Poor Things

Godwin hates the idea of Bella marrying McCandless, but Bella assures him that the three of them will live together. She describes herself as a “very romantic woman who needs a lot of sex” (95) though not from Godwin, because he treats her like a child. Godwin reluctantly gives his blessing but says they must not see each other for a fortnight so that he can prepare himself for losing Bella to McCandless. They both agree, though to Bella, a fortnight seems like years. McCandless promises to write to Bella every day and gives her a pearl pin as a token of his affection. 

For nearly a week, McCandless composes love letters to Bella. She responds only once, in childlike writing that omits all vowels. Later, McCandless receives a letter from Godwin, begging him to come to the house immediately. Bella is preparing to elope with a man named Duncan Wedderburn, a lecherous lawyer whom Godwin had enlisted to help him draw up a will leaving his estate to Bella. He begs McCandless to prevent Bella from leaving and reveals that for the last three nights, Duncan has snuck into Bella’s bedroom. McCandless is horrified, but Godwin assures him that Bella knows “the arts of contraception” (102).

When McCandless finds Bella, she explains to him that although they agreed to marry only six days ago, it has felt like years to her. She is infatuated with Duncan and plans to run away with him to gain more experience of the world; she feels that she has no past. McCandless asks her not to marry such a wicked man. Bella does not intend to marry Duncan, as she is still engaged to McCandless. She brings McCandless upstairs with her, promising him a surprise. She makes him wait outside a room, and he wonders if she will be naked when she opens the door. Finally, Bella calls him inside, telling him to close his eyes. She sneaks up behind him and chloroforms him.

When McCandless comes to, Bella has eloped with Duncan. She knew how to use chloroform because she sometimes helps Godwin run a veterinary clinic. Godwin was in the process of drafting his will because he feels he will have nothing to live for after Bella is married. He despairs of the situation and wishes he had simply saved the dead woman’s baby and raised the infant as his foster daughter. Instead, driven by his “damnable sexual appetites” (114), he shortened the life of the baby by placing it in the body of an adult woman. He laments that he could have had a daughter, whose company he might have enjoyed for almost 20 years before she left him. 

McCandless tries to reassure Godwin: Despite only being two and a half years old, Bella has the advantage of her height, quick wit, and excellent memory. Though she lacks experience, she is aware of Duncan’s character. Godwin had his housekeeper sew money into Bella’s jacket so that she can leave Duncan if she wishes to. McCandless feels that Bella’s worst trait is her childish understanding of time; she saw their six days apart as spanning years and talked about her engagement to him and her elopement with Duncan as if they could take place simultaneously. McCandless moves in with Godwin. The men receive a telegram from Bella: She is in London with Duncan.

Despite Bella’s absence, McCandless is happy living with Godwin. They eat meals together, though McCandless has to sit as far away from Godwin as possible. Godwin has no pancreas and so has to manufacture his own digestive juices, which he adds to his food before eating. He records information about his “pulse, respiration and temperature” as well as “chemical changes in his blood and lymphatic system” (121); when McCandless looks at this information, he assumes Godwin must be fabricating the data, because it is so far outside the normal human range. They receive occasional telegrams from Bella updating them on her travels with Duncan. Eventually, two letters arrive. Godwin reads them both aloud.

The first letter is from Duncan Wedderburn. Duncan was reluctant to write to Godwin, whom he sees as the Devil; Bella, he thinks, is the Devil’s servant. Duncan is almost exclusively attracted to working-class women, as upper-class women make him feel awkward. When he first met Bella, however, he saw that class distinctions meant nothing to her, as she looked at him “as gladly and frankly as a housemaid” (131). He hoped to marry her, so he procured passports that declared them to be married so that they could have a honeymoon together. 

Duncan claims he did not pursue Bella for financial gain; all he would have expected from Godwin was a small allowance of a few thousand a year, so that Bella could enjoy a good standard of living. On their way to London, Bella told Duncan that she could not marry him because she was already engaged, but that she still wanted to sleep with him. He describes their sexual exploits on the train all the way from Glasgow to London, much to McCandless’s distress.

As Duncan and Bella traveled to Amsterdam and then around Europe, their lives followed a pattern: Bella tired Duncan out all night in bed, leaving him exhausted during the day. Duncan filled the days with endless activities, hoping to tire Bella so he could sleep at night, but she never flagged, while Duncan became increasingly exhausted.

Eventually, Duncan collapsed, and Bella booked a Mediterranean cruise where she ordered him to rest at all times, except when they shared a bed at night. To finance their travels, Duncan sold some of his shares, implying that Bella pressured him into the decision. One day, a woman asked if Bella was Lady Blessington, wife of General Blessington, but decided she was mistaken when she heard Bella’s odd way of talking. This was how Duncan learned that Bella remembered nothing of her past. In his letter, he says that he knows the truth about Bella, calling her “a lemur, vampire, succubus and thing unclean” (139).

Short on money again, Bella and Duncan arrived in Paris. They checked into a strange hotel where Bella chatted with the manageress, giving Duncan some time alone. Duncan took the time to read a letter from his mother, which told him that she was almost destitute, as Duncan had spent all of their money on Bella. Furious, Duncan decided to leave her and return to Glasgow. Bella wished him luck and decided to stay in Paris by herself. She gave him the £500 that Godwin had sewn into the lining of her coat. 

Upon learning that Godwin knew about the elopement in advance, Duncan experienced a nervous breakdown. Bella took him to the train station in Paris and arranged his passage back to Scotland. The remainder of Duncan’s letter includes ravings equating Bella to mythological figures like Lilith, Eve, and Helen of Troy. He calls her a “White Daemon who destroys the honour and manhood of the noblest and most virile men in every age” (145). He calls Godwin Lucifer and the Antichrist. He writes lists of evidence that Bella and Godwin are agents of the Devil. Duncan concludes his letter vowing to remake his lost fortune and take care of his mother, to save Bella from Godwin, and to become a Catholic.

McCandless and Godwin are stunned after reading Duncan’s letter. McCandless worries for Duncan’s sanity, saying that despite his wealth, Duncan is a “poor creature.” Bella, on the other hand, is not. Godwin agrees, but he is proud of Bella for proving that she is independent and free. He admits that he never understood God’s anger at Adam and Eve for choosing to “know good and evil” (151), believing God should have been proud of them.

The men turn their attention to Bella’s letter. It is a diary Bella kept during her three months away; her writing improves greatly from the first page to the last, confirming and elaborating on most of what Duncan said. He reads it to McCandless, who has written it down “not as Bella spelled it, but as [Godwin] recited it” (154).