The Doctor's Wife
Encyclopedia
The Doctor's Wife, known in Japanese as , is a noted novel by Sawako Ariyoshi
written in 1966.
The partly historical novel is based on the life of noted male physician Hanaoka Seishū
. Though much is based on fact, many events were added for dramatic purposes. The novel follows the protagonist
, here named Kae, from youth until death. From a young age, she is fascinated with Otsugi, the wife of Hanaoka Naomichi - Otsugi is said to be the most beautiful woman in the Kishu Province. Otsugi requests that Kae be married off to her son Seishū, and Kae's family eventually agrees. From there Kae learns that Otsugi is not the angelic beauty she outwardly displays and they both compete for the affections of Seishū, who is experimenting on animals to develop an anesthetic for surgery.
Sawako Ariyoshi
was a Japanese writer and novelist.-Biography:Born in Wakayama City and a graduate of Tokyo Women's Christian College, Sawako Ariyoshi spent part of her childhood in Java...
written in 1966.
The partly historical novel is based on the life of noted male physician Hanaoka Seishū
Hanaoka Seishu
was a Japanese surgeon of the Edo period with a knowledge of Chinese herbal medicine, as well as Western surgical techniques he had learned through Rangaku...
. Though much is based on fact, many events were added for dramatic purposes. The novel follows the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
, here named Kae, from youth until death. From a young age, she is fascinated with Otsugi, the wife of Hanaoka Naomichi - Otsugi is said to be the most beautiful woman in the Kishu Province. Otsugi requests that Kae be married off to her son Seishū, and Kae's family eventually agrees. From there Kae learns that Otsugi is not the angelic beauty she outwardly displays and they both compete for the affections of Seishū, who is experimenting on animals to develop an anesthetic for surgery.