The only way that Bella makes any sense to me at all as a character is that she's not a character at all, but instead a symbol of a teenaged girl.
In that case, the book then serves as a cautionary tale. Bella thinks she has two choices: to stay with Edward and remain a child eternally, watched over and cosseted inside the Cullen house and unable to leave because they will literally force her to stay there using their supernatural powers (see uh. the first half of Eclypse); or to go with Jacob who she thinks represents her freedom, but instead represents a physically abusive situation, where Emily (I think) represents the physical danger she could be in, especially as her fragility is so emphasised in the books.
Both are abusers and live in abusive situations. Bella's tragedy is that she has to pick which abuse she will accept and what she will not. As such, she's kind of trapped by her own false conceptions of life and love. She never takes a third option because she can't conceive of a third option. While we as readers can see that she doesn't have to end up like this, she can't.
So it's kind of a reminder that there are more options than just these two forms of abuse.
Alternatively I am thinking way too much about a series of books I deconstructed at the behest of a lecturer who had a drinking game for every time Edward "chuckled darkly".
In that case, the book then serves as a cautionary tale. Bella thinks she has two choices: to stay with Edward and remain a child eternally, watched over and cosseted inside the Cullen house and unable to leave because they will literally force her to stay there using their supernatural powers (see uh. the first half of Eclypse); or to go with Jacob who she thinks represents her freedom, but instead represents a physically abusive situation, where Emily (I think) represents the physical danger she could be in, especially as her fragility is so emphasised in the books.
Both are abusers and live in abusive situations. Bella's tragedy is that she has to pick which abuse she will accept and what she will not. As such, she's kind of trapped by her own false conceptions of life and love. She never takes a third option because she can't conceive of a third option. While we as readers can see that she doesn't have to end up like this, she can't.
So it's kind of a reminder that there are more options than just these two forms of abuse.
Alternatively I am thinking way too much about a series of books I deconstructed at the behest of a lecturer who had a drinking game for every time Edward "chuckled darkly".
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