title: Doctors in Balzac's work.
abstract: Balzac wrote his novels during a time of great literary and scientific change. Romanticism gave way to the school of realism, of which Balzac could be considered the founder. It was via realism, where both the positive and negative aspects of life were depicted, that doctors naturally gained a much more active role in novels. In conjunction with this was the development of science and medicine, which fascinated Balzac, also leading to the significant and prevalent role of doctors in his works. His fascination with the sciences led to him to gain many acquaintances and much knowledge in the medical domain, especially in neuropsychiatry and physiology. His fictional doctors, such as Desplein and Bianchon, thus demonstrate considerable knowledge of pathology, physiology, and neuropsychiatry. The doctors in Balzac's novels can be grouped into four categories: provincial doctors, Parisian doctors, country doctors, and military doctors. They were most often fictitious representations of real individuals (e.g. Guillaume Dupuytren), and often symbolize schools of thought which were in vogue at the time. In addition to the accurate scientific depiction of doctors, it must be noted that his doctors not only played an active role in clinically assessing their patients, but also had a sociological role in assessing society; it is through his doctors that Balzac gave his opinion of the world in which he lived.
authors.affiliation: Service de Neurologie, CHU de Besançon, Hôpital Jean Minjoz, Besançon, France. thierry.moulin@univ- fcomte.fr
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Moulin
mesh_terms: D005602:France; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D008091:Literature / Q000266:history*; D009462:Neurology / Q000266:history*; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000266:history*