# Emmy — The Doctor’s Dilemma character guide

> Emmy in The Doctor’s Dilemma by George Bernard Shaw.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Emmy Looking, Emmy Well, Emmy Coaxing, Emmy Announcing, Emmy Unmoved, Emmy Returning

**First appearance:** 0003-act-i

## Snapshot

Ridgeon's ancient, bearded housekeeper, who has run his door and his household for years and has firm opinions about science, footmen, and who deserves to get in.

## Who they are

Emmy knows the doctors' quarter between Cavendish Square and Marylebone Road better than any of its physicians, and she guards Ridgeon's threshold with the authority of an old family nurse. She thinks his great discoveries are fudge, dreads that a knighthood will bring a footman, and decides for herself which callers are worth admitting. She matters because her blunt, unsentimental judgments puncture the professional solemnity around her — and because she is the one who lets the play's visitors in.

## Relationships

### [Sir Colenso Ridgeon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_doctor_s_dilemma_se/characters/sir_colenso_ridgeon)

_professional_

Emmy is Ridgeon's housekeeper, managing his household with a no-nonsense attitude and a protective, maternal concern for him.

### [Sir Patrick Cullen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_doctor_s_dilemma_se/characters/sir_patrick_cullen)

_social_

Emmy and Sir Patrick share a familiar, friendly rapport as long-time acquaintances in Ridgeon's household.

### [Cutler Walpole](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_doctor_s_dilemma_se/characters/cutler_walpole)

_social_

Walpole and Emmy have a cordial, bantering relationship as frequent visitors and staff in Ridgeon's home.

### [Jennifer Dubedat](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_doctor_s_dilemma_se/characters/jennifer_dubedat)

_social_

Emmy is protective of Ridgeon and views Jennifer with suspicion, seeing her as a manipulative influence.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_doctor_s_dilemma_se/characters/emmy
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_doctor_s_dilemma_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_doctor_s_dilemma_se/characters