Literature and Medicine I

Be an Exception or Be a “Man”—and Be Single

21Therese, who had her father’s full support after initial opposition, disappoints him by withdrawing from her profession for the sake of her marriage. He had suggested the new female chief physician, Dr. Boisselière, simply to create precedence for his daughter’s career, being “as proud of her as men otherwise are of their sons” (Yver 305). Käthe Schirmacher’s Ethel Rodd in Halb (1893) barely wins her fiancé’s respect as an individual (something which she as a woman is not expected to be) and which he wants to fight, knowing no other strategies to cope with the “man” in his bride:

In dem Maasse [sic], wie er einen achtungswerten Gegner in seiner Braut entdeckte, erwachte sein kriegerischer Sinn. Sie standen Mann gegen Mann; es sollte ein ehrlicher Kampf werden, den er mit Aufbietung aller erlaubten Mittel seinerseits führen wollte! (59; emphasis added)

The absurdity of the contradictory conceptions of femininity is apparent in the words “man against man.” If Ethel asks for respect, she is perceived either in a positive way as manly, or, in a negative way, as mannish. However, she cannot be described in accordance with her sex either: Gender stereotypes are not adequate for what she is or what she does.

22 Bettina (Tina) Capadrutt, a literary character intended to demonstrate exceptionalism in Sinfonie der Liebe (1953) and Versunkene Melodie (1957) by Marga Markwalder, is introduced accomplishing surgery: She is not simply a general practitioner, but a gynaecologist (like most specialized women doctors) and a surgeon (which only very few were, most of women doctors following the old taboo of women not being supposed to cut bodies open). A few passages from these “late” novels (published in the 1950s) serve to demonstrate the persistence of certain discourses. The old prejudice against a woman performing surgery still lingers, as the following conversation between a patient and her visitor shows:

“[…] es handle sich zwar um etwas Ungefährliches, um ein Myom, aber es wäre besser, man würde es gleich entfernen. Das hat man denn auch getan.” “Wer hat das gemacht? Der Professor – ach, wie heisst er nur gleich – der Ordinarius von der Universität...” “Nein. Doktor Capadrutt, die Chefärztin.” “Eine Frau! Mein Gott! Wie gewagt! Melitta!!” “Aber, aber Elli, was würden unsere Freundinnen sagen, wenn sie deinen Ausspruch hörten!” “Nun – ja – schon – aber weißt du, nur unter uns gesagt: als Chirurgen, ausgerechnet als Chirurgen, möchte ich schon lieber einen Mann als eine Frau. Man hat doch immer das Gefühl, eine Frau könnte den Kopf verlieren. Ich wenigstens würde mich keiner anvertrauen.” (Sinfonie 8)

23 Tina, a chief physician and “virgin goddess,” looks like a statue of Hermes and behaves like an Amazon; she meets the love of her life in her late thirties, gives up her career with a heavy heart, and is rewarded by being allowed to continue her profession. Her husband not being a physician but an artist, a conductor, the marriage persists, but Tina has to give up her position as a chief physician and work part-time to follow her husband. She is described as beautiful and not at all mannish, despite her position – but she is nevertheless called a “man”:

“[…] Deine Doktor Capadrutt ist also der Mann der Übersicht und der starken Hand – furchtbar zeitgemäss. Aber, unter uns gesagt, sind dir solche Frauen wirklich restlos sympathisch? Man dürfte diesen Gedanken zwar im Kreise unserer Freundinnen nicht laut werden lassen – aber, – du weisst schon…” “Du stellst dir unter Tina Capadrutt etwas ganz Falsches vor. Sie hat nämlich gar nichts Männliches an sich, aber keine Spur – nur der Kopf, der ja – im Profil erinnert sie mich an irgend etwas aus der Kunstgeschichte, […].” (Sinfonie 9; emphasis added)

24 Dr. Capadrutt in her position should not be likeable and therefore continues to have to be defended for being so as well as being successful: Having all the positive qualities of a man, she is beautiful and does not look like a chief physician (whatever that means): “Man sieht es ihr tatsächlich nicht an” (Sinfonie 10). Nearly a hundred years after women entered the profession as physicians in real life, fiction mercilessly reveals the old images being kept alive, even if admittedly they are no longer socially acceptable in most modern circles.

Giving Up

25 Therese is slowly demoralized by her husband’s persistent demands, by being challenged by him professionally, by her daily work, and by losing her child. She gives up her career altogether – following the example of another woman doctor, even though this woman is a completely different type of woman, who only studied medicine as a stopgap because no one else “wanted” her. But being in a shy way attractive, this other woman doctor, Dina Skaroff, “naturally” gives up her profession to become a colleague’s wife, no longer competing with him but willingly and happily assisting him in future. Therese, being an admired woman doctor and an (at first successful) scientist by disposition, will also become her husband’s unknown (!) assistant, just like her colleague (Yver 322), motivating him in his scientific work as he never motivated her, giving up her own career, and violating her own “nature.”