Esme Cullen

"I hope you haven't been showing off — it's rude."

- Esme to Edward Cullen

Esme Cullen (née Platt, previously Evenson), is a vampire and the matriarch of the Olympic Coven. She is the wife of Carlisle Cullen and the adoptive mother of Alice, Emmett, and Edward Cullen and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. Esme is the adoptive mother-in-law of Bella Cullen and the adoptive grandmother of Renesmee Cullen, as well as the ex-wife of Charles Evenson (when she was still human).

In 1921, after losing her child, Esme attempted suicide, though she was transformed into a vampire by Carlisle before she died. Some time later, the pair fell in love and married; before building a family of like minded "vegetarian" vampires around them. Esme possessed an unparalleled ability to love those around her passionately, which allowed the members of her adoptive family to consider her as the greatest maternal figure in their lives.

Biography


Esme was born sometime in 1895. Little is known about her very early life, but that she lived near the outskirts of Columbus, Ohio. She met Dr. Carlisle Cullen for the first time when she was 16 and had just broken her leg climbing a tree. He soon moved out of town, but Esme never forgot the experience. While she initially wanted to move West to become a school teacher, she was pressured by her parents to remain and marry. At the age of 22, she married Charles Evenson, hoping to please her parents and willing to attempt to be happy, but soon realized her husband was an abusive man. Charles abused her behind the bedroom doors, but Esme kept quiet. She wanted to be a good wife, despite Charles' abuse. Her parents coached her to keep face, and much to her relief, her husband got drafted during World War I.

Esme was happy while Charles was gone. Charles came back from the war and abused her greatly in 1920. Esme struggled to break free from him. She ran away from him when he wasn't looking, a couple of days later Esme realized that she had become pregnant with Charles' child. She fled north to become a teacher, and in 1921, her son was born, and subsequently died a few days later of a lung infection. After the baby's death, Esme felt that she no longer had any reason to live. She tried to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff, and was presumed dead when she was brought into the morgue, but her heart was still beating. Dr. Cullen was working in the area at the time and recognized her as the happy, beautiful young girl he treated ten years earlier. Carlisle did not want Esme to suffer any longer so he decided to change her into a vampire as she was dying anyway.

Then after the transformation she and Carlisle fell in love. When Esme first woke up as a vampire, Carlisle told Esme all about the vampire world. Esme joined the Cullens' coven in 1921, and later married Carlisle. She welcomed Bella as a part of their "family" because of her warm nature, and has always treated the rest of the Cullens like this, too. She has a special spot in her heart for Edward because he was the first of her adoptive children.

Physical appearance
She is described as being 5'6", with caramel-colored hair. She also has gold/black eyes, pale skin that sparkles in the sunlight, and purple circles under her eyes like the rest of the Cullens. However, these fade when she is well-fed. She has a heart-shaped face and her figure is described as being slender but rounded as she was changed not long after giving birth to her son.

Like all vampires; when in sunlight, she sparkles as if thousands of diamonds were embedded to her skin.

She is described to be extremely beautiful, like the other vampires. Esme is described by Jacob to have dimples on her face. Bella describes her as being similar to "one of the ingenues of the silent movie era". She is also described to be having delicate eyebrows. Carlisle describes her to be "utterly stunning, as desirable as a goddess". In the books, Bella is always amazed by Esme's youth and beauty.

Personality and traits
Esme is an extremely warm individual who is gifted with the ability to love passionately. She always has a maternal ache in her, which is why she is able to open her heart to her adoptive children and Bella. This was caused because her first and only child died when it was only a few days old. Esme is very family motivated. She loves Carlisle, her adoptive children, including Bella and her granddaughter Renesmee dearly, and is very protective of them. Esme even shows affection to Jacob Black's pack when they stay with the Cullens. She is also described to be intelligent like her husband, Carlisle. Sometimes, she is portrayed a little wrong, for example on Isle Esme when Edward says that if they completely destroy the house, Esme won't invite them back in. Edward makes a similar comment about the plane tickets Carlisle and Esme gave Bella for her eighteenth birthday, even though Esme wouldn't ever dream of being that snobby. Like all vampires; when in sunlight, she sparkles as if thousands of diamonds were embedded to her skin.

Abilities
Shortly after becoming a vampire, Esme develops some basic vampiric abilities such as enhanced speed, strength, senses, and reflexes. However, she doesn't develop any prominent special vampiric abilities. Her transformation only enhances her passion. Later she develops an unparalleled ability to love those around her passionately.

Family
Esme is the mother figure of the Cullen family. Esme is the wife of Carlisle Cullen and the ex-wife of Charles Evenson, as well as the adoptive grandmother of Renesmee Cullen, Edward and Bella's daughter. She is the adoptive mother of Alice, Emmett and Edward Cullen, as well as Rosalie and Jasper Hale and the adoptive mother-in-law of Bella Swan. She cares deeply for her "children" since she had lost her own son before she became a vampire. Though she won't admit it aloud, Esme favors Edward since he was the first "son" she had.

Charles Evenson
In Esme's human life, she was married to Charles Evenson. She was the last of her friends to get married and her parents practically set her up to marry Charles because he was a friend of the family and had good prospects. Esme was indifferent to Charles but decided to marry him, to please her parents, in 1917. She soon regretted the decision as Charles became increasingly violent and abusive towards her. He was drafted to war and she was relieved to have him out of the house but he was terrifying when he was back home. In 1920, Esme ran away from him after discovering she was pregnant with their first child. It was after their son's death from a lung infection shortly after birth that she jumped from a cliff in the hopes of killing herself. Her child was the only thing she saw worth living for and he was gone.



Carlisle Cullen
Esme first met Carlisle, at the age of 16, after breaking her leg while playing in a tree. She was instantly taken with Carlisle, so after this meeting, no man was ever able to measure up to the standards set by the handsome doctor. Ten years later, it was a total coincidence that she'd moved near the town Carlisle Cullen worked in. She had gone there to hide from her abusive husband and in the hopes of starting a new life with the baby she carried. Carlisle would save Esme from her failed suicide attempt and make her part of his vampire family after she was brought in to the morgue, thought dead from the fall, but her heart was still beating. He remembered her as the girl from ten years before. Feeling the need to alleviate her suffering, he transformed Esme into a vampire, and they eventually married. The Carlisle-Esme relationship is one built on a strong spiritual and intellectual bond. Only aiding the relationship is the fact the pair are completely in love with one another. Obviously, Esme has never regretted becoming a vampire as she is able to spend eternity with the man/vampire of her dreams.



Edward Cullen
Initially, they faked themselves as siblings. But after Esme and Carlisle fell in love, she became his mother. They care for each other deeply and Edward hates to cause her pain.

Esme admits to Bella that Edward means more to her than the rest of her "children", because he was her first son since she became a vampire, and is very thankful that he has found love in Bella.

Throughout their years together, she was worried that he would never find a partner in his life, until Bella came along. She also thinks that Edward is really a gentleman to everyone, because he told Bella that she fell off a cliff rather than jumped.

In the movie adaptation of Twilight, he introduces Esme to Bella as his mother "for all intents and purposes".



Bella Swan
When Bella first comes into their lives, Esme notices a change in her first "son", Edward, and feels glad for the change. After Edward and Bella started dating, Esme learns to love her as part of the family, which she admits when Bella asks the family to vote whether or not they let her join their coven.

When she married Edward, Esme offered Isle Esme as their place for honeymoon; and after her transformation, Esme designs a cottage for them to live in with Renesmee.

Renesmee Cullen
Renesmee is the biological daughter of Edward and Bella, which would make Esme her adoptive grandmother. At first, she worried about Bella's health and wished to abort the baby, but Bella's refusal made her reconsider the idea. After Renesmee was born, however, she came to love her just like everyone else in her family.



Rosalie Hale
Rosalie is Esme's first adoptive daughter. Overtime, Rosalie and Esme grew very close as mother and daughter, and Rosalie grew to love her. Before she joined them, Rosalie had run into them a few times in the streets, and was always disturbed by the fact that there were people more beautiful than her, particularly Edward and Carlisle.

Emmett has mentioned that Esme and Carlisle had kicked them out a few times for ruining houses they bought for them, only to return home again after a while.

Rosalie resents her inability to have children, as female vampires' bodies cannot undergo changes, and acknowledges that Esme won't feel the same because she has her, Edward, Emmett, Jasper, and Alice as substitutes to her lost child.



Emmett Cullen
Emmett is Esme's second adoptive son. He joined their "family" in 1935 after Carlisle transformed him.

Although Emmett can sometimes be a handful, Esme actually loves him as much as she loves her husband and other "children".

In Breaking Dawn, when Bella challenges Emmett in arm-wrestling, Emmett is about to use Esme's favorite table, but Alice points out that they should leave it alone, which he does not disagree. This implies that he respects his mother's passion to art and love for antique.



Alice Cullen
Alice is Esme's adoptive daughter. Not much is known about Esme and Alice's relationship, but it is known that Esme loves Alice as much as she loves her other children, and are willing to do anything to protect one another.

When the Volturi come to destroy their family, Alice and Jasper leave Forks without a proper goodbye; Esme is one of the most devastated, thinking they have abandoned the rest of them, but comes to respect their choice. However, Alice and Jasper return on New Year's Eve after they found what they looked for: a primary witness named Nahuel. Upon their return, Esme greets them with a tight hug.



Jasper Hale
Jasper is Esme's adoptive son. Not much is known about Esme and Jasper's relationship, but it is known that they love each other very much and would do anything to protect each other.

When the Volturi come to destroy their family, Alice and Jasper leave Forks without a proper goodbye; Esme is one of the most devastated, thinking they have abandoned the rest of them, but comes to respect their choice. However, Alice and Jasper return on New Year's Eve after they found what they looked for: a primary witness named Nahuel. Upon their return, Esme greets them with a tight hug.



Jacob Black
Jacob initially disliked Esme and her family, because they are vampires, which are the natural enemies of "werewolves". But they learned to cope with one another after they came together to protect Bella from Victoria's army. While Bella is pregnant with Renesmee, Jacob breaks ties from Sam Uley's pack to protect her. Ever since then, they begin to learn to live with each other. They grew even closer after he imprinted on her granddaughter.

Jacob mentions that Esme reminds him of his own mother in Book 2 of Breaking Dawn.

Etymology
Esme means "to be loved" in Old French. This could refer to Esme's unparalleled ability to love those around her passionately.

Film portrayal
It was announced on February 19, 2008 that Elizabeth Reaser would play Esme in the Twilight movie. She reprised her role in both New Moon and Eclipse. She is also confirmed to reprise in Breaking Dawn.

Twilight
Esme does not play a major role in this movie; only being seen a few times. We first see her when Edward is ready to introduce Bella to his family. Esme can be seen in the kitchen, preparing dinner. She becomes increasingly excited once she realizes Bella has arrived (First catching her scent, just like the rest of the Cullens). Esme is then seen again when then Cullen's are in the field playing Baseball. When the nomad Vampires arrives and they all spring into action to protect Bella - Esme stays behind the rest of the Cullens, shielding Bella from any danger.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Again, Esme plays a minor role in this movie, as do the rest of the Cullens. We first briefly see Esme at Bella's birthday party - held by Alice. She hugs Bella wishing her a happy birthday, where Alice gives Bella her present, from her and Carlisle. It is here where Bella gets a paper cut, and Jasper tries to attack. Once Jasper was subdued, the rest of The Cullen's noticed the scent of Bella's blood; hissing uncontrollably. Esme vacated the room with the rest of the Cullens, for safety reasons, in-case she couldn't resist the smell of Bella's blood any longer.

Esme is not seen again; until the ending, where Bella is asking the Cullen members to vote on whether she will become a Vampire. Esme votes "yes", saying that she already sees Bella as part of the family.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
This is the movie where Esme plays a much larger role. Esme will take part in the battle, with Victoria's army of newborn vampires.

Appearances

 * Twilight
 * Twilight film
 * New Moon
 * The Twilight Saga: New Moon
 * Eclipse
 * The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
 * Breaking Dawn
 * Midnight Sun
 * The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner