As You Law It - Negotiating Shakespeare (Law & Literature)

Shakespeare was fascinated by law, which permeated Elizabethan everyday life. The general impression one derives from the analysis of many plays by Shakespeare is that of a legal situation in transformation and of a dynamically changing relation between law and society, law and the jurisdiction of Renaissance times. Shakespeare provides the kind of literary supplement that can better illustrate the legal texts of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. There was a strong popular participation in the system of justice, and late sixteenth-century playwrights often made use of forensic models of narrative. Uncertainty about legal issues represented a rich potential for causing strong reactions in the public, especially feelings concerning the resistance to tyranny. The volume aims at highlighting some of the many legal perspectives and debates emplotted in Shakespearean plays, also taking into consideration the many texts that have been produced during the latest years on law and literature in the Renaissance. Table Of Contents Introduction Shakespeare And The Law: State Of The Art As You Law It...: Of Certain Objects And Functions Of Ambiguity In Shakespearean Theatre Part One The Body Politic And Power Politics King John Or The Proliferation Of The Word Of Authority Richard The Freak: The Dis-Ability To Show Power Performance, Power, Politics: The Body As Stage In Richard Iii The Subjugation Of International Law To Power Politics And Mystery Of State (Arcana Imperii) In Shakespeare’S Henry V Part Two Ethnicity And Alterity Ethnicity, Alterity And The Law In Shakespeare’S The Merchant Of Venice Shakespeare’S Twin Brother: Foreigners, Outlaws, And The Comedy Of Errors Part Three Legal Theory Fuss About A Footnote, Or The Struggle For (The) Law In German Legal Theory Measure For Measure: Are Criminal Laws Made To Be Applied? Measure In Penal Law Are The Conspirators Purgers Or Murderers? Shakespeare’S Julius Caesar And Roman Ius Sacrum Part Four Performance Notes On A Strange Eventful History “Stir Up The Australian Youth To Merriment”: A Midsummer Night’S Dream, Summer 1989–1990 (Sydney, Australia) And The Theatrical Transmutability Of Law’S Texts Contributors Index Of Names Subjext Index "The interdisciplinary series Law & Literature systematically examines correlations between literature and the law. The studies presented in this series analyze the complex interrelations between two cultural spheres that have not only contributed to the basis of Western culture and society but also share a common focus on texts. Bringing together contributions by jurists, historians of law, legal philosophers, and specialists in literary and cultural studies, this series reflects a rapidly growing area of inter- and transdisciplinary research in Europe as well in as the United States"-- Provided by publisher The interdisciplinary series ""Law & Literature"" takes a systematic look at the correlation between literature and the law. The studies presented in this series analyze the complex interrelation between two cultural spheres which are not only at the basis of Western Culture and Society, but share in a common focus on texts. Bringing together contributions by jurists, historians of law, legal philosophers, and specialists in literary and cultural studies, this series reflects a trend in current inter- and transdisciplinary research which has recently shown rapid growth both in Europe and the U