The Doctor’s Dilemma

Dr. Colenso Ridgeon has perfected a treatment that can cure tuberculosis, but he can only take on so many patients, which forces a hard question: whose life is worth saving? He must choose between a dull, honest colleague and Louis Dubedat, a gifted young painter who is also a liar, a swindler, and a charmer. Shaw turns the medical case into a comedy of moral bookkeeping, mocking a profession he saw as riddled with vanity and financial self-interest. His famous preface sharpens the attack on doctors and the incentives that shape their judgment. Beneath the wit sits a genuine unease about who gets to decide the value of a human life. A free PDF and EPUB edition is available here.