Cato in the Sewer: Literary Ambition, Dramatic (Mis-)Representation and the tragico fine in Metastasio's Catone in Utica (Rome 1728)

Instead of audience approval and increased repute among the Arcadians, his use of Marcus Porcius Cato's heroic suicide as the subject matter of his first original dramma for Rome earned Metastasio satirical remarks. The latter, in particular a wilful misinterpretation of a subterranean aqueduct as a sewer and a demand for the burial of the corpse in the Teatro delle Dame, have prompted scholars to attribute the mixed reception of Catone in Utica to Metastasio's defiance of the obligatory lieto fine and unsuitable choice of scenery (Neville 1992, Markstrom 2007, Ketterer 2009).
However, commentin on Metastasio's rewriting the third act for the dramma's Venetian premiere (1729), the scientist and poet Antonio Conti identifies lack of verisimilitude 'as regards the protagonists' characters' as the main problem. A central pillar of period drama theory, verisimilitude extended well beyond plausible plot development. The eighteenth-century notion of 'character', i.e., the moral and social qualities attributed to standard role types and specific historical figures alike and the propriety of their action in relationship to these qualities, was of crucial importance (Freeman 2002).
Analysis of Metastasio's sources, which included contemporary libretti in addition to the often-cited literary models and ancient histories, suggest that the lack of verisimilitude in Catone resulted from the author's relative inexperience. Writing his first dramma without the castrato Nicola Grimaldi 'Nicolini', ther period's leading actor-director, as a close collaborator, Metastasio imitated previously successful dramatic situations, but misjudged the context in which he applied them, their realisation on stage and his actors' skills.