Bella Swan is an often criticized and despised protagonist, and some of the reasons people hate her aren’t really fair. While there are some legitimate criticisms to be made about Twilight and about Bella, some of them are just rooted in misogyny.
However, there are also some very real reasons to not like Bella, and there are also many mistakes that she makes during the series. While she’s overall a good person, she does mess up.
Didn’t invest in her friends at all
One of the biggest problems that Twilight has is it plays into some harmful tropes about romance and relationships. While this doesn’t mean it can’t be fun to enjoy some escapism, sometimes these tropes are sexist and also teach young people unhealthy expectations for relationships.
The fact that Bella didn’t ever really invest in friendships and was mostly wrapped up in her relationship with Edward wasn’t great.
Loses her identity because of Edward
Having friends and a support system is an important thing for most people, and it’s much healthier than relying on only your romantic relationship.
Another big problem with Bella is that she didn’t seem to have much of her own personality or identity. She was really just obsessed with Edward, and when he broke up with her, she turned around and invested her identity into Jacob.
Didn’t stick up for herself
Bella is overall a pretty caring and compassionate person, and she can be selfless. While these are all good traits, they can become negative if taken to extremes. While Bella had moments of sticking up for herself, she also let the men around her run her life.
She had a more passive personality, and this isn’t a bad thing. However, it would have been nice to see her take some more responsibility for her life and be a bit more independent.
Didn’t get help when she was really depressed
There are many things about Bella that play into harmful romance genre tropes. One of these is the idea that being extremely depressed after a relationship ends is normal.
While this is common in real life, the truth is that Bella was so depressed that it was very detrimental to her health and long-term happiness. It’s too bad no one around her was really there for her and that she didn’t get any mental health help from professionals.
Had a difficult time choosing between Edward and Jacob
One thing about Twilight that doesn’t make a lot of sense and that is also rather annoying is the love triangle element. While Edward and Bella are set up to be soulmates, Bella also has romantic feelings for Jacob even if she’s never completely sure how she feels about him.
To be fair, Jacob was usually the one really pushing for romance, but she probably should have just stopped being his friend since she knew they wanted different things.
Never had any issues about becoming a vampire
While The Cullens, and a few other vampires, didn't kill humans for sustenance, Bella knew that she would have a deep drive and desire to want to if she was turned.
Obviously, she knew there was a way to be a vampire without harming humans, but the fact that she wasn't even slightly bothered by the idea of thirsting after human blood is a bit disturbing.
Believed that James had her mother
This is one mistake Bella made that isn’t really her fault, but it did have consequences and impacted the plot. James tricks Bella into thinking that he has her mother, Renee, using videotapes of Renee’s voice.
While Bella is just trying to sacrifice herself to save her mother, she should have thought things through better instead of just being so willing to jump right in and get herself killed.
Let Jacob hang around Renesmee
The entire concept of imprinting is odd and kind of messed up. While it’s supposed to make sense in the context of the book, it’s hard to wrap your head around why Bella would let Jacob be around Renesmee all the time because of this.
The idea of imprinting just reads like grooming, so it makes Jacob seem horrible and Edward and Bella seem like bad parents.
Nearly killed herself to hear Edward’s voice
Of all the problematic things about Bella and Edward’s relationship, the worst of all is just how obsessed with Edward she was.
The fact that he was an alluring supernatural creature clearly contributed to this, but it was hard to read about when she took to being reckless so that she could hear Edward’s voice in her hallucinations. She nearly got herself killed by doing so many dangerous things.
Choose to leave her parents by becoming a vampire
Of all the worst choices that Bella makes, one of the most troubling is how she’s willing to leave behind everyone she knows in order to become a vampire. Bella did clearly love her parents, so it was sad that she was going to give them up.
The situation was obviously a complicated one, but her willingness to abandon everyone else for Eddard is rather upsetting. In the end, she didn’t have to lose them, but she was willing to do so and thought she would after she was turned into a vampire.