Haven't thought this out thoroughly ... but maybe we can see her "trait" of "beauty" in conjunction with Emmett's "strength". In strength, we see beauty; in beauty we see strength - not just physically, but strength/beauty of convictions, of character, of perseverence and of love itself. What if we prefaced our examination of the Cullens' talents with "Love is ..." - would it make more sense then? Or am I muddying the waters even more with fluffy pop psychology?

[quote="but strength/beauty of convictions, of character, of perseverence and of love itself. ?[/quote]

I really like the way you put that. Rosalie has strong beliefs in her convictions, she is certainly a strong character and yes, she perserveres. So Rosalie has Emmett's strenght, and Emmett has Rosalie's beauty in his humor, kindness and love of life.

Yes I can see where they share their gifts. AHHHH very good thoughts.

I don't necessarily have a theory, but I too picked up on this on my first time through the book. It took forever for me to get past that whole sentence, I just wanted to know the truth.
My mother and daughter refuse to theorize with me, so I'm glad I can come on here and think about this problem which has been bugging me since I read it.

But one thing I do wonder about is, maybe Rosalie does have a "tangible" gift, like Alice or Edward or Jasper and not just a trait that she brings with her. Something maybe that does work on Bella. Hence the reason she took the time to tell Bella her story?
Just throwing around ideas here, sorry If i'm way off. Like I said, my family plugs their ears and starts singing "La La La" anytime I try to bring this stuff up.

[/quote]In answer to what purpose Rosalie's gift serves? I was listening to New Moon today which always makes me pick up on things that I had missed when reading it. I was at the part in Volturi when Heidi is bringing the people in for "feeding time" Bella goes on to explain how beautiful Heidi is and that she is not only the fisherman but the bait. Could this somehow relate to Rosalie? I mean could her beauty be away to lure in unsuspecting people. Obviously not in the food department but it could work for other things to. I don't know it is just something that got me thinking. I hope MS gives us more about Rosalie![/quote]

Yes, that is what I was thinking, the more beautiful a vampire is the more food they will bring in. Although it sounds like most vampires are attractive to humans, the more the better right? Do you remember in Twilight when Bella is thinking that James is ordinary looking? Is she just used to beautiful vamps by that point? )We are getting a very hot James in the movie though! )
I also think that her trait could be jealousy like some of you were talking about. She definitely has a lot of that.

All right, here is my 2 cents worth. Brace yourselves, you might not like it.
Rosalie hates being a vampire.
Rosalie is a great mechanic. My husband was a mechanic through high school and college and a mechanics' mindset is usually--anything can be fixed. Isolate the problem and fix it.
Rosalie has a medical degree from Columbia. Like Edward and Dartmouth. The reasoning being to keep Carlisle current on medical advances. But I'm sure she picked up on some ideas. Maybe in research.

So put that together. Rosalie hates being a vampire. She has a medical degree. She believes anything can be fixed. She is tenacious about it.

The rest of the family may be tired of hearing about it because there is no knowledge of such a possibility within their vampire world, but she won't let up.
CONTROVERSIAL ! I have already braced myself so let 'er rip.

So...are you thinking that she thinks that there a a "fix" to being a vampire??? I know SM said that there is no cure to being a vampire. But I wonder if this is what is making Rosalie so unbearably tenascious??? I like your theory! I hope that we get to see more insight into Rosalie and not just the shallow girl that she is!

We've been talking about such things in these forums:
http://twilightmomsforums.freeforums.or ... t2872.html
http://twilightmomsforums.freeforums.or ... -t958.html

It may also explain her hostility towards Bella because she may have spent years defending her argument to the family-- and then here comes Bella, perfectly pleased to offer herself up to the life that Rose is desperatly trying to escape!! Like it will be great! Very undermining. I'd be mad.

Wow! All your theories and explanations about Rosalie and what her trait/ability may be is very enlightening! I still think that her beauty is more of a curse than a gift. I don't believe that when a human becomes a vampire they automatically only have "positive" gifts; some of those gifts can be negative as well (i.e. Edward can read minds (positive) but has a tendancy to overreact- a lot (negative)). Hopefully, we will get more insight in MS and perhaps even BD as well!

True. Her beauty certainly backfired on her in the end.

As far as negative gifts, it seems the whole Volturi prides itself on that concept!! And James, Victoria, Laurent... the whole lot of them..I have a feeling the Denali lot won't come across too kindly either since Irina wants a fight with the wolves!

In regards to Rosalie, I would bet she is incredibly smart. I bet she has a real "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" thing motivating her as she obsesses over the systems of mechanical things and/or the human body, waiting for an epiphany of her own, determined to find some way to unring the bell.
But to be so consumed with rage about all you have been robbed of in life and then have Bella come along... Rose must be INCREDULOUS!!! But, I think Bella will ultimately be the key to what Rose is looking for in BD!!!

Umm this is interesting. I do know that when she told Bella her story that Rosalie said she blamed her beauty for everything that happened to her. Royce and those guys, Carlisle turning her into a vampire...She really just wanted someone to love her for her not how beautiful she is. I think that is one of the reasons she is so negitive to Bella. Edward never found rosalie attrative in anyway. Her looks or personality. Then here comes along this girl who is nothing but normal, the normal she wanted to be and Edward is all over that!! Not that Rosalie wanted Edward but just that kind of love.

You know it is interesting that you should bring this up. I am starting to revamp Chapter 7 of Eclipse and something that Rosalie said to Bella just really jumped out at me. She told her that "admiration was like air to me." For Rosalie, she needs everyone (human and vampire) to admire her or she just can't breathe. It seems like this is the whole reason for her existence. Maybe that is where the tenacity comes in..she holds onto this desire for admiration and won't let it go.

Rosalie definitely has an instinct for self preservation. Thus far, everything I've gleaned from the books about Rosalie is that she doesn't do much of anything unless she's going to reap some sort of benefit from it in the end. I think that this sense of self preservation may wind up, perhaps unintentionally, perhaps not, benefitting her family in the end. She may start out doing things for purely selfish reasons but ends up protecting her family like a mother lion protects her cubs. (The fact that the protective mothering part of her humanity has remained so strong through the decades seems profound in some way.) If there is a battle in BD with the Denali coven or the Volturi, I can see Rosalie stepping up and totally unleashing all her protective instincts on their enemies.

Ok, you may be way off base (only Steph knows for sure!), but personally I love your theory. Very creative!!

Having read Steph's first chapter of Midnight Sun, Edward describes Rosalie as a shallow pool. In Lex personal correspondence section SM states that Edward lied about Rosalie to Bella and that Rosalie brought her beauty to her Vamp life. Rosalie and Emmett are both very physical beings. My take on Rosalie is that she was spoiled and pampered as a human and was very self centered. As a vampire she is that and then some! lol In Eclipse when she has her talk with Bella she tells her story and when Bella askes why she still does not like her and if she chose to stay human would she Rosalie's reply still is maybe?. This I think goes back to why Edward lied......I think that Rosalie feels(and Edward knows) that if Bella becomes a vampire that she would be more beautifull than Rosalie and in Rosalies world that would not be good.
Sorry for the length of this folks.....just my ponderings

Let me make sure I understand this. You're talking about Steph's comment that Edward lied about Rosalie's special quality; it is not tenacity, but rather it's simply her beauty. And you go on to imply Rosalie would be resentful and feel upstaged if Bella were to become a greater beauty than she. Have I got it right?

I think it's a good point. Even if Rose has other gifts she still seems to value her beauty most highly of all, and I don't see her readily relinquishing her title as "the fairest one of all." (Maybe she'll feed Bella a poisoned apple before Bella can be changed ) And if her beauty is her only gift and it's about to come in second, well then, look out.