Character Analysis
Esme's role in the Cullen family is fairly straightforward – she's the mother figure, and Carlisle's wife. She joined the family after Edward and presumably before Rosalie. With Renée on the other side of the country, Esme steps in as Bella's mother figure for a short time. Esme is also the five Cullen siblings' "mother," although she can't look too much older than any of them. She does support them and seems to nurture them as though she really is their mother, which creates a warm family dynamic. She takes a motherly attitude toward Edward's relationship with Bella as well. When Bella asks Edward if Esme and Carlisle like her, he responds,
"[Carlisle and Esme] are happy to see me happy. Actually, Esme wouldn't care if you had a third eye and webbed feet. All this time she's been worried about me, afraid that there was something missing in my essential makeup, that I was too young when Carlisle changed me…She's ecstatic. Every time I touch you, she just about chokes with satisfaction." (15.189)