غریبه‌های شکسپیر و قانون انگلیس

Through analysis of five plays by Shakespeare, Paul Raffield examines what it meant to be a ‘stranger’ to English law in the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean period. The numbers of strangers increased dramatically in the late sixteenth century, as refugees fled religious persecution in continental Europe and sought sanctuary in Protestant England. In the context of this book, strangers are not only persons ethnically or racially different from their English counterparts, be they immigrants, refugees, or visitors. The term also includes those who transgress or are simply excluded by their status from established legal norms by virtue of their faith, sexuality, or mode of employment. Each chapter investigates a particular category of ‘stranger’. Topics include the treatment of actors in late Elizabethan England and the punishment of ‘counterfeits’ (Measure for Measure); the standing of refugees under English law and the reception of these people by the indigenous population (The Comedy of Errors); the establishment of ‘Troynovant’ as an international trading centre on the banks of the Thames (Troilus and Cressida); the role of law and the state in determining the rights of citizens and aliens (The Merchant of Venice); and the disenfranchised, estranged position of the citizen in a dysfunctional society and an acephalous realm (King Lear). This is the third sole-authored monograph by Paul Raffield on the subject of Shakespeare and the Law. The others are Shakespeare’s Imaginary Constitution: Late Elizabethan Politics and the Theatre of Law and The Art of Law in Shakespeare, both published by Hart. Preface 8 Acknowledgements 14 Contents 16 List of Illustrations 18 Introduction 22 1. Measure for Measure: Actors, Fornicators, and Other Transgressors of Law 35 I. Introduction: 'cõmon Players of Enterludes' 35 II. School of Abuse: Elizabethan Theatre and the Outlawed Actor 37 III. Plague and Prejudice 50 IV. Frauds, Counterfeits, 'and measure still for measure' 63 V. The Imprint of Law 74 VI. Legitimacy and the Image 82 2. The Comedy of Errors: Refugees, Immigrants, and the Revitalisation of London 85 I. Immigration and the Imminence of Death 85 II. Shakespeare and the French 87 III. Shakespeare, Racial Tension, and the London Apprentices 93 IV. Xenophobia, Riots, and The Book of Sir Thomas More 101 V. Classical Friendship and Christian Community in The Comedy of Errors 107 VI. Witchcraft, Sorcery, and the Scots 113 VII. Classicism (Plautus), Christianity (St Paul), and The Comedy of Errors 123 3. Troilus and Cressida: Greeks, Trojans, Honour, and the Market 126 I. Law, Literature, and the Hellenic Tradition 126 II. Revels and Renaissance at the Elizabethan Inns of Court 131 III. The Earl of Essex, The Iliad, and Fin-de-Siècle English Law 150 IV. Troilus and Cressida and the Lawyers 162 4. The Merchant of Venice and the Strangeness of Law 179 I. Venice, Shakespeare, and the Shifting Sands of Contract Law 179 II. Societas, Consensio, and the Meaning of Mercy 190 III. The Jew and the Law 196 IV. Excursus: 'Dark and Obscure' Allegory and the Xenophobic Dream of Common Law 211 V. Act Five, Harmony, and the Discord of Law 224 5. King Lear, Monarchy, and the Injustice of Tragedy 231 I. Justice, Jurisdictions, and the Politics of Power 231 II. Nature and Natural Law 241 III. Custom, Kings, and Lex Regia 246 IV. The English Monarchical Republic 249 V. Image, Costume, and Kingship 259 Afterword 267 Bibliography 271 Index 290 Through analysis of 5 plays by Shakespeare, Paul Raffield examines what it meant to be a 'stranger' to English law in the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean period. The numbers of strangers increased dramatically in the late sixteenth century, as refugees fled religious persecution in continental Europe and sought sanctuary in Protestant England. In the context of this book, strangers are not only persons ethnically or racially different from their English counterparts, be they immigrants, refugees, or visitors. The term also includes those who transgress or are simply excluded by their status from established legal norms by virtue of their faith, sexuality, or mode of employment. Each chapter investigates a particular category of 'stranger'. Topics include the treatment of actors in late Elizabethan England and the punishment of 'counterfeits' ( Measure for Measure ); the standing of refugees under English law and the reception of these people by the indigenous population ( The Comedy of Errors ); the establishment of 'Troynovant' as an international trading centre on the banks of the Thames ( Troilus and Cressida ); the role of law and the state in determining the rights of citizens and aliens ( The Merchant of Venice ); and the disenfranchised, estranged position of the citizen in a dysfunctional society and an acephalous realm ( King Lear ). This is the third sole-authored book by Paul Raffield on the subject of Shakespeare and the Law. The others are Shakespeare's Imaginary Constitution: Late Elizabethan Politics and the Theatre of Law (2010) and The Art of Law in Shakespeare (2017), both published by Hart/Bloomsbury. "Through analysis of 5 plays by Shakespeare, Paul Raffield examines what it meant to be a 'stranger' to English law in the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean period. The numbers of strangers increased dramatically in the late sixteenth century, as refugees fled religious persecution in continental Europe and sought sanctuary in Protestant England. In the context of this book, strangers are not only persons ethnically or racially different from their English counterparts, be they immigrants, refugees, or visitors. The term also includes those who transgress or are simply excluded by their status from established legal norms by virtue of their faith, sexuality, or mode of employment. Each chapter investigates a particular category of 'stranger'. Topics include the treatment of actors in late Elizabethan England and the punishment of 'counterfeits' (Measure for Measure); the standing of refugees under English law and the reception of these people by the indigenous population (The Comedy of Errors); the establishment of 'Troynovant' as an international trading centre on the banks of the Thames (Troilus and Cressida); the role of law and the state in determining the rights of citizens and aliens (The Merchant of Venice); and the disenfranchised, estranged position of the citizen in a dysfunctional society and an acephalous realm (King Lear)"-- Provided by publisher