Poor Things

Content Warning: This section discusses pedophilia, suicide, colonial violence, and non-consensual medical experimentation.

Bella Baxter and Victoria McCandless are the same character portrayed in two distinct ways. In McCandless’s narrative, Bella is constructed like the Creature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (See: Background), with the brain of an infant in the body of an adult woman. She has very unusual speech patterns, and she develops rapidly as she learns about the world around her.

Although Bella starts out with the brain of an infant, she maintains physical memories from her adult body, particularly relating to sex. McCandless is simultaneously horrified and aroused by Bella’s frank and straightforward desire for sex. Her character reflects the anxieties of Victorian men surrounding female sexuality. Duncan Wedderburn cannot cope with his fears that Bella has had sexual partners besides him; imagining her with other men is part of what causes him to have a nervous breakdown. 

According to Victoria’s letter, McCandless wrote her as Bella Baxter because he was unable to cope with her successful career and sexual independence. The real Victoria is a regular adult woman with her own brain and memories. When she leaves Blessington to live with Godwin, she exercises her autonomy and desire for independence and takes control of her life.