Bookworms come across hundreds to thousands of characters over our lifetimes. We have characters that we love with everything in us, characters that we hate with a passion, and characters that we could less about. We also have characters who can make it hard to finish a book because they are way too annoying. While there are quite a bit throughout all of literature, here’s a short list of characters who take the cake.
1. Bella Swan – The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer
When I was a young and naive teenager, I was obsessed with the Twilight series. However, looking back at it now, I find Bella Swan quite annoying. Not only does she have a whiny, poor me attitude, but she purposely leads on her best friend, who is in love with her, when she has no intentions of ever being with him. Also, don’t forget about how her life revolves around her vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen, who is annoying all by himself, but that’s a whole other story.
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2. Romeo Montague – Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Although many people seem to believe that Romeo and Juliet is the greatest love story of all, I beg to differ. First, you have Romeo, who at the beginning of the play is absolutely in love with Rosalie. While at a party to win her affection, Romeo meets Juliet, who then becomes his true love at first sight. At this point, Romeo is already annoying but he gets worse as the play goes on. Romeo is his most annoying self at the end, when he decides to commit suicide because his Juliet has died. Basically, he chooses to end his life for a girl that he knew for like two days and the girl wasn’t even dead to begin with, at least not yet.
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3. Abigail Williams – The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Dear ole Abigail is probably the most annoying on this list because hundreds of people were put to death because of her “witch” accusations. The only reason she started her accusations of witchcraft was because she didn’t get her way and she didn’t want to get in trouble for practicing witchcraft herself. So, basically she didn’t care that innocent people were dying as long as she wasn’t one of them.
4. Mrs. Bennett – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Even though Mrs. Bennett’s persistent personality helps move along the story of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, it is still quite annoying. Mrs. Bennett is so gung-ho on her daughters getting married she practically forces her daughters to actively engage with Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy when they come to town. Not to mention that she pretty much allows their cousin to ask for Elizabeth’s hand in marriage, or that she was perfectly okay with her younger daughter eloping with a soldier. But hey, I guess as long as their off and married, who cares who they’re married to, right?
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5. Briony Tallis – Atonement by Ian McEwan
What makes Briony Tallis annoying is the simple fact that she’s the reason that lives were ruined. Granted she was only thirteen when she misinterpreted what was going on with Cecilia and Robbie, but she was old enough to know what was the truth and what was a lie. Briony lies about Robbie assaulting Lola, which lands him in jail for several years. Robbie being accused and sent to jail essentially is the beginning of the end of his relationship with Cecilia, as well as Cecilia ending a relationship with her family. All of this pain and heartache is caused by one little lie told by Briony, who never actually saw the face of Lola’s assailant in the first place.
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6. Professor Umbridge – Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
The phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover,” can be used to describe Professor Umbridge. Don’t let the pink fool you because Professor Umbridge is quite the evil one; in fact, that’s what makes her so annoying. On the outside, she looks like this sweet, innocent, woman, but then her sinister spirit is revealed. But who would expect anything less from someone who works for Voldemort?
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Who are some characters you find annoying? Leave a comment below!
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h/t Bustle
