Bella Swan is the main protagonist of the Twilight series, consisting of four books: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. (There 7 books in total in the series, if you count the extras.)
These books were adapted into five films starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattison (who also plays Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter).
The Twilight series follows the story of a 17-year-old girl named Bella, who moves from scorching Arizona to the rainy town of Forks (reminds me of London). There, she falls in love with a mysterious classmate, who is guarding a deadly secret …
ALERT: There will be spoilers in this article.
Why is She Such a Hated Character?
Bella Swan is one of the most despised characters of YA fiction.
When I started reading (and watching) Twilight, I thought that Bella Swan was a pretty decent character. But as I scrolled through social media, I realised that she had an entire hate fan club. But why? I decided to investigate.
Her Clumsiness
One of the things that irritated people the most is how clumsy she was. She couldn’t walk down from the patio to her car without slipping on the ice. It doesn’t bother me too much, personally. At least Bella doesn’t deny her clumsiness - she does refer to herself as being “uncoordinated” and generally does view herself in a negative way throughout the series.
Her Lack of Character Depth
So many readers found Bella a really bland character.
She was all “Edward, Edward, Edward” throughout the series. It’s like there was nothing else in her life. She was obsessed with him, and willing to turn herself into a vampire if it meant being together with Edward forever.
This obsession led her to do many things that people hated, such as be a bad daughter to her parents and try to commit suicide when she lost Edward.
She made many choices that defined her as a bad daughter, but we all know that she had to do it. On the other hand, when she tried to commit suicide, it made people hate her even more because she was so obsessed with him and proved that she didn’t have any strength.
Bella was often compared to other female character such as Hermione Granger and Katniss Everdeen. However, because the Twilight series is a vampire-romance, the characters would be a lot more obsessed with each other and their love would be the main point of the story. Since the romance element isn’t as prominent in Harry Potter, for example, the characters aren’t as obsessed with each other.
In the Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta’s love is one the main aspects of the trilogy. However, the characters aren’t obsessed with each other in the irritating way that Bella and Edward are.
Bella Swan Lacking The Traits of a Strong Female Character
In New Moon when Edward breaks up with her and leaves Forks, Bella sinks into depression. For several months, she just sits in her room and stares blankly at the walls.
Eventually, she tries to commit suicide by riding recklessly on a motorbike and jumping off a cliff into the sea, where Jacob Black saves her from nearly drowning.
This is one of the situations that proved that Bella wasn’t as strong a protagonist as others. When Hermione Granger lost the love of her life, she continued to search for the Horcruxes and even saved her and Harry’s lives in Bathilda’s house. When Katniss Everdeen lost the love of her life, she used this to fuel herself as the Mockingjay in the rebellion against the Capitol. When Bella Swan lost the love of her life, she jumped off a cliff.
Her Relationship with Edward
A lot of people were annoyed with the relationship between Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, especially because of the way that it portrayed traditional gender roles. Bella would generally do something reckless to get herself into trouble, and Edward would swoop in and save her. Long gone are the days of the damsels in distress — we don’t want to see Prince Charming come in and save the girl, we want to see her save herself and the day and the prince too, whilst she’s at it.
A classic example of Bella being a damsel in distress is when Bella turns herself in to James. This happens at the end of the first book.
Bella Swan gives herself up in exchange for her mother, but the thought didn’t even cross her mind that James could be luring her in. Her mother wasn’t actually there. Now she was stuck with no way out — obviously she couldn’t escape, because James was a vampire and he could move around in ways that she couldn’t e.g. he was a tracker vampire and could predict his prey’s moves and act quickly. Edward (along with the Cullens) obviously swoops in and saves Bella before it’s too late.
Even I hate seeing Bella as a damsel in distress and I would’ve really loved to see her progress as a character into someone more independent, as someone who thought things through before doing them.