"The Many Bitchy Bellas of Book Four" by Zoya

The Many Bitchy ‘Bella’s of Book Four


It’s no secret that Bella Swan is a relatively one-dimensional character. It’s part of the magic of Twilight that all female readers can immediately identify with her, thanks to her distinct lack of personality traits. But Breaking Dawn introduces us to a whole new side of Bella, one that’s different from the usual ‘adoring-Edward’ Bella, or ‘cooking-for-Charlie’ Bella, or – No, wait, that’s about the only two facets of her personality shown so far.

Breaking Dawn brings with it marriage for the happy couple, and with marriage, of course, comes the official first shag. And there was never any question of Edward and Bella having sex before they were married. The abstinence message is never stronger than in book four; as she is about to present herself (naked and with her legs cleanly shaven, of course) to Edward for the first time, Bella wonders to herself, ‘How did people do this – swallow their fear and trust someone else so implicitly- without the absolute commitment Edward had given [her]?’ Clearly, people who have casual sex are sick and wrong. No verdict on people who have sex with vampires, though.

Anyway, marriage and sex change Bella from the boring, Edward-obsessed character she was, to… well, a slightly more developed Edward-obsessed character. Her new personality still revolves around the undead man in her life, but with a few significant changes. I think Bella’s character can be divided into three distinct parts in Breaking Dawn: Bella the Slut, Bella the Martyr and Bella the Sex-Symbol/Self-Obsessed-Arrogant-Teenage-Mum.

Bella the Slut is probably the most offensive of all the Bellas ever portrayed in the Twilight series (though, let's be honest, Bella as a character is kind of offensive in general). This is mostly due to the way in which Stephanie Meyer depicts female sexuality. Considering the abstinence message, I assumed while reading the first three novels that Meyer was making the point that female sexuality is wrong before marriage - but surely it was acceptable after marriage to experience lust for one's own husband? Apparently not. After they have sex for the first time, Bella wakes up covered in bruises, a result of Edward's uncontrollable strength during the act. And then, rather than being comforted by her vampire spouse after her apparently violent first ever sexual experience, Edward sulks and essentially blames Bella's wanton lust for causing him to 'lose control'. Yeah, Bella. You dirty slut, for wanting to sleep with your husband. Didn't you know he's a man, huh?? A vampire-man?? Sometimes men (especially vampire-men) can't control their actions when it comes to sex. It's really your own fault that you got beaten up. Stop being such a tempting hussy.

What's problematic about this entire plot-point is that female sexuality is still being portrayed as wrong, and somehow dangerous. Even within the bounds of marriage, sex is treacherous, and women should never show desire, or tempt their men into 'losing control'. Edward's desire is never questioned though, as it's completely natural for a man to want to have sex, and it would be crazy to expect him to exercise control. Bella just should have known better.

In contrast to this, motherhood is depicted as the pinnacle of all things selfless and good - even when your baby might be a horrific monster who could kill the entire human race. Bella the Martyr is about ten times as irritating as any other Bella. After their sexual encounter, Bella immediately becomes pregnant (because that's what happens EVERY TIME YOU HAVE SEX, AND MOST DEFINITELY WHEN YOU HAVE SEX OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE, EVEN IF IT'S WITH AN UNDEAD VAMPIRE! ABSTINENCE ABSTINENCE ABSTINENCE!!!), and rather than even considering abortion, she immediately becomes prepared to throw her entire life away in order to save her child. Quite literally, as her baby might well kill her.

This pregnancy has to be the most grotesque thing I have ever read. The baby is as strong as all vampires, and the force of its growth causes Bella's ribs to break and bruises to form all over her (again). All of this she suffers through with the patience and love of a mother. Because mothers will do anything for their monster, half-breed children, and Bella is just fulfilling her duty as a good woman. As all women should. If you thought Bella was boring before, be prepared for some serious snores with Bella the Martyr. Suddenly, Bella's entire role becomes one of lying on the couch looking wan and drawn out, wrapping her arms around her uterus and smiling down at her unborn child benevolently, and helplessly staring around for Edward, her man. YAWN. I'm sure pregnancy is a wonderful experience, but Stephanie Meyer depicts it as the only worthy experience for any woman. She also suggests that once you get pregnant, your ambitions become meaningless, and your self worth becomes entirely entangled with your child. Guess what, Stephanie? Some women actually have kids AND, dare I say it, still want more out of life. I know. Shocking. Women should just have babies and cook for their men until they die. Yep.

By this point, I was pretty certain that Bella's character could have no redemption. There is no way to salvage the teenage mother character. I was right. Bella the Sex-Symbol/Self-Obsessed-Arrogant-Teenage-Mum is the worst female character I have ever read or seen in anything, including Girls of the Playboy Mansion. When Bella finally becomes a vampire, her life drastically changes. Gone are the days of low self-esteem and pining after Edward. Instead, she spends hours after she is 'turned' staring into a mirror in awe of her own beauty. In her own words, '... the creature in the glass was indisputably beautiful, ... a carving of a goddess.' (372). And clearly, she was hugely modest, too! Making Bella stunning was the biggest mistake Meyer could ever have made, because she instantly lost any sense of relation with her readers. Girls liked reading about Bella because she was so incredibly ordinary that they felt they could be her. Now, she's just another pretty, popular girl, rubbing it in that she's better than us all.

Of course, the worst is still to come. For the rest of the book, Bella switches from having far too much vampire-sex (because she's so amazingly sexy, how could Edward resist?), to occasionally spending time with her incredibly annoying child (but Renesme is a whole other rant), to generally being an arrogant bitch. Her relationship with her daughter is ridiculous. Barely ever do we see her spend any time with her kid, instead pawning her off on her vampire-family so she can have sex with Edward, but when we do, she has that annoying 'My kid is just SO special, and wonderful, and amazing, because, duh! She's MINE' attitude, that really annoying parents have.

Why can't Stephanie Meyer ever achieve a balance? Why is it that Bella can only ever be a silent, personality-less android, or else an alarmingly arrogant, hyper-special monster? Because it's not enough for her to be beautiful, Vampire-Bella is also more talented than any other vampires, and more strong as well. Bella goes from being boring, to being so interesting it's overkill.

At least, in Breaking Dawn, we're introduced to a few traits that could explain Edward's undying love for Bella, such as her newfound beauty and her kick-ass fighting skills. It certainly makes far more sense that loving some guy for his 'liquid topaz eyes', 'marble skin' and his unquenchable thirst for your blood.