# Louis Dubedat — The Doctor’s Dilemma character guide

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

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Mr. Dubedat, Louis, Mr. Louis Dubedat, Dubedat, Louis Impatiently, Louis Startled, Louis Surprised, Louis Coolly, Louis Patiently, Louis Minnie, Louis Minnie Tinwell, Louis Jennifer

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

## Snapshot

A charming, penniless painter whose genius and shamelessness alike disarm everyone, until the doctors must decide whether such a man deserves to live.

## Who they are

Louis Dubedat is the brilliant young artist at the center of the play's medical dilemma: consumptive, magnetic, and utterly without conscience about money, marriage, or truth. He borrows from every doctor he meets while insisting he has no vices, and his radiant faith in his own art is matched only by his casual dishonesty. His fate forces the physicians to ask whether saving a life and saving a soul are the same thing.

## Relationships

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

_rivalry_

Ridgeon is both professionally and personally conflicted about Louis, seeing him as a brilliant but morally corrupt rival for Jennifer's affections and his own medical principles.

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

_rivalry_

Sir Patrick views Louis with deep suspicion and moral disapproval, acting as an antagonist who sees through Louis's charm and condemns his dishonesty.

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

_rivalry_

Walpole is a rival surgeon who dismisses Louis as a fraud and competes with Ridgeon over the treatment and moral judgment of Louis.

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

_romantic_

Jennifer is Louis's devoted and adoring wife, fiercely loyal to him despite his flaws and infidelities.

### [Schutzmacher](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_doctor_s_dilemma_se/characters/schutzmacher)

_social_

Schutzmacher is a fellow doctor who interacts with Louis mainly in social and professional gatherings, with little personal depth.

### [Minnie Tinwell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_doctor_s_dilemma_se/characters/minnie_tinwell)

_social_

Louis flirts with Minnie, but their relationship is superficial and marked by his manipulative charm.

## Links

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