page_title: Joseph Addison
section_title: Cato
hierarchical_section_title: Joseph Addison / Life and writing / Plays / Cato
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: John Philip Kemble (1757–1823) als Cato in einer Aufführung der Tragödie von Joseph Addison. English: This is a scan of an engraving of John Kemble in the role of Cato in the drama of that name by Addison. Kemble appeared in the role at Covent Garden in 1816.
context_page_description: Joseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was the eldest son of The Reverend Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richard Steele, with whom he founded The Spectator magazine. His simple prose style marked the end of the mannerisms and conventional classical images of the 17th century.
context_section_description: In 1712, Addison wrote his most famous work, Cato, a Tragedy. Based on the last days of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis, it deals with conflicts such as individual liberty versus government tyranny, Republicanism versus Monarchism, logic versus emotion, and Cato's personal struggle to retain his beliefs in the face of death. It has a prologue written by Alexander Pope and an epilogue by Samuel Garth.
  The play was a success throughout the British Empire. It continued to grow in popularity, especially in America, for several generations. It is cited by some historians as a literary inspiration for the American Revolution, being known to many of the Founding Fathers. General George Washington sponsored a performance of Cato for the Continental Army during the difficult winter of 1777–78 at Valley Forge. According to John J. Miller, "no single work of literature may have been more important than Cato" for the leaders of the American revolution.
  Scholars have identified the inspiration for several famous quotations from the American Revolution in Cato. These include:
  Patrick Henry's famous ultimatum: "Give me liberty or give me death!"
  (Supposed reference to Act II, Scene 4: "It is not now time to talk of aught/But chains or conquest, liberty or death.").
  Nathan Hale's valediction: "I regret that I have but one life to give for my country."
  (Supposed reference to Act IV, Scene 4: "What a pity it is/That we can die but once to serve our country.").
  Washington's praise for Benedict Arnold in a letter: "It is not in the power of any man to command success; but you have done more—you have deserved it."
  (Clear reference to Act I, Scene 2: "'Tis not in mortals to command success; but we'll do more, Sempronius, we'll deserve it.").
  In 1789, Edmund Burke quoted the play in a letter to Charles-Jean-François Depont entitled Reflections on the revolution in France, saying that the French people may yet be obliged to go through more changes and "to pass, as one of our poets says, 'through great varieties of untried being,'" before their state obtains its final form. The poet referred to is Addison and the passage quoted is from Cato (V.i. II): "Through what variety of untried being, through what new scenes and changes must we pass!"
  Though the play has fallen from popularity and is now rarely performed, it was popular and often cited in the eighteenth century, with Cato being an example of republican virtue and liberty. John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon were inspired by the play to write an epistolary exchange entitled Cato's Letters, concerning individual rights, using the name "Cato".
  The action of the play involves the forces of Cato at Utica, awaiting the attack of Caesar immediately following his victory at Thapsus (46 BC). The noble sons of Cato, Portius and Marcus, are both in love with Lucia, the daughter of Lucius, an ally of Cato. Juba, prince of Numidia, one of Cato's warriors, loves Cato's daughter Marcia. Meanwhile, Sempronius, a senator, and Syphax, a general of the Numidians, are conspiring secretly against Cato, hoping to prevent the Numidian army from supporting him. In the final act, Cato commits suicide, leaving his followers to make their peace with the approaching army of Caesar—an easier task after Cato's death, since he was Caesar's most implacable enemy.
caption: The actor John Kemble, in the role of Cato, revived at Covent Garden in 1816, drawn by George Cruikshank.
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