Alexander Pope

Cato Alexander Pope

Cato (A Tragedy in Five Acts), is a play originally written by English essayist, poet, playwright and politician Joseph Addison. It was originally premiered at the Theatre Royal in the Drury Lane in London on April 14th 1713. This work contains the additional prologue by Alexander Pope and an Epilogue by Sir Samuel Garth, and was originally published in 1793, with an introduction by Mrs Elizabeth Inchbald added later in 1807. Addison's work was based on the events of the last days of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis (Cato the Younger) who lived between 95 and 46 BC. A Roman senator and Stoic whose deeds, rhetoric and resistance to the tyranny of Julius Caesar made him an icon of republicanism, virtue, and liberty. The play deals with themes such as individual liberty versus government tyranny, republicanism versus monarchism, logic versus emotion, and Cato's personal struggle to hold to his beliefs in the face of death.