ANGEL™ ++: Kristen Stewart

Kristen Stewart

Kristen Jaymes Stewart (born April 9, 1990) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Bella Swan in The Twilight Saga. She has also starred in films such as Panic Room (2002), Zathura (2005), In the Land of Women (2007), The Messengers (2007), Adventureland (2009) and The Runaways (2010).

Isabella Marie "Bella" Swan (later Bella Cullen) is the fictional protagonist of the Twilight series, written by Stephenie Meyer. The Twilight series, consisting of the novels Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn, is primarily narrated from Bella's point-of-view. In the film series, Bella is portrayed by actress Kristen Stewart.

In Twilight, Bella moves to her father's home in Forks, Washington, meets the mysterious Cullen family, and falls in love with Edward Cullen. However, she soon discovers that the family is a coven of vampires. Bella expresses a desire to become a vampire herself, against Edward's wishes. In the second novel, New Moon, Edward and the other Cullens leave Forks in an effort to keep Bella safe from the vampire world. Jacob Black, a member of the Quileute tribe who is also a shape shifter taking a wolf form, comforts the distraught and severely depressed Bella. She comes to care deeply for Jacob, though less than she loves Edward. In Eclipse, Bella becomes engaged to Edward, and they marry in Breaking Dawn. Edward then transforms Bella into a vampire after she nearly dies giving birth to their daughter, Renesmee Cullen.

Twilight : is a novel by Stephenie Meyer series. This series describes the main character, Isabella "Bella" Swan, a teenager who moved to the town of Forks, Washington, whose life changed when he met with Edward Cullen, a vampire 'vegetarian' (does not drink human blood). The entire contents of the Twilight series is told through the viewpoint with the exception of Bella Swan epilognya Eclipse and Breaking Dawn novel.

Early life

Kristen Stewart was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Her father, John Stewart, is a stage manager and television producer who has worked for Fox. Her mother, Jules Mann-Stewart, is a script supervisor originally from Maroochydore, Queensland, Australia. She has an older brother, Cameron Stewart, and an adoptive brother, Taylor. Stewart attended school until the seventh grade, and then continued her education by correspondence. She has since completed high school.

Career

Kristen Stewart

Her whole family all worked behind the camera, and Stewart thought she would become a writer/director, but never considered being an actor. "I never wanted to be the center of attention – I wasn't that 'I want to be famous, I want to be an actor' kid. I never sought out acting, but I always practiced my autograph because I love pens. I'd write my name on everything." Stewart's acting career began at the age of eight, after an agent saw her perform in her elementary school's Christmas play. After a year of auditioning, Stewart's first role was a nonspeaking part in the film The Thirteenth Year.Then, she had another part in the film The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas as the "ring toss girl". She subsequently appeared in the independent film The Safety of Objects, in which she played the tomboy daughter of a troubled single mother (Patricia Clarkson). Stewart had a major role in the Hollywood film Panic Room, playing the diabetic daughter of a divorced mother (Jodie Foster). The film received generally positive reviews, and Stewart garnered positive notices for her performance. She was nominated for a Young Artist Award for her performance.

After Panic Room's success, Stewart was cast in another thriller, Cold Creek Manor, playing the daughter of Dennis Quaid's and Sharon Stone's characters. She was again nominated for a Young Artist Award for her performance. It was revealed that at about this time in her career, she had to be homeschooled due to her irregular schedule, which was affecting her grades. She said, "I started homeschooling because my teachers were failing me. I think it was just resentment – I made more work for them. But homeschooling is great; you can study what you want, which allows you to get more excited about what you're doing".

Her first starring role followed, in the children's action-comedy Catch That Kid, opposite Max Thieriot and Corbin Bleu. Stewart also played the role of Lila in the thriller Undertow. To date, Stewart's most critically acclaimed role may be in the Showtime television film Speak (2004), based on the novel by Laurie Halse Anderson. Stewart, 13 at the time of filming, played high school freshman Melinda Sordino, who stops almost all verbal contact after being raped. Stewart received great praise for playing the character, who had only a few speaking lines, but kept up a darkly humorous commentary inside her head throughout the film.

In 2005, Stewart appeared in the fantasy-adventure film Zathura, playing the role of Lisa, the irresponsible older sister of two little boys, who turn their house into a spacecraft hurtling uncontrollably in outer space by playing a board game. The film received praise by critics, but Stewart's performance did not garner much media attention, as it was noted that her character is immobilized during most of the film. The following year, she played the character Maya in Fierce People, directed by Griffin Dunne. After that film, she received the lead role of Jess Solomon in the supernatural thriller film The Messengers.

In 2007, Stewart appeared as teenager Lucy Hardwicke in In the Land of Women, a romantic drama starring Meg Ryan and Adam Brody. The film, as well as Stewart's performance, received mixed reviews. That same year, Stewart appeared in Sean Penn's critically acclaimed adaptation film Into the Wild. For her portrayal of Tracy – a teenage singer who has a crush on young adventurer Christopher McCandless – Stewart received generally positive reviews. Salon.com considered her work a "sturdy, sensitive performance", and the Chicago Tribune noted that she did "vividly well with a sketch of a role." Her performance was not without detractors, however; Variety's critic Dennis Harvey wrote, "It's unclear whether Stewart means to be playing hippie-chick Tracy as vapid, or whether it just comes off that way." After Into the Wild, Stewart had a cameo appearance in Jumper and also appeared in What Just Happened, which was released in October 2008. She also co-stars in The Cake Eaters an independent film that has only been screened at film festivals.

On November 16, 2007, Summit Entertainment announced that Stewart would play Isabella "Bella" Swan in the film Twilight, based on Stephenie Meyer's bestselling vampire romance novel of the same name. Stewart was on the set of Adventureland when director Catherine Hardwicke visited her for an informal screen test which "captivated" the director. She stars alongside Robert Pattinson, who plays Edward Cullen, her character's vampire boyfriend. The film began production in February 2008 and finished filming in May 2008. Twilight was released domestically on November 21, 2008. Her performance garnered mixed reviews with some critcs calling her "the ideal casting choice" and praising her for conveying "Bella's detachment, as well as her need to bust through it"while others criticized her acting for being "wooden" and lacking variety in her facial expressions which they described as "blank".After the release of Twilight, Kristen Stewart was awarded the MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance for her portrayal as Bella Swan.

Stewart reappeared as Bella in the sequel, The Twilight Saga: New Moon to critical acclaim, receiving much more positive reviews than her portrayal of the same character in Twilight. Jordan Mintzer from Variety called Stewart "the heart and soul of the film" and praised her for giving "both weight and depth to dialogue...that would sound like typical chick-lit blather in the mouth of a less engaging actress, and she makes Bella's psychological wounds seem like the real deal"while critics who gave the film its worst reviews still found her performance "bringing plenty of soul" to the character.She reprised this role in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

Stewart has been nominated and presented with the BAFTA Rising Star award. At the 2010 82nd Annual Academy Awards, Stewart and Twilight co-star Taylor Lautner presented a tribute in honour of the horror movie genre.

In 2009, Stewart starred in The Yellow Handkerchief, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and was released into theaters in 2010 by Samuel Goldwyn Films. She also starred alongside James Gandolfini in Welcome to the Rileys, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2010.

Stewart most recently portrayed rock star Joan Jett in The Runaways, a biopic of the titular band from writer-director Floria Sigismondi. Stewart met with Jett over the 2008–2009 New Year to prepare for the role, and ended up prerecording songs in a studio for the film. She received nearly unanimous praise for her performance. Josh Tyler of Cinema Blend pronounced her to be "a modern day James Dean. She gives the kind of performance in The Runaways that hasn’t been seen on screen since his death. The Runaways is her Rebel Without a Cause ... she’s absolutely brilliant as Joan Jett." The Metro Times wrote, "It turns out that Stewart is actually really good at capturing Jett's icy, tough-but-cool girl swagger, adding the needed touches of vulnerability that transform it into a pretty terrific performance... Stewart is a genuine rock star here." Also, A. O. Scott of The New York Times noted "Ms. Stewart, watchful and unassuming, gives the movie its spine and soul."

Stewart will star in a film called K-11 with Jason Mewes.The film, which is being directed by Stewart's mother, takes place in a dorm of the Los Angeles County Jail, and will feature Stewart as a male character. She has also been cast in the role of Mary Lou in an upcoming film adaptation of Jack Kerouac's cult classic novel On the Road. Shooting began in August 2010.

Stewart was listed as the highest earning female actress in Hollywood in the "2010's Top Hollywood Top Earners List" compiled by Vanity Fair. Throughout 2010, Stewart earned an estimated $28.5 million for all her movie appearances.

In March 2011, it was confirmed that Stewart will playing the leading role in the film Snow White and the Huntsman.

Personal life

Kristen Stewart

Stewart currently lives in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, Los Angeles. Stewart has expressed a desire to live and work in Australia, saying, "I want to go to Sydney University in Australia. My mom's from there."Apart from acting, she is also interested in attending college in the near future, saying, "I want to go to college for literature. I want to be a writer. I mean, I love what I do, but it's not all I want to do – be a professional liar for the rest of my life."In an interview with Vanity Fair, Stewart stated that she dated Michael Angarano, her co-star from Speak.

Concept and creation

Kristen Stewart

The premise for both the Bella Swan character and the Twilight series originated in a dream Stephenie Meyer had in which an "average girl" and a "fantastically beautiful, sparkly ... vampire ... were having an intense conversation in a meadow in the woods.In this dream, the pair "were discussing the difficulties inherent in the facts that ... they were falling in love with each other while ... the vampire was particularly attracted to the scent of her blood, and was having a difficult time restraining himself from killing her.

Meyer's original characters were unnamed; she took to calling the characters, who would later become Edward Cullen and Bella, 'he' and 'she' for the purpose of convenience as she, "didn't want to lose the dream." The name 'Isabella' was decided upon, Meyer explains, because "after spending so much time with [the character], I loved her like a daughter. ... Inspired by that love, I gave her the name I was saving for my daughter, ...Isabella.

Bella's positive reception at her new school in Forks, particularly her popularity with male characters, was modelled after Meyer's real life move from high school to college. Comparing her transitional experience to Bella's, Meyer noted that after her own move to college her "stock went through the roof," commenting that "beauty is a lot more subjective than you might think.

Synopsis

Plot summary

Kristen Stewart

Isabella "Bella" Swan moves from sunny Phoenix, Arizona to rainy Forks, Washington to live with her father, Charlie, while her mother, Renée, travels with her new husband, Phil Dwyer, a minor league baseball player. Bella attracts much attention at her new school and is quickly befriended by several students. Much to her dismay, several boys compete for shy Bella's attention.

When Bella is seated next to Edward Cullen in class on her first day of school, Edward seems utterly repulsed by her. He disappears for a few days, but warms up to Bella upon his return; their newfound relationship reaches a climax when Bella is nearly run over by a fellow classmate's van in the school parking lot. Edward saves her life when he instantaneously appears next to her and stops the van with his bare hands.

Bella becomes determined to find out how Edward saved her life, and constantly pesters him with questions. After a family friend, Jacob Black, tells her the local tribal legends, Bella concludes that Edward and his family are vampires who drink animal blood rather than human. Edward confesses that he initially avoided Bella because the scent of her blood was too desirable to him. Over time, Edward and Bella fall in love.

Their relationship is disturbed when another vampire coven arrives in Forks. James, a tracker vampire who is intrigued by the Cullens' relationship with a human, wants to hunt Bella for sport. The Cullens attempt to distract the tracker by splitting up Bella and Edward, and Bella is sent to hide in a hotel in Phoenix. There, Bella receives a phone call from James, who claims to be holding her mother captive. When Bella surrenders herself, James attacks her. Before she is killed, Edward, along with the other Cullens, rescues her and defeats James. Once they realize that James has bitten Bella's hand, Edward successfully sucks the poison from her bloodstream and prevents her from becoming a vampire, after which she is brought to a hospital. Upon returning to Forks, Bella and Edward attend their school prom and Bella expresses her desire to become a vampire, but Edward refuses.

Main characters

Isabella Swan - Isabella, who prefers to be known as Bella, is a 17-year-old girl. She leaves Phoenix, Arizona, to go live with her father in Forks, Washington, in the aim of giving her mother the chance to travel with her new husband. She meets Edward Cullen in Forks High School and feels attracted to him. When she discovers that he's a vampire, her attraction blossoms into full-fledged first love. She confesses her discovery to Edward who admits to it, and they both venture into their forbidden love fighting against Edward's thirst for Bella's blood. Bella has a kind and awkward personality that is more mature than girls her age. She's very smart and observant that she was the first to notice and find theories for the Cullens' strange actions and features. At the beginning of the novel, Bella finds "the hardest part is making decision, but once the decision is made, [she] can easily follow." However, as the novel progresses, Bella unconsciously learns how to make hard decisions and accept their consequences.

Edward Cullen - Edward is a 104-year-old vampire. He was transformed into a vampire by Carlisle Cullen when he was on the edge of death after being struck by Spanish Influenza in 1918. He has a supernatural gift for reading people's minds. When he met Bella, he was immediately attracted to her because of her mind that he couldn't hear, and her strongly appealing blood. Edward tries to stay away from Bella for her safety, but, nevertheless, fails. He notices Bella's attraction to him and tries to warn her that he's dangerous. However, he finally gives in and confesses his truth to her. Since Edward's transformation, he had never fallen in love nor thought that he needed to. He later realizes that his existence was completely pointless without an aim. He finds in Bella compassion, love, acceptance and care.In Twilight, Edward has a pessimistic personality influenced by Meyer's naturally pessimistic character.His character was also influenced by Mr. Rochester of Jane Eyre who also sees himself as a monster.

James - James is a vampire who has the ability to track down people whether humans or vampires. He has a competitive character that always loves a challenge. He reacts aggressively towards Bella when he smells her very appealing scent. When the Cullens react defensively towards her, James is provoked finds the biggest game of his life. He decides to track down Bella to hunt her, knowing that the Cullens would challenge him. He secretly calls Bella to tell her that he's taken her mother hostage in a ballet studio in Phoenix, Arizona. It turns out that her mother is still in Florida and has never returned to Phoenix. He bites Bella, but the Cullens arrive just in time to save her. He is destroyed at the end of the novel.

Development

Meyer says that the idea for Twilight came to her in a dream on June 2, 2003. The dream was about a human girl, and a vampire who was in love with her but thirsted for her blood. Based on this dream, Meyer wrote the transcript of what is now Chapter 13 of the book.The first drafts were titled Forks instead of Twilight before the publisher requested to change the title. At first, she didn't use names to refer to Bella and Edward, instead she used 'She' and 'He'. Later on, "Charlotte Bronte's Mr. Rochester" and "Jane Austen's Mr. Ferrars" led her to choose the name Edward for her male character, while she named her female lead Isabella because it would have been the name she would have chosen for her daughter if she had one. Rosalie and Jasper were originally named Carol and Ronald.

Meyer continued writing to the end chronologically, not worrying about the backstory. She lettered the chapters instead of numbering them, Chapter 13 being E. The last chapter of the first draft kept getting longer and longer, so she wrote epilogue after epilogue. However, she realized that she wanted to explore a lot of the events of the backstory and the reasons behind the events of the chapters she wrote, so, planning to write the backstory in five or six chapters, it turned out to be twelve chapters in the end.In a matter of three months she had transformed her dream into a completed novel,though she claims that she never intended to publish Twilight and was writing for her own enjoyment.After a summer of detachment from the world, immersed in writing, she finished the manuscript on August 29, 2003.

Her sister's response towards the book was enthusiastic and she persuaded Meyer to send the manuscript to literary agencies.Of the 15 letters she wrote, five went unanswered, nine brought rejections, and the last was a positive response from Jodi Reamer of Writers House.During the editing process, a chapter that used to be Chapter 20 was cut out of the manuscript along with Emmett's account of his bear attack and some parts of the epilogue.

Cover

Bella Swan

Stephenie Meyer has stated that the apple on the cover represents the forbidden fruit from the Book of Genesis. It symbolizes Bella and Edward's love, which is forbidden, similar to the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, as is implied by the quote from Genesis 2:17 that is quoted at the beginning of the book. It also represents Bella's knowledge of what good and evil are, and the choice that she has in partaking of the "forbidden fruit", Edward, or choosing not to see him.Meyer also says, "It asks if you are going to bite in and discover the frightening possibilities around you or refuse and stay safe in the comfortable world you know." An alternative cover features Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, the actors who play Bella and Edward, respectively, in the film adaptation.

Appearances

Twilight

TWILIGHT

Twilight is about a seventeen-year-old girl named Bella Swan, who moves from her mother's home in Phoenix, Arizona, to live with her father in her birthtown of Forks, Washington. There, she becomes intrigued by a student, Edward Cullen. When Edward saves her life, he exhibits super-human qualities. Bella learns from family friend Jacob Black that Quileute legends say the Cullen family are vampires. Edward eventually admits to this truth, though his family hunts only animals, not humans, through moral choice.Edward constantly warns Bella against being with him, perceiving her life to be at constant risk if she continues to associate with him because the scent of her blood is more powerful to him than that of any other human he has ever encountered. Bella's love and confidence in Edward's restraint is such that his warnings go unheeded, and on an outing with the Cullens she becomes the target of a sadistic vampire, James. With his family's help, Edward is able to save Bella from James' predations, but Edward is still unwilling to change Bella into a vampire himself.

New Moon

TWILIGHT SAGA New Moon

New Moon begins with Bella's eighteenth birthday. During a party at the Cullens, she gets a small paper cut while opening a present. Edward's brother, Jasper, instinctively hungering for her blood, tries to attack her. Edward realizes that his relationship with Bella puts her in danger. In a misguided attempt to protect Bella, he convinces her that he no longer loves her and moves away with his family, leaving her heartbroken and depressed for months.

To appease her worried father, Bella goes to a movie with her friend Jessica. While there, she carelessly approaches a group of rough-looking men outside a bar and discovers she can hear Edward's voice when in dangerous situations. Desperate to hear his voice again, Bella seeks out danger; she asks Jacob Black to repair two motorcycles and teach her to ride one. Their friendship grows to be very strong, and Jacob admits that he has romantic feelings for Bella, though she does not reciprocate them. When a vampire named Laurent tries to attack her, Bella is saved by a pack of giant wolves. Later, Bella learns that Jacob and other tribe members are shapeshifters who assume a wolf form to protect humans from vampires. Bella also discovers that the vampire Victoria has returned to Forks seeking to kill Bella to avenge her mate, James', death.

To hear Edward's voice, Bella attempts cliff-diving and nearly drowns, but she is saved by Jacob. Edward, after being mistakenly informed by Rosalie that Bella has committed suicide, travels to Volterra, Italy, to request the Volturi to destroy him. Alice returns to Forks and discovers Bella is alive; she and Bella pursue Edward to Italy and successfully prevent him from showing himself in daylight to humans, an act that would result in his execution. The trio are taken to the Volturi. Because Bella knows about vampires, the Volturi want to kill her, but Alice claims she has foreseen Bella becoming a vampire. Because most humans are unaware that vampires exist, the Volturi threaten to kill Bella if this does not happen soon. Upon returning home, Edward reveals to Bella that he never stopped loving her, he only left Forks because he thought it would protect Bella. He apologizes for this misguided action and asks for her forgiveness, which Bella quickly grants. Bella, intent on becoming a vampire, decides that Edward's family should vote on her fate. All but Rosalie and Edward vote affirmatively for her to be changed, but Edward agrees to change her himself if she will marry him first.

Eclipse

TWILIGHT SAGA Eclispse

Eclipse continues the drama of Bella and Edward's relationship. Edward explains that he is reluctant to change Bella into a vampire because he believes that vampires are soulless creatures who have no place in heaven. Bella, whose opinion of marriage is jaded by her own parents' early divorce, agrees to marry Edward on the condition that he will make love to her while she is still human and then turn her into a vampire. He initially refuses, saying that he could easily lose control in the heat of the moment and unintentionally kill her. However, seeing how important it is to Bella, he agrees to try, but only after they are married.

The plot is driven by the machinations of the vampire Victoria, who first encountered Bella and the Cullens during the first book, Twilight. Victoria, seeking to avenge her lover, James', death, hunts Bella while building a new vampire army. To combat this threat, a grudging truce is struck between the Cullens and the Native American shape-shifting wolf pack led by Sam Uley and Jacob Black, who pits himself against Edward as a love interest for Bella. Initially, Bella considers Jacob only as a friend but, despite her engagement to Edward, she shares a kiss with Jacob and realizes she loves him as well. Ultimately, Edward accepts Bella's love for Jacob and successfully destroys Victoria. Bella acknowledges that Edward is the most important person in her life, agreeing to announce their engagement to her father.

Breaking Dawn

TWILIGHT SAGA Breaking Dawn

Near the beginning of Breaking Dawn, Bella marries Edward. They spend their honeymoon on Isle Esme, a fictional small island that was given to Esme as a gift from Carlisle. They consummate their marriage, but their lovemaking sparks a conflict between the newlywed couple: Edward is horrified that he has bruised his wife, but Bella insists that she is fine and wants Edward to make love to her again. He vows not to do so again while she is still human but he soon gives in. Afterwards, Bella becomes very sick and realizes that she is pregnant with Edward's child.

Edward is shocked and rushes Bella home to see Carlisle, who, as a doctor, confirms that she is expecting a child. As the pregnancy takes a toll on Bella's health, Edward tries to talk her into having an abortion to save her own life. However, Bella feels a bond with her unborn child and insists on giving birth. Soon, Edward comes to love the baby as well, after he hears its thoughts and learns that the baby loves Bella in return and doesn't mean to hurt her.

Bella nearly dies giving birth, but Edward successfully delivers their baby girl and then injects his venom into Bella's heart, thus healing her wounds by turning her into a vampire. During Bella's painful transformation, Jacob imprints —an involuntary process in which a shape-shifter finds his soul mate— on the baby, Renesmee Cullen.

After a vampire named Irina mistakes Renesmee for an immortal vampire child (a creation that is forbidden in the vampire world), the Volturi arrive to destroy the Cullens as punishment for the alleged transgression. Edward stands with Bella and their allies to convince the Volturi that Renesmee is not an immortal child and poses no threat to their existence. Once the Volturi leave, Edward and Bella are finally free to live their lives in peace with their daughter

The Midnight Sun is a parallel story of Twilight is told through the eyes of Edward Cullen.

Protagonist

See also: List of figures from Twilight

Bella Swan : Bella is the protagonist of this series, Bella is described as a clumsy girl and "Danger Magnet". He also told always have low self-esteem and always feel unworthy at Edward's side. Bella has brown eyes, pale skin and black hair with red tinge when exposed to sunlight. He is immune to the supernatural powers associated with his mind, like Edward's ability to read minds. After he was transformed into a vampire in the fourth book, Bella got a power that can make your own destiny as well as protection for those around him to be immune to a variety of other supernatural forces.

Edward Cullen : Edward is the first vampire created by Carlisle Cullen, in his life the way they refer to themselves as a vampire "vegetarians". Edward described as having a remarkable sense of hate on Jacob Black who also loves Bella. But in Breaking Dawn, he thought Jacob as a brother and friends even as alias family law because Jacob terimprit with her child Renesmee. More other vampires, Edward has the special ability is above average and he can read people's thoughts / other vampi within many miles though, other than that he was the fastest of his family members. Bella is immune to its power, but after turning into a vampire, Bella could undermine pertahannannya if he likes.

Jacob Black : is a supporting character in the first novel, Jacob is introduced as a member of the Quileute tribe. He reappeared in New Moon with a greater role, a werewolf and Bella's best friend is where the current was depressed due to left Edward. Although he fell in love with Bella, Bella would beg to merely good friends and he harbored a sense of a profound effect on Bella. Within the Eclipse Bella realized she loved Jacob even though not as big as his love for Edward. In Breaking Dawn, Jacob finally found a soul mate is the daughter of Bella and Edward, Renesmee, this is what makes Bella had time to attack / attempt to bite Jacob shock experienced will imprit Jacob to his son

Characterization

Physical appearance

Kristen Stewart

Bella is described in the novels as being very pale with brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, and a heart-shaped face. Beyond this, a detailed description of her appearance is never given in the series. Stephenie Meyer explains that she "left out a detailed description of Bella in the book so that the reader could more easily step into her shoes." While Meyer stresses that "Bella's looks are open to interpretation",she does supply her own personal interpretation on her website, describing Bella as:

"very fair-skinned, with long, straight, dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. Her face is heart-shaped—a wide forehead with a widow's peak, large, wide-spaced eyes, prominent cheekbones, and then a thin nose and a narrow jaw with a pointed chin. Her lips are a little out of proportion, a bit too full for her jaw line. Her eyebrows are darker than her hair and more straight than they are arched. She's five foot four inches tall, slender but not at all muscular, and weighs about 115 pounds. She has stubby fingernails because she has a nervous habit of biting them.

Bella also has a small crescent-shaped scar on her hand where she was bitten by James, a tracker vampire, in Twilight. The scar is described as being pale, always a few degrees colder than the rest of her body, and sparkles slightly in the sunlight.

After Bella is changed into a vampire by her husband Edward Cullen in Breaking Dawn, in keeping with the appearance of most vampires, she became more beautiful, her eyes turned red, and her skin became paler.

Personality traits and abilities

Bella is described as being clumsy and stubborn. She is also said to be a terrible liar, but occasionally demonstrates good acting ability. She has a habit of biting her lower lip. She often exclaims: "Holy crow!" Bella becomes faint when she smells blood, though this no longer bothers her once she becomes a vampire. Stephenie Meyer has stated that Bella's "tragic flaw" in Eclipse is her lack of self-knowledge. After being turned into a vampire, she describes having a much clearer view of the world. She is also very self-controlled, being able to ignore the scent of human blood on her first hunting trip. Bella's private mind that was able to repel some vampires' mental abilities while she was human evolved after she became a vampire; her skill strengthened, allowing her to shield herself and those around her from other vampires' mind control.By the end of Breaking Dawn, she is able to cast the shield away from herself. She is also described by Edward as "very graceful", even for a vampire, in comparison to her earlier clumsiness.

Film portrayal

In the film adaptations, Bella is portrayed by actress Kristen Stewart.Meyer stated that she was "very excited" to see Stewart play the part and that she was "thrilled to have a Bella who has practice [in a vast array of film genres]", since, according to Meyer, Twilight has moments that fit into many genres.

Reception

Bella has received negative reception from critics. Publishers Weekly states that, after her transformation into a vampire, "it's almost impossible to identify with her" in Breaking Dawn.Lilah Lohr of the Chicago Tribune compares Bella's character to the story of the Quileute wolves and describes it as "less satisfying."During Twilight, Kirkus Reviews stated that "Bella's appeal is based on magic rather than character", but that her and Edward's "portrayal of dangerous lovers hits the spot".In the review of New Moon, Kirkus Reviews said that Bella's personality was "flat and obsessive". Laura Miller of salon.com said, in regards to Edward and Bella, "neither of them has much personality to speak of."Entertainment Weekly's Jennifer Reese, in her review of Breaking Dawn noted, in regard to Bella, "You may wish she had loftier goals and a mind of her own, but these are fairy tales, and as a steadfast lover in the Disney princess mold, Bella has a certain saccharine appeal", and that during Bella's pregnancy "she is not only hard to identify with but positively horrifying, especially while guzzling human blood to nourish the infant." Washington Post journalist Elizabeth Hand noted how Bella was often described as breakable and that "Edward's habit of constantly pulling her onto his lap or having her ride on his back further emphasize her childlike qualities", continuing to write that "the overall effect is a weird infantilization that has repellent overtones to an adult reader and hardly seems like an admirable model to foist upon our daughters (or sons)."Gina Dalfonzo, in an article posted on the National Review website, calls Bella "self-deprecating" before her transformation into a vampire, and afterwards she is "insufferably vain".Dalfonzo also states that Bella gets what she wants and discovers her worth "by giving up her identity and throwing away nearly everything in life that matters."

Adaptations

Film

Twilight (2008 film)

Twilight was adapted into a film by Summit Entertainment. The film was directed by Catherine Hardwicke and stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson as protagonists Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen, respectively. The screenplay was adapted by Melissa Rosenberg. The movie was released in theaters in the United States on November 21, 2008, and on DVD on March 21, 2009. The DVD was released in Australia on April 22, 2009.

Graphic novel

Main article: Twilight: The Graphic Novel

On July 15, 2009, Entertainment Weekly confirmed rumors that a graphic novel adaptation of Twilight was in the works. The book will be drawn by Korean artist Young Kim and published by Yen Press. Stephenie Meyer reviews every panel herself. According to EW, "it doesn't look simply like an artist's rendering of Kristen Stewart and Rob Pattinson. In fact, the characters seem to be an amalgam of Meyer's literary imagination and the actors' actual looks." EW magazine published finished illustrations of Edward, Bella, and Jacob in their July 17, 2009 issue.

Critical reception

Initial reviews for Twilight were mostly positive, with Publishers Weekly called Meyer one of the most "promising new authors of 2005". The Times praised the book for capturing "perfectly the teenage feeling of sexual tension and alienation", and Amazon.com hailed the book as "[d]eeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful".Hillias J. Martin of School Library Journal stated, "Realistic, subtle, succinct, and easy to follow, Twilight will have readers dying to sink their teeth into it", and Norah Piehl of TeenReads wrote, "Twilight is a gripping blend of romance and horror". Publishers Weekly's starred review described Bella's "infatuation with outsider Edward", their risky relationship, and "Edward's inner struggle" as a metaphor for sexual frustration accompanying adolescence. Booklist wrote, "There are some flaws here–a plot that could have been tightened, an over reliance on adjectives and adverbs to bolster dialogue–but this dark romance seeps into the soul." Christopher Middleton of The Daily Telegraph called the book a "high school drama with a bloody twist ... no secret, of course, at whom this book is aimed, and no doubt, either, that it has hit its mark. Jennifer Hawes of The Post and Courier said, "Twilight, the first book in Stephenie Meyer's series, gripped me so fiercely that I called the nearest teenager I know and begged for her copy after I misplaced my own."Roberta Goli of Suite101.com gave the novel a positive review, saying that while "the first half of the novel lacks action", the writing is "fluid" and the story "intersting". She also praised the depth of emotion shown between the main characters for pinpointing "the angst of teenage love."

Kirkus gave a more mixed review, noting that, "[Twilight] is far from perfect: Edward's portrayal as monstrous tragic hero is overly Byronic, and Bella's appeal is based on magic rather than character. Nonetheless, the portrayal of dangerous lovers hits the spot; fans of dark romance will find it hard to resist." The New York Times review stated, "The premise of Twilight is attractive and compelling . who hasn't fantasized about unearthly love with a beautiful stranger? — but the book suffers at times from overearnest, amateurish writing. A little more "showing" and a lot less "telling" might have been a good thing, especially some pruning to eliminate the constant references to Edward's shattering beauty and Bella's undying love." Although the Daily Telegraph later listed Twilight at number 32 on its list of "100 books that defined the noughties", it said that the novel was "Astonishing, mainly for the ineptitude of [Meyer's] prose". Elizabeth Hand said in a review for the Washington Post, "Meyer's prose seldom rises above the serviceable, and the plotting is leaden".

Publication

Twilight was initially rejected by 14 agents,however, eight publishers competed for the rights to publish Twilight in the 2003 auction.Little, Brown and Company originally bid for $300,000, but Meyer's agent asked for $1 million; the publishers finally settled on $750,000 for three books.Twilight was published in 2005 with a print run of 75,000 copies.It debuted at #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list within a month of its release, and later peaked at #1.Foreign rights to the novel were sold to over 26 countries.

In October 2008, Twilight was ranked #26 in USA Today's list of "Bestselling Books of Last 15 Years".Later, the book went on to become the best-selling book of 2008.and the second biggest selling of 2009, only behind its sequel New Moon.