Poor Things

Poor Things by Alasdair Gray

Poor Things is mostly a narrative on the position of women in Victorian society, based on modern (er 1990s) mentality. It goes about it in in a complex way with multiple layers of framing and indirection. The narrative is initially a series of documents regarding some men and their experiments. There was a Frankenstein-type operation used to make the subservient woman. However, she ended up being unfaithful and falling for other men. There was another document from the woman, showing her point of view. She had grown to play an important role in medical society. There were later details opf real people and their roles in medicine and society. All of this complexity is used to serve to tell the story of Belle and her awakening and rising up in a society that attempts to subjugate her.