ORIGINS OF MODERNITY

physiology & medicine

Molière (1622-1673)
Le medecin malgré luy : comedie.
A Paris : Chez Claude Barbin, 1674.

One of the favourite targets of the French comic playwright Molière was the practice of medicine and the medical establishment. In a series of plays including 'The doctor in spite of himself' Moliere pointed out what was only too well known amongst the general public, namely that 'Medicine is only for those who are fit enough to survive the treatment as well as the illness'. This was an alarming but true assessment of much medical practice in the early modern period and reflects the primitive state of therapeutics in spite of significant advances in anatomy and physiology.