The Law in Shakespeare

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

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2. English Law in Shakespeare’s Plays

   • Constance Jordan, Karen Cunningham

   Pages 1-19

3. Drama, Law, and Rhetoric in the Age of Coke and Shakespeare

   • Allen D. Boyer

   Pages 20-37

4. The Wilde Side of Justice in Early Modern England and Titus Andronicus

   • Dympna Callaghan, Chris R. Kyle

   Pages 38-57

5. “Like to a Tenement”: Landholding, Leasing, and Inheritance in Richard II

   • William O. Scott

   Pages 58-72

6. Cast out of Eden: Property and Inheritance in Shakespearean Drama

   • Nancy E. Wright, A. R. Buck

   Pages 73-90

7. Avoiding the Issue of Fraud: 4, 5 Philip & Mary c.8 (the Heiress Protection Statute), Portia, and Desdemona

   • Charles Ross

   Pages 91-108

8. Accomplished with What She Lacks: Law, Equity, and Portia’s Con

   • Thomas C. Bilello

   Pages 109-126

9. Drama and Marine Insurance in Shakespeare’s London

   • Luke Wilson

   Pages 127-142

10. Noises Off: Participatory Justice in 2 Henry VI

    • Lorna Hutson

    Pages 143-167

11. Truth, Lies, and the Law of Slander in Much Ado About Nothing

    • Cyndia Susan Clegg

    Pages 167-188

12. The “Amending Hand”: Hales v. Petit, Eyston v. Studd, and Equitable Action in Hamlet

    • Carolyn Sale

    Pages 189-207

13. Macbeth: Absolutism, the Ancient Constitution, and the Aporia of Politics

    • Peter C. Herman

    Pages 208-232

14. Arms and Laws in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus

    • Rebecca Lemon

    Pages 233-248

15. Measure for Measure and the Law of Nature

    • Elizabeth Hanson

    Pages 249-265

16. Back Matter

    Pages 266-286

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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.

• absolutism
• drama
• England
• Hamlet
• Oscar Wilde
• Shakespearean drama
• William Shakespeare
• British and Irish Literature

'Jordan and Cunningham's edition...addresses an impressive range of legal connections including slander, equity, inheritance, maritime law, rhetoric, land law, sovereignty, absolutism and the law of nature.' - Literature Compass

'...the collection impressively demonstrates that jurisprudential knowledge of early modern culture enriches and transforms our understanding of Shakespeare's plays' - College Literature

'The contributors of these 14 essays are law professionals and scholars...[who] discuss a variety of legal concepts suggested by Shakespeare's plays...All in all, this is a welcome addition to Shakespeare studies - Choice

• Claremont Graduate University, USA

  Constance Jordan

• Los Angeles, USA

  Karen Cunningham

THOMAS C. BILELLO Attorney with Pacific Life Insurance Company in Newport Beach, California, USA ALLEN D. BOYER Lawyer, New York City, USA A.R. BUCK, Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Arts and Law, Macquarie University, Australia DYMPNA CALLAGHAN Dean's Professor in the Humanities, Syracuse University, USA CYNDIA SUSAN CLEGG Distinguished Professor of English, Pepperdine University, USA ELIZABETH HANSON Professor of English, Queen's University, Canada PETER C. HERMAN Professor of English and Comparative Literature, San Diego State University, USA LORNA HUTSON Berry Professor of English Literature, University of St Andrews, Scotland CHRIS R. KYLE Associate Professor of Humanities, History Department, Syracuse University, USA REBECCA LEMON Assistant Professor of English, University of Southern California, USA CHARLES ROSS Professor of English and Chair of the Program of Comparative Literature, Purdue University, USA CAROLYN SALE Assistant Professor of English Literature, University of Alberta, Canada WILLIAM O. SCOTT Professor of English, University of Kansas, USA LUKE WILSON Professor of English, Ohio State University, USA NANCY E. WRIGHT Deputy Dean of the College of Arts at the University of Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

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