You are mistaken. Bella Swan is the definitive static Mary Sue of modern literature. For all that her situation changes around her, she stubbornly remains the same from an emotional/mental perspective from the beginning of the series to the end. Her flat, lifeless personality remains a constant throughout - she doesn't shift perspectives, she never has to learn to face consequences and she doesn't even learn how to take care of herself. She is a grey lump of clay Stephanie Meyer used to project her own romantic ideals onto. Bella Swan never learns, never grows and doesn't change in any significant way - she doesn't need to because she was designed to be a Mary Sue. Which is the leading reason she is one of the most reviled female characters in literature in recent memory.
Bella does change in her attitudes towards others. At the beginning of the series, she is pushing everyone away, but by the end, she has a large family with both Edward's and her original family members and lots of friends, all of whom she considers important in her life. Also, as I mentioned before, her confidence in herself changes as the series goes on. This may not be as much character development as some other books have, but it is still something and should not be ignored just because most people call Bella a Mary Sue.
I would say she has as many detractors as admirers.
There are lots of people who hate Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and just about every other popular thing out there. Does this make them any less popular? I do not see why this should only be an issue with Twilight.
The Bella/Edward relationship romanticizes the idea of sacrificing all of yourself for the love of a man. Bella literally gives up her life to be with her highschool boyfriend. She's shortsighted, selfish and completely obsessed with one guy to an unhealthy degree. She consistently seeks Edward's validation and without him her self-worth diminishes to nothing and she mopes and whines until he's back in the picture. She's also clearly a victim of domestic abuse, and through her, Meyer romanticizes this ridiculous idea that it's acceptable to submit to a controlling partner. When I think of young girls growing up thinking of Bella Swan as a positive role model, I can only dread what sorts of ****ed up women these girls will be in ten years considering she's the antithesis of female empowerment.
I am all for literature exploring bad relationships, but Twilight doesn't just explore it, it glorifies it. It even glorifies girls being weak, deferential and dependent on the men they love.
As I said, her self worth initially goes away after Edward breaks up with her because she is depressed, which is normal and certainly does not make her a bad character. But then she recovers and moves on with her life when she is friends with Jacob. It is made quite clear in the Eclipse book that had there not been a big misunderstanding involving suicide attempts, Bella would have completely moved on and lived happily without Edward. She loves him, but he is not the entirety of her being, unless you are only looking at a few bits of the series, which is not fair for analysis purposes.
Edward and Bella have an imperfect relationship. Relationships are not perfect. This does not make them wrong. I do not think Bella and Edward should be bad role models just because their relationship does not meet some storybook fairy tale ideals of what a "good" relationship should be.
Doesn't she constantly isolate herself from them as her relationship with Edward carries on? I distinctly remember that. But I must admit, I saw only two movies and only read most of one book.
Even after she is a vampire, she stays close to her father, which is pretty much unheard of. She also will not let go of her friendship with her best pal Jacob despite the obvious issues him and Edward have. And she even makes several new friends that she cares about by the last book. The beginning of the series makes it seem like she is pushing friends away, but most of those friends suck anyway and are not the sort of friends that last. Seriously, can anyone honestly say they are friends with everyone they knew in high school? Making friends after graduation does not mean you are isolating yourself.
Her relationship with Edward is neither mature nor healthy. It's actually pretty much the exact opposite. It actually hits all fifteen signifiers of an abusive relationship according to the National Domestic Abuse hotline. If you believe this is a great relationship and Bella is an equal partner in it, you may need to do some critical thinking.
They get married, have a child, and have a very adult relationship. While it may not match your definition of healthy, as discussed above, it is certainly mature.
You have got to be trolling at this point because Bella Swan is literally the opposite of the ideal person. She is the Goofus, not the Gallant.
Please do not say things like this. Just because I disagree with your opinion does not make me a troll and I think it is incredibly rude to say something like that. By my standards of what makes someone a good person, Bella passes with flying colors. Perhaps your opinion is different. That is alright, but I think we should both be able to share our opinions and views without being accused of trolling.
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Nicol Bolas is so awesome! And so is Kokusho! Bolas x Kokusho 4eva!!! <3
Read their story here!
My wife says these books are written terribly, aside from not being very interesting. We are avid readers of erotica and she claims these pale greatly in comparison to the classic erotic writers like Anais Nin, Roald Dahl (his erotica is fantasic, try Switch *****) and Henry Miller.
Her major gripes are overly simplistic and boring prose, using the same words to describe something again and again, unexciting sex scenes and flat characters.
How is this assessment? Why would it climb so quickly to the best seller list if it is so awful? Can anything that began as Twilight FanFic be relevant?
Bella does change in her attitudes towards others. At the beginning of the series, she is pushing everyone away, but by the end, she has a large family with both Edward's and her original family members and lots of friends, all of whom she considers important in her life. Also, as I mentioned before, her confidence in herself changes as the series goes on. This may not be as much character development as some other books have, but it is still something and should not be ignored just because most people call Bella a Mary Sue.
There are lots of people who hate Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and just about every other popular thing out there. Does this make them any less popular? I do not see why this should only be an issue with Twilight.
As I said, her self worth initially goes away after Edward breaks up with her because she is depressed, which is normal and certainly does not make her a bad character. But then she recovers and moves on with her life when she is friends with Jacob. It is made quite clear in the Eclipse book that had there not been a big misunderstanding involving suicide attempts, Bella would have completely moved on and lived happily without Edward. She loves him, but he is not the entirety of her being, unless you are only looking at a few bits of the series, which is not fair for analysis purposes.
Edward and Bella have an imperfect relationship. Relationships are not perfect. This does not make them wrong. I do not think Bella and Edward should be bad role models just because their relationship does not meet some storybook fairy tale ideals of what a "good" relationship should be.
Even after she is a vampire, she stays close to her father, which is pretty much unheard of. She also will not let go of her friendship with her best pal Jacob despite the obvious issues him and Edward have. And she even makes several new friends that she cares about by the last book. The beginning of the series makes it seem like she is pushing friends away, but most of those friends suck anyway and are not the sort of friends that last. Seriously, can anyone honestly say they are friends with everyone they knew in high school? Making friends after graduation does not mean you are isolating yourself.
They get married, have a child, and have a very adult relationship. While it may not match your definition of healthy, as discussed above, it is certainly mature.
Please do not say things like this. Just because I disagree with your opinion does not make me a troll and I think it is incredibly rude to say something like that. By my standards of what makes someone a good person, Bella passes with flying colors. Perhaps your opinion is different. That is alright, but I think we should both be able to share our opinions and views without being accused of trolling.
Nicol Bolas is so awesome! And so is Kokusho!
Bolas x Kokusho 4eva!!! <3
Read their story here!
BMy Little KokushoB
RBRakdos UNLEASHED!!!RB
My Standard Decks:
UGRakdos, Bolas, and Ludevic Go To A PartyUG
Her major gripes are overly simplistic and boring prose, using the same words to describe something again and again, unexciting sex scenes and flat characters.
How is this assessment? Why would it climb so quickly to the best seller list if it is so awful? Can anything that began as Twilight FanFic be relevant?
[Clan Flamingo]