Addison's Cato in the Colonies
1966; Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture; Volume: 23; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/1919239
ISSN1933-7698
Autores Tópico(s)Historical and Literary Analyses
ResumoT the figure of Cato, the last of the Roman republicans, is a commonplace in early American writing and oratory. In the Revolutionary period the many references to the historical Cato reveal his name to have been the watchword for the martyrdom of liberty among Americans. While much of Cato's popularity can be attributed to Plutarch's account of him in the Lives of the Illustrious Men, little attention has been paid to the heroic drama about him by Joseph Addison, first produced at Drury Lane in London on April I4, 1713.1 Thus represented in literary form by one of the cultural doyens of the age, Cato no longer was limited in his influence to the political sphere. Addison's portrayal reinforced what educated colonists remembered of their Plutarch, and left audiences with a vivid impression of the hero. The play was bound to have been successful in the colonies, both as theater and as literature, if only by virtue of the prominence of its author; and in the first half of the eighteenth century it was widely read and performed as a modern classic. But in the years of increasing political tension before the Revolution, its depiction of Cato's last stand for liberty against the usurpation of Caesar found special sympathy in the hearts and minds of the colonists. Addison's Cato is almost uncomfortably admirable. Inflexible against tyranny, and magnanimous in his dealings even with his opposition, he is surrounded by traitors who are overcome by his faithful sons and Juba, the Prince of Numidia. At Utica, on the north coast of Africa, he and his followers create a community of Roman exiles who surround themselves
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