An extension of the Elastica theory is developed to study the large deflection of an elastic-perfectly plastic horizontal cantilever beam subjected to a vertical concentrated force at its tip. The entire process is divided into four stages: I.elastic in the whole cantilever; II.loading and developing of the plastic region; III.unloading in the plastic region; and IV.reverse loading. Solutions for stages I and II are presented in a closed form. A combination of closed-form solution and numerical integration is presented for stage III. Finally, stage IV is qualitatively studied. Computed results are given and compared with those from small-deflection theory and from the Elastica theory.