Shakespeare and the law /
'Shakespeare and the Law' appreciates Shakespeare and his works as expressions of an English early modern culture in which the shared rhetorical practices of dramatists and lawyers were informed by the renaissance of classical practice. It argues that Shakespeare was not primarily concerne...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Oxford, United Kingdom ; New York, NY, United States of America :
Oxford University Press,
[2024]
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| Series: | Oxford Shakespeare topics.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
| Summary: | 'Shakespeare and the Law' appreciates Shakespeare and his works as expressions of an English early modern culture in which the shared rhetorical practices of dramatists and lawyers were informed by the renaissance of classical practice. It argues that Shakespeare was not primarily concerned with the technical accuracy of law, legal ideas, and legal performances, but with their capacity to generate dramatic interest through dispute, trial, the breaking of bonds, and the bending of rules. It follows that all Shakespeare's plays are in a sense 'law plays'. Rhetorical practices can emerge as performances of power, but in Shakespeare's works they show more as instances of the human instinct to challenge power by playing with rules. |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource : illustrations. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780191988103 0191988103 |