The Law in Shakespeare (Early Modern Literature in History)

Focusing on a burgeoning area of interest, this new study illustrates relations between legal and theatrical discourses in a range of plays. The essays focus on four general areas of interest to establish the vital connections between early modern drama and law during this seminal period in their professionalization: legal language and its construction of social norms and realities, positive law and the status of nature; the concept of property and its contractual guarantees; and the creation of power and authority under the law. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgments......Page 8 Notes on Contributors......Page 9 1 English Law in Shakespeare's Plays......Page 12 2 Drama, Law, and Rhetoric in the Age of Coke and Shakespeare......Page 31 3 The Wilde Side of Justice in Early Modern England and Titus Andronicus......Page 49 4 "Like to a Tenement": Landholding, Leasing, and Inheritance in Richard II......Page 69 5 Cast out of Eden: Property and Inheritance in Shakespearean Drama......Page 84 6 Avoiding the Issue of Fraud: 4, 5 Philip & Mary c.8 the Heiress Protection Statute, Portia, and Desdemona......Page 102 7 Accomplished with What She Lacks: Law, Equity, and Portia's Con......Page 120 8 Drama and Marine Insurance in Shakespeare's London......Page 138 9 Noises Off: Participatory Justice in 2 Henry VI......Page 154 10 Truth, Lies, and the Law of Slander in Much Ado About Nothing......Page 178 11 The "Amending Hand": Hales v. Petit, Eyston v. Studd, and Equitable Action in Hamlet......Page 200 12 Macbeth: Absolutism, the Ancient Constitution, and the Aporia of Politics......Page 219 13 Arms and Laws in Shakespeare's Coriolanus......Page 244 14 Measure for Measure and the Law of Nature......Page 260 B......Page 277 C......Page 278 D......Page 280 E......Page 281 F......Page 282 G......Page 283 H......Page 284 J......Page 285 K......Page 286 L......Page 287 M......Page 288 N......Page 289 P......Page 290 R......Page 292 S......Page 293 T......Page 295 V......Page 296 Z......Page 297 Cover 1 Contents 6 Acknowledgments 8 Notes on Contributors 9 1 English Law in Shakespeare's Plays 12 2 Drama, Law, and Rhetoric in the Age of Coke and Shakespeare 31 3 The Wilde Side of Justice in Early Modern England and Titus Andronicus 49 4 "Like to a Tenement": Landholding, Leasing, and Inheritance in Richard II 69 5 Cast out of Eden: Property and Inheritance in Shakespearean Drama 84 6 Avoiding the Issue of Fraud: 4, 5 Philip & Mary c.8 the Heiress Protection Statute, Portia, and Desdemona 102 7 Accomplished with What She Lacks: Law, Equity, and Portia's Con 120 8 Drama and Marine Insurance in Shakespeare's London 138 9 Noises Off: Participatory Justice in 2 Henry VI 154 10 Truth, Lies, and the Law of Slander in Much Ado About Nothing 178 11 The "Amending Hand": Hales v. Petit, Eyston v. Studd, and Equitable Action in Hamlet 200 12 Macbeth: Absolutism, the Ancient Constitution, and the Aporia of Politics 219 13 Arms and Laws in Shakespeare's Coriolanus 244 14 Measure for Measure and the Law of Nature 260 Index 277 A 277 B 277 C 278 D 280 E 281 F 282 G 283 H 284 I 285 J 285 K 286 L 287 M 288 N 289 O 290 P 290 Q 292 R 292 S 293 T 295 U 296 V 296 W 297 Y 297 Z 297 In this new collection, leading scholars analyze Shakespeare's plays to show how they shape issues arising from the interpretation of statute and common law as well as respond to new ideas of contract, the rights of subordinates, and the demands of the market. Central to this discussion are such topics as the authority of the law in conflict with the power of the monarchy; the responsibilities of persons holding real property in relation to the rights of tenants; the identification of slander; the legal resources available to women; the perpetration of fraud on persons and institutions; commercial practice and the marriage contract; and the status of unwritten law or the law of nature. These essays explore what happens to law when it is rendered in fiction, illustrating the complementary relations between play text and legal text, between the dramatization of conflicts on stage and their discursive renderings in the words of the law "In this new collection, leading scholars analyze Shakespeare's plays to show how they shape issues arising from the interpretation of statute and common law as well as respond to new ideas of contract, the rights of subordinates, and the demands of the market. These essays explore what happens to law when it is rendered in fiction, illustrating the complementary relations between play text and legal text, between the dramatization of conflicts on stage and their discursive renderings in the words of the law."--Jacket Leading scholars in the field analyze Shakespeare's plays to show how their dramatic content shapes issues debated in conflicts arising from the creation and application of law. Individual essays focus on such topics such as slander, revenge, and royal prerogative; these studies reveal the problems confronting early modern English men and women.