Twilight

by

Stephenie Meyer

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Twilight makes teaching easy.

Bella Swan Character Analysis

The protagonist of the novel, Bella is a 17-year-old high school junior. She’s pale, with brown hair. She’s very intelligent and observant, though she’s physically rather uncoordinated. Bella cares deeply for those around her and wants them to be happy above all else—this is why the novel opens with Bella moving to Forks, Washington, a town she loathes, to live with Charlie so that her Mom can travel with her new husband. Bella believes she doesn’t relate well to other people, so she doesn’t expect to fit in in Forks at all. Much to her surprise, she’s something of a curiosity to her classmates and quickly has three boys vying for her attention. However, Bella isn’t interested in any of them—a boy named Edward Cullen captures her attention because he’s gorgeous and, for no apparent reason, seems to hate Bella. As Edward switches between ignoring Bella, being mean to her, and rescuing her from near-death situations, Bella throws herself into figuring out Edward’s story—and she discovers that he’s a vampire. Bella is a bit of an anomaly, as most people can’t stand to be in close contact with vampires. But she has no issue getting close to Edward, and she even finds his scent “intoxicating.” She’s also the only person whose thoughts Edward can’t hear. It doesn’t bother her that being around Edward is dangerous and could be deadly for her—she cares so much for Edward that the thought of living without him is more painful than the possibility that he’ll kill her. And as their relationship develops, Bella’s devotion to Edward is so strong that she decides she’d like to become a vampire so they can be together forever. Bella again demonstrates her loyalty to both her blood family and the Cullens, her new chosen family, when the vampire James sets his sights on her. In an attempt to protect Edward, the Cullens, and her parents, Bella evades her protectors and is willing to let James kill her if it means keeping everyone she loves safe. Ultimately, Edward saves Bella from James’s attack.

Bella Swan Quotes in Twilight

The Twilight quotes below are all either spoken by Bella Swan or refer to Bella Swan. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Love and Lust Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

“They’re all adopted. The Hales are brother and sister, twins—the blondes—and they’re foster children.”

“They look a little old for foster children.”

“They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen, but they’ve been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She’s their aunt or something like that.”

“That’s really kind of nice—for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they’re so young and everything.”

“I guess so,” Jessica admitted reluctantly […] “I think that Mrs. Cullen can’t have any kids, though,” she added, as if that lessened their kindness.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Jessica (speaker), Edward Cullen, Dr. Carlisle Cullen, Alice Cullen, Jasper Hale, Emmett Cullen, Rosalie Hale, Esme Cullen
Page Number: 2
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2 Quotes

“He’s an asset to the community, and all those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them. But they’re all very mature—I haven’t had one speck of trouble from any of them. That’s more than I can say for some of the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should—camping trips every other weekend…Just because they’re newcomers, people have to talk.”

Related Characters: Charlie Swan (speaker), Bella Swan, Dr. Carlisle Cullen
Page Number: 37
Explanation and Analysis:

“No, she did not send me here. I sent myself.”

[…]

“She stayed with me at first, but she missed him. It made her unhappy…so I decided it was time to spend some quality time with Charlie.” My voice was glum by the time I finished.

“But now you’re unhappy,” he pointed out.

“And?” I challenged.

“That doesn’t seem fair.”

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker), Charlie Swan, Mom
Page Number: 37
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

“You’re dangerous?” I guessed, my pulse quickening as I intuitively realized the truth of my own words. He was dangerous. He’d been trying to tell me that all along.

He just looked at me, eyes full of some emotion I couldn’t comprehend.

“But not bad,” I whispered, shaking my head. “No, I don’t believe that you’re bad.”

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker)
Page Number: 93
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

And I knew in that I had my answer. I didn’t know if there ever was a choice, really. I was already in too deep. Now that I knew—if I knew—I could do nothing about my frightening secret. Because when I thought of him, of his voice, his hypnotic eyes, the magnetic force of his personality, I wanted nothing more than to be with him right now. Even if…but I couldn’t think it. Not here, alone in the darkening forest.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen, Jacob Black
Page Number: 139
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

“I followed you to Port Angeles,” he admitted, speaking in a rush. […] He paused. I wondered if it should bother me that he was following me; instead I felt a strange surge of pleasure.

Related Characters: Edward Cullen (speaker), Bella Swan
Page Number: 174
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

“I decided it didn’t matter,” I whispered.

“It didn’t matter?” His tone made me look up—I had finally broken through his carefully composed mask. His face was incredulous, with just a hint of the anger I’d feared.

“No,” I said softly. “It doesn’t matter to me what you are.”

A hard, mocking edge entered his voice. “You don’t care if I’m a monster? If I’m not human?”

“No.”

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker)
Related Symbols: The Volvo
Page Number: 184
Explanation and Analysis:

“Don’t let that make you complacent, though,” he warned me. “They’re right to keep their distance from us. We are still dangerous.”

“I don’t understand.”

“We try,” he explained slowly. “We’re usually very good at what we do. Sometimes we make mistakes. Me, for example, allowing myself to be alone with you.”

“This is a mistake?” I heard the sadness in my voice, but I didn’t know if he could as well.

“A very dangerous one,” he murmured.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker), Jacob Black, Billy Black
Page Number: 187
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

“I care the most, because if I can do it”—he shook his head, seeming to struggle with the thought— “if leaving is the right thing to do, then I’ll hurt myself to keep from hurting you, to keep you safe.”

I glared. “And you don’t think I would do the same?”

“You’d never have to make the choice.”

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker)
Page Number: 211
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

I intuitively knew—and sensed he did, too—that tomorrow would be pivotal. Our relationship couldn’t continue to balance, as it did, on the point of a knife. We would fall off one edge or the other, depending entirely upon his decision, or his instincts. My decision was made, made before I’d ever consciously chosen, and I was committed to seeing it through. Because there was nothing more terrifying to me, more excruciating, than the thought of turning away from him. It was an impossibility.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen
Page Number: 248
Explanation and Analysis:

“No one knows you’re with me?” Angrily, now.

“That depends…I assume you told Alice?”

“That’s very helpful, Bella,” he snapped.

I pretended I didn’t hear that.

“Are you so depressed by Forks that it’s made you suicidal?” he demanded when I ignored him.

“You said it might cause trouble for you…us being together publicly,” I reminded him.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker), Alice Cullen
Page Number: 255
Explanation and Analysis:

His white shirt was sleeveless, and he wore it unbuttoned, so the smooth white skin of his throat flowed uninterrupted over the marble contours of his chest, his perfect musculature no longer merely hinted at behind concealing clothes. He was too perfect, I realized with a piercing stab of despair. There was no way this godlike creature could be meant for me.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen
Page Number: 256
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

“I don’t want you to leave,” I mumbled pathetically, staring down again.

“Which is exactly why I should. But don’t worry. I’m essentially a selfish creature. I crave your company too much to do what I should.”

“I’m glad.”

“Don’t be!” He withdrew his hand, more gently this time; his voice was harsher than usual. […] It was hard to keep up—his sudden mood changes left me always a step behind, dazed.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker)
Page Number: 266
Explanation and Analysis:

“When you walked past me, I could have ruined everything Carlisle has built for us, right then and there. If I hadn’t been denying my thirst for the last, well, too many years, I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself.” He paused, scowling at the trees.

He glanced at me grimly, both of us remembering. “You must have thought I was possessed.”

“I couldn’t understand why. How you could hate me so quickly…”

“To me, it was like you were some kind of demon, summoned straight from my own personal hell to ruin me.”

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker), Dr. Carlisle Cullen
Page Number: 269
Explanation and Analysis:

“You already know how I feel, of course,” I finally said. “I’m here…which, roughly translated, means I would rather die than stay away from you.” I frowned. “I’m an idiot.”

“You are an idiot,” he agreed with a laugh. Our eyes met, and I laughed, too. We laughed together at the idiocy and sheer impossibility of such a moment.

“And so the lion fell in love with the lamb….,” he murmured. I looked away, hiding my eyes as I thrilled to the word.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker)
Page Number: 274
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

“You spied on me?” But somehow I couldn’t infuse my voice with the proper outrage. I was flattered.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen
Page Number: 292
Explanation and Analysis:

“For almost ninety years I’ve walked among my kind, and yours…all the time thinking I was complete in myself, not realizing what I was seeking. And not finding anything, because you weren’t alive yet.”

Related Characters: Edward Cullen (speaker), Bella Swan
Page Number: 304
Explanation and Analysis:

“The others—the majority of our kind who are quite content with our lot—they, too, wonder at how we live. But you see, just because we’ve been…dealt a certain hand…it doesn’t mean that we can’t choose to rise above—to conquer the boundaries of a destiny that none of us wanted. To try to retain whatever essential humanity we can.”

Related Characters: Edward Cullen (speaker), Bella Swan, Dr. Carlisle Cullen
Page Number: 307
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

“I love you,” I whispered.

“You are my life now,” he answered simply.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker)
Page Number: 314
Explanation and Analysis:

“His father was an intolerant man. As the Protestants came into power, he was enthusiastic in his persecution of Roman Catholics and other religions. He also believed very strongly in the reality of evil. He led hunts for witches, werewolves…and vampires.”

Related Characters: Edward Cullen (speaker), Bella Swan, Dr. Carlisle Cullen, Jacob Black
Page Number: 314
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

“One night, a herd of deer passed his hiding place. He was so wild with thirst that he attacked without a thought. His strength returned and he realized there was an alternative to being the vile monster he feared. Had he not eaten venison in his former life? Over the next months his new philosophy was born. He could exist without being a demon. He found himself again.”

Related Characters: Edward Cullen (speaker), Bella Swan, Dr. Carlisle Cullen
Page Number: 337
Explanation and Analysis:

“I was prepared to feel…relieved. Having you know about everything, not needing to keep secrets from you. But I didn’t expect to feel more than that. I like it. It makes me…happy.”

Related Characters: Edward Cullen (speaker), Bella Swan
Page Number: 344
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes

“I see a room. It’s long, and there are mirrors everywhere […]”

“Where is the room?”

“I don’t know. Something is missing—another decision hasn’t been made yet.”

Related Characters: Alice Cullen (speaker), Bella Swan, James, Jasper Hale
Related Symbols: Alice’s Visions
Page Number: 415
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

“You have saved me,” he said quietly.

“I can’t always be Lois Lane,” I insisted. “I want to be Superman, too.”

[…]

“Do you wish Carlisle hadn’t saved you?”

“No, I don’t wish that.” He paused before continuing. “But my life was over. I wasn’t giving anything up.”

“You are my life. You’re the only thing it would hurt me to lose.” I was getting better at this. It was easy to admit how much I needed him.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker), Dr. Carlisle Cullen
Page Number: 474
Explanation and Analysis:
Epilogue Quotes

His eyebrows rose. “Is that what you dream about? Being a monster?”

“Not exactly,” I said, frowning at his word choice. Monster, indeed. “Mostly I dream about being with you forever.”

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker)
Page Number: 498
Explanation and Analysis:
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Bella Swan Quotes in Twilight

The Twilight quotes below are all either spoken by Bella Swan or refer to Bella Swan. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Love and Lust Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

“They’re all adopted. The Hales are brother and sister, twins—the blondes—and they’re foster children.”

“They look a little old for foster children.”

“They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen, but they’ve been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She’s their aunt or something like that.”

“That’s really kind of nice—for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they’re so young and everything.”

“I guess so,” Jessica admitted reluctantly […] “I think that Mrs. Cullen can’t have any kids, though,” she added, as if that lessened their kindness.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Jessica (speaker), Edward Cullen, Dr. Carlisle Cullen, Alice Cullen, Jasper Hale, Emmett Cullen, Rosalie Hale, Esme Cullen
Page Number: 2
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2 Quotes

“He’s an asset to the community, and all those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them. But they’re all very mature—I haven’t had one speck of trouble from any of them. That’s more than I can say for some of the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should—camping trips every other weekend…Just because they’re newcomers, people have to talk.”

Related Characters: Charlie Swan (speaker), Bella Swan, Dr. Carlisle Cullen
Page Number: 37
Explanation and Analysis:

“No, she did not send me here. I sent myself.”

[…]

“She stayed with me at first, but she missed him. It made her unhappy…so I decided it was time to spend some quality time with Charlie.” My voice was glum by the time I finished.

“But now you’re unhappy,” he pointed out.

“And?” I challenged.

“That doesn’t seem fair.”

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker), Charlie Swan, Mom
Page Number: 37
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

“You’re dangerous?” I guessed, my pulse quickening as I intuitively realized the truth of my own words. He was dangerous. He’d been trying to tell me that all along.

He just looked at me, eyes full of some emotion I couldn’t comprehend.

“But not bad,” I whispered, shaking my head. “No, I don’t believe that you’re bad.”

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker)
Page Number: 93
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

And I knew in that I had my answer. I didn’t know if there ever was a choice, really. I was already in too deep. Now that I knew—if I knew—I could do nothing about my frightening secret. Because when I thought of him, of his voice, his hypnotic eyes, the magnetic force of his personality, I wanted nothing more than to be with him right now. Even if…but I couldn’t think it. Not here, alone in the darkening forest.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen, Jacob Black
Page Number: 139
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

“I followed you to Port Angeles,” he admitted, speaking in a rush. […] He paused. I wondered if it should bother me that he was following me; instead I felt a strange surge of pleasure.

Related Characters: Edward Cullen (speaker), Bella Swan
Page Number: 174
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

“I decided it didn’t matter,” I whispered.

“It didn’t matter?” His tone made me look up—I had finally broken through his carefully composed mask. His face was incredulous, with just a hint of the anger I’d feared.

“No,” I said softly. “It doesn’t matter to me what you are.”

A hard, mocking edge entered his voice. “You don’t care if I’m a monster? If I’m not human?”

“No.”

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker)
Related Symbols: The Volvo
Page Number: 184
Explanation and Analysis:

“Don’t let that make you complacent, though,” he warned me. “They’re right to keep their distance from us. We are still dangerous.”

“I don’t understand.”

“We try,” he explained slowly. “We’re usually very good at what we do. Sometimes we make mistakes. Me, for example, allowing myself to be alone with you.”

“This is a mistake?” I heard the sadness in my voice, but I didn’t know if he could as well.

“A very dangerous one,” he murmured.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker), Jacob Black, Billy Black
Page Number: 187
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

“I care the most, because if I can do it”—he shook his head, seeming to struggle with the thought— “if leaving is the right thing to do, then I’ll hurt myself to keep from hurting you, to keep you safe.”

I glared. “And you don’t think I would do the same?”

“You’d never have to make the choice.”

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker)
Page Number: 211
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

I intuitively knew—and sensed he did, too—that tomorrow would be pivotal. Our relationship couldn’t continue to balance, as it did, on the point of a knife. We would fall off one edge or the other, depending entirely upon his decision, or his instincts. My decision was made, made before I’d ever consciously chosen, and I was committed to seeing it through. Because there was nothing more terrifying to me, more excruciating, than the thought of turning away from him. It was an impossibility.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen
Page Number: 248
Explanation and Analysis:

“No one knows you’re with me?” Angrily, now.

“That depends…I assume you told Alice?”

“That’s very helpful, Bella,” he snapped.

I pretended I didn’t hear that.

“Are you so depressed by Forks that it’s made you suicidal?” he demanded when I ignored him.

“You said it might cause trouble for you…us being together publicly,” I reminded him.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker), Alice Cullen
Page Number: 255
Explanation and Analysis:

His white shirt was sleeveless, and he wore it unbuttoned, so the smooth white skin of his throat flowed uninterrupted over the marble contours of his chest, his perfect musculature no longer merely hinted at behind concealing clothes. He was too perfect, I realized with a piercing stab of despair. There was no way this godlike creature could be meant for me.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen
Page Number: 256
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

“I don’t want you to leave,” I mumbled pathetically, staring down again.

“Which is exactly why I should. But don’t worry. I’m essentially a selfish creature. I crave your company too much to do what I should.”

“I’m glad.”

“Don’t be!” He withdrew his hand, more gently this time; his voice was harsher than usual. […] It was hard to keep up—his sudden mood changes left me always a step behind, dazed.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker)
Page Number: 266
Explanation and Analysis:

“When you walked past me, I could have ruined everything Carlisle has built for us, right then and there. If I hadn’t been denying my thirst for the last, well, too many years, I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself.” He paused, scowling at the trees.

He glanced at me grimly, both of us remembering. “You must have thought I was possessed.”

“I couldn’t understand why. How you could hate me so quickly…”

“To me, it was like you were some kind of demon, summoned straight from my own personal hell to ruin me.”

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker), Dr. Carlisle Cullen
Page Number: 269
Explanation and Analysis:

“You already know how I feel, of course,” I finally said. “I’m here…which, roughly translated, means I would rather die than stay away from you.” I frowned. “I’m an idiot.”

“You are an idiot,” he agreed with a laugh. Our eyes met, and I laughed, too. We laughed together at the idiocy and sheer impossibility of such a moment.

“And so the lion fell in love with the lamb….,” he murmured. I looked away, hiding my eyes as I thrilled to the word.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker)
Page Number: 274
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

“You spied on me?” But somehow I couldn’t infuse my voice with the proper outrage. I was flattered.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen
Page Number: 292
Explanation and Analysis:

“For almost ninety years I’ve walked among my kind, and yours…all the time thinking I was complete in myself, not realizing what I was seeking. And not finding anything, because you weren’t alive yet.”

Related Characters: Edward Cullen (speaker), Bella Swan
Page Number: 304
Explanation and Analysis:

“The others—the majority of our kind who are quite content with our lot—they, too, wonder at how we live. But you see, just because we’ve been…dealt a certain hand…it doesn’t mean that we can’t choose to rise above—to conquer the boundaries of a destiny that none of us wanted. To try to retain whatever essential humanity we can.”

Related Characters: Edward Cullen (speaker), Bella Swan, Dr. Carlisle Cullen
Page Number: 307
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

“I love you,” I whispered.

“You are my life now,” he answered simply.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker)
Page Number: 314
Explanation and Analysis:

“His father was an intolerant man. As the Protestants came into power, he was enthusiastic in his persecution of Roman Catholics and other religions. He also believed very strongly in the reality of evil. He led hunts for witches, werewolves…and vampires.”

Related Characters: Edward Cullen (speaker), Bella Swan, Dr. Carlisle Cullen, Jacob Black
Page Number: 314
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

“One night, a herd of deer passed his hiding place. He was so wild with thirst that he attacked without a thought. His strength returned and he realized there was an alternative to being the vile monster he feared. Had he not eaten venison in his former life? Over the next months his new philosophy was born. He could exist without being a demon. He found himself again.”

Related Characters: Edward Cullen (speaker), Bella Swan, Dr. Carlisle Cullen
Page Number: 337
Explanation and Analysis:

“I was prepared to feel…relieved. Having you know about everything, not needing to keep secrets from you. But I didn’t expect to feel more than that. I like it. It makes me…happy.”

Related Characters: Edward Cullen (speaker), Bella Swan
Page Number: 344
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes

“I see a room. It’s long, and there are mirrors everywhere […]”

“Where is the room?”

“I don’t know. Something is missing—another decision hasn’t been made yet.”

Related Characters: Alice Cullen (speaker), Bella Swan, James, Jasper Hale
Related Symbols: Alice’s Visions
Page Number: 415
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

“You have saved me,” he said quietly.

“I can’t always be Lois Lane,” I insisted. “I want to be Superman, too.”

[…]

“Do you wish Carlisle hadn’t saved you?”

“No, I don’t wish that.” He paused before continuing. “But my life was over. I wasn’t giving anything up.”

“You are my life. You’re the only thing it would hurt me to lose.” I was getting better at this. It was easy to admit how much I needed him.

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker), Dr. Carlisle Cullen
Page Number: 474
Explanation and Analysis:
Epilogue Quotes

His eyebrows rose. “Is that what you dream about? Being a monster?”

“Not exactly,” I said, frowning at his word choice. Monster, indeed. “Mostly I dream about being with you forever.”

Related Characters: Bella Swan (speaker), Edward Cullen (speaker)
Page Number: 498
Explanation and Analysis: