slytheringirl7 Well, you said so yourself. A Mary-Sue suggests a perfect person with no flaws, a type of character most people detest reading about. A lot of anit Twilight people claim Bella is a Mary-Sue because they detest the way she is portrayed. I myself think she is one because the situations (that involve real life stuff) where she is included turn out in unrealistic ways. She always comes out on top. I don't like reading about her because of the way people are throwing themselves at her and she has a hard time choosing between two almost perfect guys. That situation would not normally happen.

cassie-1-2-3 This has been brought up before. The common response is "Stephenie Meyer didn't intend for those flaws, she just made a horrible character with lots of flaws without knowing" The problem with that is that they're just being mean, attempting to call Stephenie a stupid person. Nobody here knows how she intended to create Bella, what was intentional, and what wasn't. She never revealed her secrets to us. Nobody here's interviewed her. Nobody here broke into her computer and took a look at all her notes.

yemi_hikari "The term Mary Sue suggests a perfect person, a person with no flaws, a type of character most people detest reading about." Actually, it is a misconception that a Mary Sue suggests this kind of character, There are many characters out there that are good at everything to almost everything that they do that aren't Mary Sues. What they have that the Mary Sue doesn't have isn't flaws, but something called the fatal flaw. While Bella does have flaws, none of them are fatal flaws. To quote slutheringirl7, I myself think she is one because the situations (that involve real life stuff) where she is included turn out in unrealistic ways. A Mary Sue is a character who for some reason breaks Willing Suspense of Disbelief for some reason or another when it comes to characterization. Most Mary Sues can actually be reworked so that they are not a Mary Sue anymore if the writer so chooses. @ cassie-1-2-3 ~ There is something called literary analysis that allows a reader to figure out what the writer may or may not have intended to write within their story. There are clues hidden through the many interviews Stephanie has given, the actual work herself and within her own personality that give evidence as to whether or not she intended to do these things on purpose. If she knowingly put in the flaws, then she fails at cause and effect when it comes to writing. If she didn't realize she was putting in those flaws, as many a writer whose working with their self-insert is prone to do, then she didn't realize how much she was revealing about her own self. I critique fanfiction and a lot of the people I critique don't ever realize the stuff they've put into their story until it is pointed out to them. A lot of them are very intelligent people. The reason people call Meyer stupid is because of things she's said in interviews. For example, there is what she said about a good deal of literary classics and a book called The Princess Bride. How she describes the work is not The Princess Bride but her own work.That, and Bella is rather obviously her self insert and she's revealed way to much about herself through Bella. I wouldn't call her stupid or an idiot, but it is rather obvious she's led a rather sheltered life. Aka, ignorant bliss and naivety are very different things then stupidity.

cassie-1-2-3 I know what a literary analysis is. My belief still stands. People speak as if they know for a fact, when they know very little.

VampiresRevenge yemi_hikari: [i]There is something called literary analysis that allows a reader to figure out what the writer may or may not have intended to write within their story.[/i] You do realize that most literary analysis is guess-work, right? No one knows definitively what the author was thinking or intending when writing a story other than the author himself/herself. The only thing the readers can do is look at the details within the story that can be twisted around and perceived anyway you want them to be.

tsmith120 It's because while Bella comes across as an unpleasant person when reading about or watching her, I can't remember any of the characters ever actually bringing them up and confronting her about them. The other characters either love her or dislike her for very shallow reasons and are either brushed off or end up liking her anyway. Nor does she seem to realise this at any point and try to improve on herself, instead criticising other people for much less than what she is guilty of. The only time that she seems to feel bad about herself are because she's clumsy and 'plain', and I remember her a couple of times feeling bad about something but then it never being brought up again and her never apologising for her selfish behaviour. Despite the many flaws that are apparent to the reader, she gets everything that she wants without having to make any sacrifices, learning anything or growing as a person. That and I don't think Stephanie Meyer has ever mentioned in any interview that Bella is supposed to be as flawed and unpleasant as she seems, and if anything seems to defend her and her choices. But hey, that's just my opinion.

HeKaLyAn A Mary-Sue is a person who acts as a writer's wish-fulfillment and shows no depth of character, character flaws or any sort of growth. Bella Swan fulfills all above criteria. Yes, I know we, the audience, complain about Bella being mean to friends, and being too Edward-dependent. But all that is brought out only by the audiences - for a character to not be a Sue, her flaws must be ACKNOWLEDGED BY THE AUTHOR HERSELF. On the contrary, even what the readers perceive as Bella's flaws has been written by the author as something admirable. Hence, Bella is a Sue.

luv_warriorcatz Not just that, for a Mary-Sue can still be interesting. Bella is just an agonizingly boring protagonist, which is the main problem.