The Ironic Structure of "Poor Things" [Book Review]

If I could, I would have gone to the cinema to watch "Poor Things," but it was difficult as I had just started raising a child. So, I thought, why not pick up the original novel "Poor Things" and read it instead.

The impression I got from the trailer and such was that it was a fantasy film with a bizarre worldview, but when I opened the novel, I was first surprised by its elaborate structure. The work has a unique composition, edited from discovered (alleged) manuscripts, interviews based on them, and letters and journals of the characters. Even the translator contributes an afterword that adheres to this format, giving it the atmosphere of a sinister, strange book.

It was a novel that made me curious about how such a work, which has the feel of reportage mixed with metafiction, was adapted into a film, so I would like to record the charms I felt from the book here. It is unclear whether these were carried over to the film version, but I am recording this as what I received from reading "Poor Things."

The Pathos of Men

Although the story centers on the free growth of Bella, a beautiful woman who has had the brain of her unborn baby transplanted into her, what leaves an impression is the pathos of the men around her. I suspect this work was written to expose the helpless gaze of men toward women.

It is shown that the genius doctor Godwin Baxter, who created Bella, experienced the absence of a mother in his childhood and carried that with him until his later years. He created Bella to fill that void, projecting his mother onto her. For Bella, Godwin is her creator, but for Godwin, Bella is a parent who gives him unconditional love; he has artificially created a twisted parent-child relationship. Godwin is depicted as a character who symbolizes a masculinity that craves maternal love from women.

Duncan Wedderburn, the handsome lawyer who goes on a journey with Bella, brings the pleasure of "union" to her. Although he is a character who symbolizes a libertine masculinity through his words and actions, he is gradually driven mad by Bella. Including the harmful nature of projecting the inconvenient emotions that arise there onto women, he can be called a pathetic existence that should be despised even in this day and age. Bella's resilience, which easily transcends the values of those who see money and women as the entirety of life, is contrasted with his.

And the key to this work is Archibald McCandless, Bella's fiancé. Most of this novel proceeds with him as the narrator. He is depicted as a somewhat servile student who gets to know Godwin by chance and becomes attracted to Bella, but the sorrow of a man who is not popular with women drifts through his words and actions. The way he disparages his own background to seek comfort and tries to attract attention by showing off his areas of expertise comes across as comical.

And at the end of this work, a major twist is prepared. There, the impression of the entire story and who is truly pathetic is revealed, and one will be amazed at its ironic structure.

How "Liberation" Was Achieved

In addition, General Blessington, whom Bella was married to before she became Bella, Bella's biological father Hattersley, and two wise men Bella meets on her travels—this work consistently continues to depict men. The way she is constantly beingliberatedfrom such people forms the core of this story. Given that most of the reviews regarding the film are also told from that perspective, that aspect is likely an important point of this work.

I think this image of "liberation" also contains the irony unique to this work. It is expressed through the structure where the "narrator" and "writer" of this novel switch. It suggests the reality that even "liberation," which seems to be an active thing, differs depending on who is telling the story.

A woman heading toward liberation because she had a baby's brain transplanted is merely a description from McCandless's perspective. What is suggested here is the male privilege that liberation from the system cannot occur unless something transcendental happens.

However, this work adopts a structure that flips that. What is emitted from the woman's side is the will to overcome the barriers to liberation with her own wisdom and feet. The structure of this book, which confronts us with this contrast, is truly magnificent.

Humor and Realism

Because it is a quite long book, there were parts where my concentration inevitably lapsed. Especially the scene where the two men Bella meets during her travels discuss various philosophies. I think this kind of humor requires a fair amount of background knowledge, but given the nature of the story of "gaining wisdom," the dullness of this part is also interesting as a reality of the difference between the reader and Bella.

And it was quite interesting to see the big names of real-life psychiatrists appear. Charcot, Kraepelin, Breuer, Korsakoff. They are far too much like the members of the scope for a specialist examination. The passage where Bella actually visits them and receives examinations is shown, strengthening the sense of reality of her existence. It conveys the point that Bella's essence is something even they cannot discern, while casting a cold gaze upon psychiatry.

Yes, to summarize, "Poor Things" is a strange book that writes out the "uncertainty of the human spirit" through an ironic structure. Which part of this work is being adapted into a film, and how much of it can be visualized? It was an original novel that heightened my anticipation.

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