As the protagonist and main character in the Twilight saga, Bella Swan goes through a lot of things in the series. As a human teenager who is put into the middle of a world full of strong, supernatural creatures, Bella is often the most vulnerable character around, but this doesn’t mean she doesn’t have strength, too.
However, throughout the series, Bella deals with heartbreak, fear, and even some pretty traumatic events that threaten her safety and life. She might go through more than almost any other character in the series.
She often felt distant from those around her
When we first meet Bella, she is feeling a little lost. She has spent most of her life with her mother, but she doesn't want to travel around with Renee and her new husband. So, she arrives in Forks to live with her father. She also has somewhat of a hard time really connecting with her peers, and while she’s not exactly said, she does feel a little lonely.
Edward wasn’t supportive of her pregnancy at first
When Bella finds out that she is pregnant, it’s a huge shock to both her and Edward. No one realized that it was really possible for the two of them to reproduce since Edward is a vampire. It becomes clear early on that the pregnancy is going to put her own life at risk, and Edward is upset and worried about Bella’s health. So, it makes sense he wants to put her life first, but this does make it difficult for Bella because that’s not what she chooses.
James almost killed her
Bella has quite a lot of traumatic things happen to her in the books. She doesn’t have superhuman strength or the ability to run quickly, so she’s easily a victim to the more nefarious vampires in the series. One of the worst moments is when James lures her to the ballet studio and hurts her as he plans to kill her. Luckily, Edward and the others arrive in time to save her.
Jacob imprinted on her daughter
While the books make this seem like not that big of a deal, Bella’s reaction to this news at first marks the most sense. With time, she accepts the idea of Jacob imprinting, but, at first, she is angry that he feels like he has a claim on Renesmee over Bella.
There are a lot of weird things about imprinting, but one of the weirdest here is also the fact that Bella and Jacob used to have a thing and even kissed.
She fell in love with Jacob too
One of the biggest conflicts for a large part of the series is that Bella can’t quite choose between Edward and Jacob. While she does seem to love Edward more, she also really loves Jacob. She does at certain points consider a life with Jacob, and she never wants to lose him in her life. It definitely makes things complicated and causes heartbreak for all three of these characters.
She was always getting hurt
Bella goes through a lot of traumatic physical things, and while some of these are because she finds herself as the target of supernatural beings, she also just is accident-prone. One of the most shocking moments is when she gets a papercut and then gets attacked by Jasper. While he didn’t want to hurt her, it still led to her getting really injured.
The men in her life tried to control her
Whether you wanted Bella to be with Jacob or wanted Edward to be with her, it’s clear that both of these characters do some problematic things. Both Edward and Jacob have their controlling sides, and neither of these relationships was completely healthy.
Edward would try to control Bella by keeping her from going to see Jacob, and he also did weird things like watch her while she slept. However, Jacob took things even further when he kissed her roughly without her consent.
She was distraught over Edward trying to die
One of the most horrible moments for Bella is when she learns, through Alice’s visions, that Edward is trying to kill himself. This is all because of a misunderstanding, one which Jacob can be partially blamed for, and Bella is super upset. She has to go on a quick mission to Italy to try and stop Bella from making Volturi destroy him.
When Edward left, it broke her heart
After Jasper attacks Bella at her party, Edward overreacts. He's convinced that Bella will continue to be hurt if he stays in her life, so he makes his entire family leave Forks and breaks up with Bella. While he might have thought he was doing the right thing, the way he does this is pretty abrupt, and it leaves Bella devastated. She goes into a deep depression and clearly has a broken heart.
She almost died in childbirth
By far one of the most disturbing scenes to read about and watch from Twilight is when Bella is "giving birth." Her spine literally breaks from the movement inside of her womb, and then Edward has to use his teeth to get Renesmee out. It's one of the most traumatic birth scenes imaginable, and Bella basically dies from what happens. It's only because of being turned into a vampire at the last possible moment that she is able to survive.