Edward Cullen. A sparkling "vegetarian" vampire who is supposed to represent the "perfect boyfriend". He's hot, strong, fast, and he lives forever! What could be wrong?
Well, a lot, I'm afraid.
Edward Cullen is not, I repeat, is not a good boyfriend. He is actually an abusive boyfriend. Before I go on to offer proof as to why Edward is abusive, I will clarify what I mean by "abusive".
What is an abusive boyfriend?
There are different kinds of abuse. Many people think of a boy who actually beats up his girlfriend. That is physical abuse. There is also psychological abuse. This includes emotional abuse and the abuse of her rights.
Edward definitely abuses Bella emotionally as well as abusing her rights. He even abuses her physically a few times. But before I get there, I will go over the signs of an abusive boyfriend in which Edward exhibits.
-Always by her side
-Questions her when she disobeys him
-Jealousy
-Possessiveness
-Forces her to do things she doesn't want to do
-Dangerous driver
-Drains her self confidence
-Isolates her from friends and family
-Teases her hurtfully
-Reads through her mail
-Stalks her
-Scares her
-Damages her possessions
-Steals from her
If you are an avid Twilight fan, you may be thinking "He doesn't do any of that!" I'll explain each of these points.
-He is always by her side. He insists on driving her to school and driving her home again, he is always with her. This may not seem bad at first, but it actually serves the purpose of making her dependent on him and letting him "keep an eye on her".
-When she goes to see Jacob against his will, he questions her and is very angry with her. You may say, "but he thinks Jacob is dangerous!" Well, I say not. He even admits it himself later on; he's just jealous. Whenever Bella says she wants to do something against Edward's wishes, he questions her and finds a way to get her out of it.
-There are many examples of jealousy. The most obvious would be Jacob Black. See the last point for information on that. However, it does not end there. There is also Mike, Tyler and all the other boys at school.
-All I need to prove this one is a quote Edward once said:
"To be perfectly honest, she'll be unavailable every night, as far as anyone besides myself is concerned."
-He forces her to go to prom when she does not like dances. He forces painkillers on her when she clearly does not want them at the end of Twilight. He forces her to let him drive her home ("He was towing me toward his car now, pulling me by my jacked"... "'I'll just drag you back,' he threatened, guessing my plan").
-Do I really need to explain that he's a dangerous driver?
-He always reminds her of everything that is wrong with her. "Silly", "stupid", "klutz", etc. This is more than being realistic. This is insulting her.
-Once Bella becomes Edward's girlfriend, we never see her with her friends, we never see her with her parents. She spends all her time with him. In New Moon, when Edward leaves her, he commands that Alice, Bella's only friend, does not see her again. In Eclipse, he isolates her from Jacob, the boy who pulled her out of her depression, because he was jealous.
-See the point on draining her self confidence
-That is how he knew that she was accepted into Dartmouth without her knowing. That is how he forged her signature so she would go there. This should not be seen as "doing it for her own good". It is her choice. While she may not have the best sense of judgment, it is not Edward's place to force her to do anything against her will, and forging signatures counts.
-He watches her sleep, and starts that up before he is even her boyfriend. That is just plain creepy. He follows her "just to keep an eye on her". Sure, it may have saved her from getting raped. That is a plus. However, he did not follow her knowing she would be in danger. He just wanted to follow her.
-He does indeed scare her. He throws her across a room (yes, it is playful. Either way, he did it to scare her. He did this because she told him that he isn't scary). He rips a branch off a tree. He breaks her bed. All of this is done to scare her.
-He does indeed damage her possessions. I mentioned breaking her bed in my previous point. He also removed the engine from her truck.
-I do count taking everything that may remind her of him back to be stealing. Yes, he just hid it under her floorboard. Either way, he took it away from her. I do not care that he was "just trying to help her". He should have let her deal with her depression in her own way.
Examples of his controlling nature are as follows:
-"'Bring on the shackles - I'm your prisoner.' But his long hands formed manacles around my wrists." Symbolism. She is his prisoner.
-Demands that she eats in Port Angeles.
-Admits he would have forced an abortion upon Bella had it not been for Rosalie (this may count as physical abuse).
Now, I know that many people disregard this. They say "he's old fashioned. He's form the 1900's." I do not accept this excuse for his behavior. For one thing, he lived through the Women's Rights Acts. He still grows mentally, no? He should have adjusted. Stalking was never considered normal. I don't care if it was the 1500's; stalking is creepy. In fact, none of his actions are considered "old fashioned". They are abusive.
So, do you still think Edward is a good example for boyfriends everywhere? I think not. I hope you enjoyed my article :D
Well, a lot, I'm afraid.
Edward Cullen is not, I repeat, is not a good boyfriend. He is actually an abusive boyfriend. Before I go on to offer proof as to why Edward is abusive, I will clarify what I mean by "abusive".
What is an abusive boyfriend?
There are different kinds of abuse. Many people think of a boy who actually beats up his girlfriend. That is physical abuse. There is also psychological abuse. This includes emotional abuse and the abuse of her rights.
Edward definitely abuses Bella emotionally as well as abusing her rights. He even abuses her physically a few times. But before I get there, I will go over the signs of an abusive boyfriend in which Edward exhibits.
-Always by her side
-Questions her when she disobeys him
-Jealousy
-Possessiveness
-Forces her to do things she doesn't want to do
-Dangerous driver
-Drains her self confidence
-Isolates her from friends and family
-Teases her hurtfully
-Reads through her mail
-Stalks her
-Scares her
-Damages her possessions
-Steals from her
If you are an avid Twilight fan, you may be thinking "He doesn't do any of that!" I'll explain each of these points.
-He is always by her side. He insists on driving her to school and driving her home again, he is always with her. This may not seem bad at first, but it actually serves the purpose of making her dependent on him and letting him "keep an eye on her".
-When she goes to see Jacob against his will, he questions her and is very angry with her. You may say, "but he thinks Jacob is dangerous!" Well, I say not. He even admits it himself later on; he's just jealous. Whenever Bella says she wants to do something against Edward's wishes, he questions her and finds a way to get her out of it.
-There are many examples of jealousy. The most obvious would be Jacob Black. See the last point for information on that. However, it does not end there. There is also Mike, Tyler and all the other boys at school.
-All I need to prove this one is a quote Edward once said:
"To be perfectly honest, she'll be unavailable every night, as far as anyone besides myself is concerned."
-He forces her to go to prom when she does not like dances. He forces painkillers on her when she clearly does not want them at the end of Twilight. He forces her to let him drive her home ("He was towing me toward his car now, pulling me by my jacked"... "'I'll just drag you back,' he threatened, guessing my plan").
-Do I really need to explain that he's a dangerous driver?
-He always reminds her of everything that is wrong with her. "Silly", "stupid", "klutz", etc. This is more than being realistic. This is insulting her.
-Once Bella becomes Edward's girlfriend, we never see her with her friends, we never see her with her parents. She spends all her time with him. In New Moon, when Edward leaves her, he commands that Alice, Bella's only friend, does not see her again. In Eclipse, he isolates her from Jacob, the boy who pulled her out of her depression, because he was jealous.
-See the point on draining her self confidence
-That is how he knew that she was accepted into Dartmouth without her knowing. That is how he forged her signature so she would go there. This should not be seen as "doing it for her own good". It is her choice. While she may not have the best sense of judgment, it is not Edward's place to force her to do anything against her will, and forging signatures counts.
-He watches her sleep, and starts that up before he is even her boyfriend. That is just plain creepy. He follows her "just to keep an eye on her". Sure, it may have saved her from getting raped. That is a plus. However, he did not follow her knowing she would be in danger. He just wanted to follow her.
-He does indeed scare her. He throws her across a room (yes, it is playful. Either way, he did it to scare her. He did this because she told him that he isn't scary). He rips a branch off a tree. He breaks her bed. All of this is done to scare her.
-He does indeed damage her possessions. I mentioned breaking her bed in my previous point. He also removed the engine from her truck.
-I do count taking everything that may remind her of him back to be stealing. Yes, he just hid it under her floorboard. Either way, he took it away from her. I do not care that he was "just trying to help her". He should have let her deal with her depression in her own way.
Examples of his controlling nature are as follows:
-"'Bring on the shackles - I'm your prisoner.' But his long hands formed manacles around my wrists." Symbolism. She is his prisoner.
-Demands that she eats in Port Angeles.
-Admits he would have forced an abortion upon Bella had it not been for Rosalie (this may count as physical abuse).
Now, I know that many people disregard this. They say "he's old fashioned. He's form the 1900's." I do not accept this excuse for his behavior. For one thing, he lived through the Women's Rights Acts. He still grows mentally, no? He should have adjusted. Stalking was never considered normal. I don't care if it was the 1500's; stalking is creepy. In fact, none of his actions are considered "old fashioned". They are abusive.
So, do you still think Edward is a good example for boyfriends everywhere? I think not. I hope you enjoyed my article :D
