author
John Todhunter
1839–1916
A doctor by training and a writer by calling, this Dublin-born poet and playwright moved through medicine, criticism, and the literary circles of late Victorian London. His work helped link Irish literary culture with the wider fin-de-siècle world, from lyrical verse to stage drama.
2 Audiobooks
Shelley and the Marriage Question
by John Todhunter
The Black Cat: A Play in Three Acts
by John Todhunter
About the author
Born in Dublin on December 30, 1839, into a Quaker family, John Todhunter was educated at Quaker schools before studying medicine at Trinity College Dublin. He qualified as a doctor, but literature steadily pulled him in another direction, and he became known as a poet, playwright, and critic as well as a physician.
Todhunter published several volumes of poetry and wrote a number of plays, building a reputation that reached beyond Ireland. He was also associated with the early Irish literary revival and moved in important literary circles in London, including the Rhymers' Club. That mix of Irish background, professional learning, and artistic ambition gave his writing a thoughtful, cultivated character.
He died on October 25, 1916. Though he is not as widely read today as some of his contemporaries, he remains an interesting figure for readers who enjoy the literary world around the turn of the twentieth century, especially the overlap between Irish writing, Victorian poetry, and the theatre.