The Doctor's Dilemma: Preface on Doctors
1909
George Bernard Shaw was never one to let a profession off lightly, and in this savage indictment of early 20th-century medicine, he absolutely does not. The Doctor's Dilemma pairs a gripping play about a physician who must choose which patient to save with a preface so biting it could disinfect a wound. Shaw argues that the medical establishment, far from being a noble calling, operates on a profit-driven model that incentivizes unnecessary procedures and class-based care. The truly radical question the play poses is not medical but moral: who deserves to live when resources are scarce? The artist who has enriched humanity but treats people badly, or the humble wife who has done no great good but no harm? Shaw's wit cuts through Victorian sentimentality like a scalpel, exposing the uncomfortable truth that society privileges the brilliant over the good, the wealthy over the worthy. A century later, with healthcare still a battlefield of insurance and access, this feels less like period criticism and more like prophecy.
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“Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.””
— Bernard Shaw
“it’s always the patient who has to take the chance when an experiment is necessary. And we can find out nothing without experiment.””
— Bernard Shaw
“Walpole has no intellect. A mere surgeon. A wonderful operator but, after all, what is operating? . . . . Manual labour.””
— Bernard Shaw
“Well, I've known over thirty men who've found out how to cure consumption. Why do people go on dying of it, Colly? Devilment I suppose!””
— Bernard Shaw
“Science is always simple and always profound. It is only the half-truths that are dangerous. Ignorant faddists pick up some superficial information about germs; and they write to the papers and try to discredit science.””
— Bernard Shaw
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<a href="https://lex-books.com/book/the-doctor-s-dilemma-preface-on-doctors-111c90fc-0107-4b65-8c88-2c70c95043f9"><img src="https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg" alt="Read The Doctor's Dilemma: Preface on Doctors by Bernard Shaw free on Lex" width="160" height="40"></a>[](https://lex-books.com/book/the-doctor-s-dilemma-preface-on-doctors-111c90fc-0107-4b65-8c88-2c70c95043f9)[url=https://lex-books.com/book/the-doctor-s-dilemma-preface-on-doctors-111c90fc-0107-4b65-8c88-2c70c95043f9][img]https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg[/img][/url]Read The Doctor's Dilemma: Preface on Doctors by Bernard Shaw free on Lex: https://lex-books.com/book/the-doctor-s-dilemma-preface-on-doctors-111c90fc-0107-4b65-8c88-2c70c95043f9Cite this book
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Shaw, Bernard. The Doctor's Dilemma: Preface on Doctors. Lex, lex-books.com/book/the-doctor-s-dilemma-preface-on-doctors-111c90fc-0107-4b65-8c88-2c70c95043f9.Shaw, B. (1909). The Doctor's Dilemma: Preface on Doctors. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-doctor-s-dilemma-preface-on-doctors-111c90fc-0107-4b65-8c88-2c70c95043f9Shaw, Bernard. The Doctor's Dilemma: Preface on Doctors. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-doctor-s-dilemma-preface-on-doctors-111c90fc-0107-4b65-8c88-2c70c95043f9.
