The Doctor’s Dilemma

George Bernard Shaw's "The Doctor's Dilemma" throws a brilliant, if morally compromised, surgeon, Sir Colenso Ridgeon, into an impossible bind. Having pioneered a revolutionary tuberculosis cure, he finds himself with the power of life and death, but limited resources. The agonizing choice: save a brilliant, albeit dissolute, artist, or a kind, unassuming public servant? His medical colleagues—a motley crew ranging from an operation-happy surgeon to a cynical general practitioner hawking patent medicines—offer their dubious wisdom, each embodying a different facet of Shaw’s biting critique of the early 20th-century medical establishment. The play dissects the ethical quagmire of allocating scarce resources, questioning what truly constitutes 'worth' in a human life.