Medicine saw many changes in the 19th century due to industrialization, along with the rise of middle class and capitalism. In fact, “the profession could collectively aspire to higher status and the individual practitioners could hope for success in a career open to talent” (Porter, 1998, p. 348). Now more physicians were being sought out for cure by ordinary people; physicians were much more respected, including surgeons.
Frances Burney describes her mastectomy in shocking detail. She was cared for highly reputable surgeons for removal of a malignant breast tumor without any anesthesia. Mrs. Burney writes, “I began a scream that lasted unintermittingly during the whole time of the incision…” (Rothman et al., 2003, p. 388). Mrs. Burney
Frances Burney describes her mastectomy in shocking detail. She was cared for highly reputable surgeons for removal of a malignant breast tumor without any anesthesia. Mrs. Burney writes, “I began a scream that lasted unintermittingly during the whole time of the incision…” (Rothman et al., 2003, p. 388). Mrs. Burney