Twilight is seldom hailed as a literary masterpiece. Even it’s most diehard adherents wouldn’t compare it with Shakespeare (though one fan did assert it should be considered a classic, a debate for another article). One of the biggest complaints about the quality of the series revolves around Bella—the protagonist and every girl. While some younger readers (myself included at the time) could find her relatable, even those interested in the world and it’s characters found Bella dull as the viewpoint.
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There are a number of reasons Bella doesn’t make a compelling protagonist, including her cited lack of personality, her passive approach throughout the plot, and her reliance on other characters to drive it forward. Bella doesn’t seem to have any passions beyond reading; she doesn’t chase her goals; and she goes to pieces without Edward.
With this in mind, it’s interesting to note that Edward does have many of these traits—making choices, pursuing hobbies, and having active desires—which make him, not only more engaging as a character, but more appropriate as a protagonist. What if Edward was the protagonist all along? Even without Midnight Sun (which, for a number of reasons can be a more exciting read than Twilight) Edward still acts more like a protagonist.
1) Goals
Bella drifts through her classes, reacting to the story emotionally but not actually doing anything to solve her problems. Edward, conversely, makes choices. When he meets Bella, the scent of her blood nearly drives him to kill her. While this is a reactive moment, he doesn’t sit around and suffer through it. Instead, he makes a decision—to drive away from Forks, and take a mini vacation to re-evaluate his choices.
Outside of Bella, Edward still drifts a little, but he makes choices—to protect his family, to avoid hurting people, and even to achieve diplomas in various fields. He has reasons for his actions, which brings me to my next point.
2) Motivation
A protagonist can’t have goals without a reason behind them. Motivations are what highlight a characters desires and needs. Motivations are what challenge the characters, and raise the stakes for them.
While Bella becomes Edward’s primary motivation for the choices he makes, he has motivation before, and beyond, her—his family. Before he meets Bella, Edward makes his choices on the basis of protecting his family (which includes following Carlisle’s lifestyle, taking care not to stand out, and even avoiding Bella when her closeness to him threatens to expose their secret).
Once Bella becomes Edward’s main focus, his loyalty to his family doesn’t waver. With the exception of Rosalie, he has strong relationships with them all: the stakes are raised, with Edward doing whatever he can to make sure Emmett can keep having fun and Alice can continue throwing parties (or bothering everyone with them).
Bella, beyond Edward, doesn’t have any motivation. She looks after her dad, but there are no real stakes behind her doing so. Even when vampires threaten Charlie’s life, it’s still Edward’s choices and actions which affect his safety to begin with. It’s also Edward’s choices which keep him safe.
3) Relationships
The world doesn’t completely revolve around the protagonist, but it should be somewhat centered around them. The protagonist usually has a relationship with each of the primary characters, or at the very least a passing acquaintance.
When Bella enters the story, she has two relationships—those she shares with her parents. While these connections aren’t bad, they barely affect the plot. Bella makes one of her few choices to benefit her mother, moving to Forks to give Renee space and reinforce what bond she has left with Charlie. Beyond this, though, her parents don’t effect the plot. Charlie opposes Edward (but he still sneaks in each night regardless), and Renee is a passing character.
Bella’s human friends are similarly disconnected from the plot. Their actions do little to influence Bella, or the possibility of her staying with Edward. Even without this, they don’t introduce their own engaging sub plots either; in fact, Bella seems to hang out with them just to fulfill social obligations. She doesn’t seem overly attached to her friends, which make any scenes with them come across as filler.
The characters with any meat on them are, of course, the Cullen siblings. However, it’s a long time before Bella even meets them and, after she has, she’s still a secondary player in their lives. Throughout the series Bella becomes closer to the Cullen’s, and her bond with Alice is notable; beyond this, though, Edward remains the one with the deeper connections.
Bella is the outsider, but Edward has a direct relationship with all members of the clan, is privy to their struggles or achievements, and has quarrels with them. With time, he interacts with Charlie, and Bella’s human friends too. He even has associations with the Denali Clan.
Later in the book, Bella does develop a relationship with the werewolves, but so does Edward upon his return. Jacob becomes Edward’s rival, a thorn in his side he chooses to tolerate (for the sake of fulfilling his goal of keeping Bella happy).
What’s more, he already knows the members of the Volturi personally, and better understands the threat they pose. Edward is simply more connected to all of the characters in the story, making him more the protagonist in his world while Bella remains something of a bystander.
4) High Stakes
Bella does deal with high stakes throughout the series, the main being a threat to her life (and the lives of those she loves). Vampires could come after Charlie; Victoria could hurt Jacob in her attempts to kill Bella; and the Volturi could destroy Edward. Bella could lose those she loves, but it is Edward who actually acts on these concerns.
The attachment Edward feels for Bella is as intense as that which Bella feels for him. If one of them died, the other would be a basket case. However, if something happened to Edward, Bella would simply mourn. If something happened to Bella, Edward, conversely, would do something about it—whether it be risking his own life, or seeking revenge.
During Victoria’s attempts to eliminate Bella, Bella wanders beaches having panic attacks and grapples with nightmares. While these emotions could be interesting, this is all Bella does.
Edward, meanwhile, searches the woods, hunts to fuel his strength, and does night time patrols. He makes an effort to keep an eye on Charlie, and grudgingly begins negotiations with the werewolves. His schedule is made fairly busy by dealing with Victoria; while Bella’s emotions are understandable, she does little to actually contribute, with scenes like her leaving blood in the meadow one of the only few where she makes a choice. Bella could have contributed advice during the battle plan sessions, or devised her own plans for the vampires to act on, but she doesn’t. Instead, much of the thinking, and therefore much of the plot, comes as a result of Edward’s momentum.
5) Choices
While I’ve mentioned Edward’s choices repeatedly throughout this article, it’s important to examine why they’re important in their own right. Edward has all the goals, motivations, and stakes to make for an appropriate protagonist, but all of these aspects fuel his decisions—which in turn change the course of the plot.
Throughout the first novel, Edward intimates that there are things happening outside of Bella’s awareness, at least as far as his family is concerned. There are twists happening along the way as Edward risks his safe life to see Bella; unfortunately, the reader misses most of them.
The first time Edward meets Bella is an example of a scene that makes more sense from Edward’s perspective. While the Bella perspective does present a mystery (with new readers wondering what’s wrong with the strange kid sitting next to Bella), for Edward a problem, and high stakes, are immediately thrown at him.
He has to choose whether or not to kill Bella, destroying the resistance to human blood he’s built up for so long. If he chooses to kill her, he’ll also have to murder the rest of the students in the room. What’s more, he feels, if he does this, that he will have betrayed Carlisle—as well as the person he wishes he could be.
This is a gripping beginning, introducing a problem, and the numerous consequences which will follow if it isn’t addressed right.
Edward makes a choice following the dilemma. He ditches school for several days, making for the area of Denali. He spends some time with his cousins there, mulling over what choice he should make next. It’s a reactive choice, but the ones he makes after are proactive—he chooses to not only return to Forks, but to become involved in Bella’s life.
The risks to Bella’s life are also made clearer from Edward’s perspective, heightening the tension already felt from Bella’s perspective. Having Edward as the protagonist gives the reader access to Alice’s powers, which means first hand insight into the tension her visions can introduce. Edward edits when it comes to sharing Alice’s visions, or other threats, with Bella. Here, though, he can’t conceal anything from the reader, and the plot is better for it because the stakes are as high as they can be.
Alice shows Edward that there’s a good chance he could kill Bella at the meadow; however, if he manages not to, the chances will be lower afterwards and they’ll be able to make it work. For Bella, it’s an awkward and fun hang out to learn more about vampires. For Edward it’s an all or nothing, do or die, situation. It can’t get anymore tense. The future where Bella becomes a vampire is also a likely possibility, and one which Edward actively fights against.
It’s Edward who chooses to take Bella to the meadow, even knowing what could happen. He chooses to take her to visit his family; he, and his family, decide to play baseball; he almost attacks James, setting the vampire off. Everything that happens in the plot happens because of Edward, and the choices he makes. With him driving the story, he’s a more obvious narrative hero.
6) Action
By going through the other points on this list, it’s also self evident that Edward’s perspective is simply more exciting, and action packed. At one point, he has to persuade his family, especially Rosalie and Emmett, not to kill Bella. As a vampire, he also goes hunting and is the protector when Bella is placed in danger.
When James goes after Bella, the reader is presented with a tense scene of…sitting in a hotel room. Conversely, when the reader follows Edward, they are treated to a session of bait and switch in which Edward tries to trick James into following him and Rosalie, the latter of which is tasked with wearing Bella’s jacket (and the scent on it).
Eventually, James clues into the plan; he tricks Bella into coming to him, and yet another exciting sequence follows. As Edward goes after the tracker, Alice speeds up the chase by going through multiple versions of the future to determine which will help them to reach James the fastest. It’s almost like a game of choose your own adventure, with the Cullen’s leaping through the forest, navigating rivers, and flying through trees to keep up with the right decisions.
When James takes off in an airplane, other feats follow: the Cullen’s steal a car; the Cullen’s evade the police with said stolen car, weaving in and out of traffic; and, following Bella’s rescue, Alice fabricates evidence of Bella’s accident by wrecking the hotel. When reading from Edward’s perspective, the reader gets the fighting, the action, and the overall meat of the story.
The first hand access to the other Cullen’s is also more exciting for the reader, with Alice, and those visions of her which drive the plot, adding another layer to the story. Seeing all of the Cullen’s abilities firsthand makes the vampires more interesting as characters, and shows what readers miss out on from Bella’s viewpoint.
7) Hobbies
This is a minor point, but one which remains important to having an engaging protagonist. Bella likes to read, and has a fondness for the classics. Shakespeare and Jane Austen are at the top of her lists. However, beyond her reading habits, Bella doesn’t have much going on in her life. She doesn’t participate in school clubs; she doesn’t help Angela with yearbook photos, or join Jessica is discussing the boys on the swim team. She doesn’t do theater, art, play video games…Bella doesn’t participate in school life, and her own life at home is pretty dull.
In her spare time, she drifts along. She doesn’t have a dream, such as becoming a librarian or a writer; she doesn’t have a niche hobby, such as studying mythology in the hopes of teaching a course on it. She doesn’t play sports or actively follow them on television; she doesn’t study cooking, or do crochet; she doesn’t work on her car, or write reviews on music. She just doesn’t do anything, except read on a whim.
The other characters, though, each have hobbies and interests. Rosalie works on cars; Alice throws parties, decorates, and studies fashion; Esme restores homes and does architecture; Carlisle is a doctor; and Emmett is passionate about having fun and keeping up with sports.
Edward is no exception. Although he also drifts through life before meeting Bella, he tries to fill his existence with meaningful activities. He has a medical degree, and has studied a number of subjects. Most importantly, he’s a skilled pianist who actually writes his own songs. However unhappy the vampire might be, music is an important part of who he is. It’s his passion, and one he’s happy to share with Bella.
With defined hobbies, and interests (including his taste in music and cars), Edward is more fleshed out as a character, and more lifelike as a protagonist. Bella likes things as she comes across them…but she doesn’t have a solid opinion on anything. Edward, by contrast, has things he loves and things he hates. He can’t, for example, stand 70’s music.
Conclusion
While Twilight was a huge success, few championed Bella as the protagonist. Due to his choices, his relationships, his hobbies, and his overall shaping of the plot, Edward acts more like the protagonist throughout the story, tackling the problems and making the decisions which advance the narrative. For reasons both practical and thrilling, Edward should have been the hero throughout. He is more engaging as a main character, and he already acts like one.
Midnight Sun was a glimpse into what could have been, and while some criticized it’s pacing, it had scenes which were far more dramatic from Edward’s perspective. Furthermore, the time during which Edward and Bella are separated, the scenes, as told from the perspective of Edward and his family, were more action packed and peppered with dire consequences.
Edward should have been the protagonist of the series—if, based on his behaviour and relationship with the plot, he wasn’t already.
Do you feel Edward should have been the protagonist, or would you have chosen someone like Alice to lead the story? Do you feel the Bella perspective brought anything to the table? Let me know!