The vampire fantasy series Twilight worked with many memorable characters. One of the fan-favorites was Edward Cullen, a hundred-year-old handsome vampire who fell in love with the main heroine, Bella Swan. Their tumultuous romance became immensely popular, even more so once Hollywood decided to adapt the whole book series into five feature films.
The British actor Robert Pattinson played Edward and created a memorable couple with his co-star Kristen Stewart. That said, even though Edward has his positives sides, there are also a lot of things about him and his behavior that don't make any sense at all.
His Behavior Towards Bella
Every relationship has two sides (sometimes more) and you can't put all the responsibility on just one side. Then again, by the time Edward meets Bella, he's already lived for decades and he should know better. That doesn't stop him from behaving in the strangest way. He switches from pushing Bella away from him and pulling her closer, which makes Bella deservedly confused and sometimes even frustrated. Love, or a crush, sometimes makes it difficult to think but even if Edward had no idea how to deal with his emotions, he always could have come to his parents and asked them for a piece of advice.
Breaking Up With Bella
Bella plays an important part in Edward's life so it's only natural that a lot of his storyline will be about her. It also, unfortunately, means that more than just one part of Edward's relationship with Bella and his behavior towards her doesn't make sense. For example, just when it looks like that Edward and Bella are on the right track and everything is more or less alright, Jasper freaks out and almost hurts Bella when she accidentally cuts herself at the birthday party the Cullen family threw for her. And what does Edward do? Instead of calmly talking things through and acting like an adult, he decides to cut all ties with Bella which is very immature.
Not Changing Bella Into A Vampire
But by far the most nonsensical behavior Edward exhibits towards Bella stems from the fact that he refuses to turn her into a vampire. If only he wasn't so stubborn and did what Bella repeatedly asked him to do in the first book of the series, the couple could have saved themselves and their families and friends a lot of trouble. Edward, however, insists that Bella doesn't deserve to become a vampire, to lose everything, her connection to the human world. While it might seem that he's simply considerate of her, this kind of behavior also suggests he doesn't value her opinions and wishes all that much, which is a giant red flag in any relationship.
Going To High Schools
Let's step away from Bella's and Edward's relationship for a moment and focus on other aspects of his life which don't make sense. For example, why do Edward and his siblings keep going into high schools? The series mentions this question at one point but doesn't really provide a satisfactory answer. The Cullens immediately draw attention wherever they go so it would be better for them to stay as secluded as possible.
And if they do want to get an education, they can always study online, take long-distance courses. Going to high school would actually make the most sense if they were feeding on the students but as they're vegetarians, they don't drink human blood.
Getting Bella Pregnant
While having children is usually a joyous occasion, Bella's pregnancy was far from uncomplicated and seriously dangerous. Bella grew much weaker during the pregnancy and they had to change her into a vampire once her daughter Renesmee was born to save Bella's life. What's more, though, she never should have gotten pregnant in the first place. Twilight's vampires are basically frozen in time and unable to reproduce. Yet Edward somehow miraculously managed to get Bella pregnant, and only after a short time since they first started sleeping together. The series didn't provide any logical explanation for this and to this day, it remains one of its most glaring mistakes.
Trying To Kill Himself
In many ways, Bella and Edward are perfect for each other. Especially when it comes to the complete disregard they both have for their families' feelings. Just picture it. Edward first breaks up with Bella and completely ignores her obvious heartbreak. He even leaves her alone in the middle of a forest. But when he thinks that Bella died, he decides to commit suicide... even though he has a large family who loves him and would be devastated if anything happened to him. Edward travels to Italy with a brilliant plan to step into the sun and expose himself, so that the local vampires would punish him, tear him apart. These are some serious lapses in logic right there.
Edward Isolates Himself From Others
The Twilight characters could solve the majority of their most serious and dangerous problems... If only they actually talked about them like sensible creatures. Edward is no exception in this area. He repeatedly lies to others or at least conceals his true feelings from them. He even doesn't say to his family that he's interested in Bella even though they might be able to help him better handle his feelings and urges.
Those aspects aside, Edward also doesn't seem to have any friends and keeps himself isolated from others with the exception of his adoptive parents and siblings. While it makes sense that he would separate himself from humans so that they wouldn't realize who he truly is, why is he then attending the same school as them?
He Forced Bella To Separate Herself From Others
Another aspect of Edward's character which outs him as a hypocrite is the fact that he keeps Bella from her friends and family. On one hand, Edward is seemingly encouraging Bella to enjoy her human experiences, to go to a school party or to a college. On the other hand, he also repeatedly asks her to lie to others for his own sake, even to the people she cares about the most, which are her parents. If Bella's friend Jacob didn't tell her father Charlie the truth about Edward and his family, Edward would probably keep Bella away from her own father, which is very cruel.
He Hurts The Woman He Loves
While this couple does have its strong moments, nobody can overlook the fact that throughout the series, Edward repeatedly hurt Bella, both physically and mentally. What makes this even stranger is the fact that Edward grew up in the early 20th century and people probably taught him to treat women with respect and never hurt them. He also had enough time to observe Carlisle and Esme and learn from their loving relationship. Yet Edward obviously didn't get the memo and he lies, manipulates, threatens Bella, and also hurts her, like the time he sucked her blood and couldn't control himself, so he almost killed him. This is strange behavior for someone who claims to be madly in love.
His Lack Of Hobbies
Just like Bella, Edward seems to have a suspiciously low number of hobbies, especially if you consider his age. He does like to play the piano, listen to music and read, but the viewers rarely see any of this in the films. Edward is much more interested in pursuing Bella, watching her sleep (which is downright creepy), sparkling, and being moody and overly dramatic for no good reason. Any other person would have used the opportunity to live well over 100 years and learned many new skills, but Edward isn't really interested in improving himself and just floats from one day to the next.