipse with the ribbon ripping in two like Bella’s heart). So the choice, if one is being shown here, would probably not have a whole lot to do with Jacob at all.
I almost wonder if the the queen represents Jane and the red pawn is her brother in the background. It almost seems ominous the way the pawn is positioned. Just another theroy though.
People may have already thought about this, but I’ll say it anyway:
Okay, so looking at it from a larger perspective (that is, including different types of chess pieces) I think the Cullens, in whole, is the white king, and Bella is the queen. I mean, the king (Cullens) is the most vital piece, and can move anywhere on the board. However, they can only do this one square at a time.
The queen (Bella), on the other hand, is the strongest player because she knows everything from both sides; vampire and werewolf. She can move anywhere on the board, and take in any piece she wants if she’s clever enough.
Now, if a red horse was on the cover, that would probably be the Volturi. This is because it’s important enough to keep on the board since it has the most likely chance of getting the queen. However, any piece can take the horse, and the Volturi aren’t super duper, people just stay out of their way because they enforce rules.
This leaves the red pawn…I really think it’s Jake.
I know he’s not a bad guy or anything, but who knows? He can only move forward to get what he wants (which is Bella, obviously) but he can’t since there are so many pieces that can block his way. But, if he can move to the opposite side of the board, he can be almost as powerful as the queen (Bella).
It’s sorta weird looking at Jake as the bad guy, but it’s the only person that matches a pawns movements, advantages, and disadvantages…sniff…I really don’t wasn’t Jacob to be the bad guy in the end, so in all, i hope I’m wrong…
i think the white piece is bella and the red is edward. isn’t it called a pawn? sorry, i’m not much of a chess person. but i think that it represents edward (red) protecting bella (white) and following her moves to keep her safe.
I agree 100% with what Sabrina said earlier about the two pieces representing Bella, with the Queen as her vampire self and the pawn as her human self. The pawn seems to have reached the end of the board, which means it must become something else (usually a Queen). This could show Bella becoming a vampire. This was the first thing I thought of when I first saw the cover of the book.
But, there could be even more to it than that. The reflections of the pieces seem to also have some importance. The reflection of the red pawn could represent Bella’s past (human life, beliefs, etc…). The red reflection is much more dominant over the Queen’s reflection (which is barely there, almost impossible to see), even tough the Queen piece is supposed to be more dominant over the pawn. Therefore, this could mean that Bella’s past, her beliefs and feelings, is more dominate the bloodthirsty power of the vampire.
I have a couple more theories, but I don’t want to take up too much space here. They all seem to be so long. A lot of the theories sound interesting though! But, for all we know, we could be reading way too much into this. It could be so simple that all of us have missed it. I guess we’ll just have to wait of the book to come out in August. But, I have a feeling that something disastrous is going to happen before there is a happy ending, and that has me a little worried. The preface didn’t help with that one at all either. Especially since I’m kind of an Edward x Bella Fan. We shall see on August 2nd!
OMG!!im soo xcited bot the new bk, but this iz wat i think it means.
I think tht thw white queen represents bella as a vampire, and the pawn represents her blood lust cz its red. but the pawn is in the background and is quite small, so maybe shes paying 2 much attention to edward.then, maybe some thing happens 2 edward or bella tht makes her blood lust get bigger, ie the pawn moving forward. ihope ive not offended anyone, this is purely a theory.
GO Team Edward!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think the white queen represents Bella + the red pawn represents her blood lust. As Bella it is mentioned Bella hates blood but needs to rely on it to stay alive so maybe she’ll find a way around it and the red pawn indicates her thirst in the background as if its un-important?
In all reality bella would be the pawn ( small defensless) but also in all reality Edward would be the King (large powerful) but the pawn even being worth the least points is still there to protect the king. And in the third part of reality bella becomes a vampire and protects edward from the player (jacob), So Jacob is trying to get the king (edward) out (dead) and to keep bella in (alive) but she is there to protect edward so to conclude There is no way to seperate bella from edward without getting bella killed and Jaco cares WAY too much about bella to kill her just to get to edward. (Bella will become a vampire)
oh sorry meant Jacob as the opposing team (werewolves)
I think that the color red represents “humanness” and the white represents “inhumanness” in all four covers. In this one, the red is a pawn-weak, small- while the white is a queen-strong, powerful.
the white queen being infront of the red pawn showing that bella has turned and her human life is behind her now, she is beginning her vampire life with Edward and the rest of the Cullens.
For Isabella, I don’t think the werewolves are the bad guys…at least, not all of them. If Jacob just went over to the dark side, he wouldn’t take Embry, Quil, Sam, or even Leah with him. And Seth would NEVER be on Bella’s and the Cullens’ bad side (if you read the first chapter of Breaking Dawn, you’ll know why). So…Jacob won’t pull in the whole werewolf pack just because he went bad…Instead, I think the opposing team would be Bela’s and Edward’s problems. That would include Jacob, the Volturi, and maybe death would be considered as a chess piece…
We think that if you think about it logically, Edward is the white becuase he is always discribed as very pale and marble like (stone) statue. Jake is the red because he is discribed as hot (temperature wise) and hot-tempererd. Bella is the chess player and everything she does effects both of them. If you think about a game of chess, one person wins and the other loses, there is no ties. Everything that happens in chess effects the other persons players, it is a cause and effect cycle. Bella has to chose one or the other.
*We think in the book, the words you would say in chess ( like checkmate ) will said.
I think both chess pieces symbolise Bella. The red one before the change and the white one after. I think the chess board symbolises all of the obstacles there will be before Bella becomes a vampire…….
i think the white queen represents bella and the pawn jacob. I think it symbolizes that she’s ready to move on forward with her love edward and her life with him would be the eqivalent of the white queen- powerful & hard as a rock after she becomes a vampire, which is the plan. i think the red pawn is jacob because she kind of feels like he was a pawn in her life. he was there when edward wasn’t, she was in love with him while edward was gone, and as soon as he got back she went right back to edwards side but never stopped her love for jacob either. i think she’s guilty about that. and i think it symbolizes that she’s trying to move on and “win” by spending the rest of her days with edward, but she can’t win with jacob still there trying to “win” the “game.”
also, if anyone has bought the new version of eclipse that comes with the poster, you’ll notice that it shows an excerpt of bella talking to someone saying she’ll love them forever, but i have this nagging feeling that stephanie is making a point to not say who bella is speaking to. that makes me nervous.
so i read a few of these theorys..
idk if anyone has addressed what mine are yet but ill put um out there anyways.
theory #1:
white chess piece = edward.
bella obviously see’s only him.
red chess piece = jacob.
he comes back. somehow bella does see him. maybe he makes his way back to bella…. possibly into her heart?
i dont really trust that one but idk its just a random thought… dont get me wrong im all about edward. but i do have a soft spot for jacob.
Theory #2.
same deal with the while piece but the red is bella after she has changed. and edward is infront protecting her. ?? guiding her.
just a thought. (;