Law and Literature

Law and literature bring together the two overlapping bodies of thought, the legal and the
literary.
A Lawyer without history/literature is just a mechanic or a mere working mason.
“Law is one of the principal literary professions,” said William Prosser. Because a lawyer spends
as much time reading and writing during his lifetime as a writer. This is not to categorically state
that every lawyer can become a writer and every writer a lawyer.
This is the reason, why so many writers have so easily crossed that narrow path from one
profession to the other. E.g. Galsworthy graduated with a law degree; Dickens started his career
by working as a law reporter, Voltaire, William Makepeace Thackeray, R.L. Stevenson… the list
is endless. And of course Henry Fielding, who studies law, shifted to writing and journalism, and
then came back to the law.
Charles Dickens’ criticism of lawyers and the courts was informed by his own experience with
the legal system. In 1827, at the age of fifteen, he went to work for the law office of Ellis and
Blackmore as a junior clerk. It was there that he saw the darker side of the law. Dickens became
further acquainted with the Chancery Courts when he petitioned for an injunction against
someone who had published imitations of his novel, A Christmas Carol. He was successful in
his suit, but had to pay the costs.
He became a court reporter in the Lord Chancellor’s Court.
The strong connection between the legal and the literary has been recognized by university
departments, and more and more campuses are offering Literature and Law courses. Particularly
popular is the course on “Legal Themes in the Plays of Shakespeare”. Also well-received is
“Dickens and the State of Law in Victorian England”.
EXAMPLES OF literary works which show relationship between law and lit—
The plays and the novels from the syllabus and---

 Russian classic by Fyodor Dostoevsky- Crime and Punishment

 The Outsider by Albert Camus-absurd fiction
 Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
 Bleak House by Charles Dickens,
 Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure
These literary classics have made law rich.

 The LAW AND LITERATURE MOVEMENT focuses on

the interdisciplinary connection between law and literature.
 Law n lit is an academic movement
 James Boyd White is considered to be the founder of the law and literature movement
because of the dedicated research and distinguished publications he has contributed to
this rapidly growing field. Among his many literary books and articles, White's most
 renowned publication, The Legal Imagination, is often credited with initiating the law
and literature movement. This book first published in 1973 emphasizing the relationship
of legal texts to literary analysis and literary texts to the legal issues that they explore.
 The proponents of the law-in-literature theory, such as Richard Weisberg and Robert
Weisberg,
 Richard Posner has played an important role as far as the study of law n lit is concerned.
Law and Literature: A misunderstood Relationship (now in its third edition, titled
simply Law and Literature)

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 Prof. Li-Ching Chang, Fulbright scholar and Professor of Law at Tunghai university-her
research article ‘comparison between law and lit with special reference to Kafka’s trial
(read her full paper)
 She started a course named ‘comparison between law and lit’ at law department, Tunghai
University in 2002
 She states that law n lit are two different disciplines, areas but we can’t say that they are
unrelated.
 SIMILARITIES between law n lit---
1. The ingredients that make up the raw material of both the professions are the
same: conflict, crime, suspense, high drama, tragedy and comedy. The climatic
moments in fiction are often those in which a legal matter comes to the fore, or a
series of events are triggered off due to a law suit.
2. both fields are creations of humans and
3. target “humans and society” as their research structure
4. Their functions are the same- function of lit is to instruct by pleasing. Lit teaches
us (that virtue is rewarded and vice is punished), inspires us, it has universal
appeal, it’s about exploration of human relationship, it makes us dream about a
beautiful world. Law aims to create idealistic society/utopian world. Aim law –to
give justice to humans, aims to keep the society safe, to solve the human conflict,
to maintain order and peace.
5. Both fields depend on narrative- or the idea of telling a story for either fictional
purposes or legal purposes.
 DIFFERENCES between Law and Literature-
1. The language and vocabulary used in law and in any kind of literature are different.
Law- legal maxims, jargons, legal terms, abbreviations,
Literature- literary terms, concepts, critical terms, literary devices, figures of speech,
figurative language
2. Form is different- law cannot be written in any form as literature. Law is limited, clear,
stable. Lit has various forms. Thus, Literature cannot stand in the law world.
3. Literature was created by writers. So it shows its uniqueness through literary words.
These writers didn’t follow the rules. They liked to shatter boundaries. There would be no
 limits. It challenged the current ideology and society’s values. Therefore, it is very
unstable. Law is the rule that everyone should follow. It solves the issues of people’s
relationships. So, its theory should be very reasonable and logical. It must avoid
unclearness. Law should be stable.

Conclusion-
 Literature has the same function as the Law does. A scholar said they are “The Happy
Couple.
J. Neville. TURNER & Pamela WILLIAMS (EDS.), THE HAPPY COUPLE: LAW
AND LITERATURE (The Federation Press, Sydney, 1994). A book – a collection of 32
papers by judges, lawyers, scholars
 At the same time, they are the “fatal enemies” to each other. Literature will not willingly
be limited by law. The writers often like to describe behaviors that break the law and the
injustice of law in their books. Especially the conflicts between emotion and reason, and
the conflicts between natural law and positive law. Literature places greater value one
motion. Law is more concerned with human behavior and society.
 The literary classics are structured by law cases. So, we could say that Law creates
Literature, and Literature expresses the Law. They are so interrelated.
 William Shakespeare (26th April 1564–23rd April 1616) Elizabethan period
 the greatest writer in English Literature.
 an English poet, playwright, and actor
 Shakespeare was born in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, England.
 he married Anne Hathaway, but his work as a playwright brought him to London, where
his plays ran at the Globe Theatre. His first play was Henry IV, and his last was The
Tempest.
 He is often called England's national poet, and the "Bard of Avon".
 His works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays.
 Drama before Shakespeare was still in its infancy. Today it is difficult to think about
English drama without Shakespeare's plays.
 His plays have been translated into every major living language
 composed 154 sonnets
 His plays are generally categorized as Comedies, Tragedies and Histories. There is some
debate about which category some of the plays should be included in as there are often
crossovers between the genres.
 First Folio - Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (1623)
 a collection of William Shakespeare's 36 plays.
 The Globe Theatre
 All of his plays were performed at the Globe, an outdoor theatre, which was located on
the south bank of the Thames, away from the noise of Central London. The original
Globe was destroyed in a fire during a performance of Henry VIII, but the Globe which
exists today is created to mimic the original. Shakespeare died in 1616, but his plays have
left a lasting effect on English Literature; they are still performed twice a day at
London’s reconstructed Globe Theatre.
 A note on Shakespeare's language
 Vocabulary- Archaic words-Oxford Shakespeare’s Glossary
 His plays are written for the most part in blank verse- verse without rhyme/unrhymed
lines
 Shakespeare's Comedy
 Comedy is not necessarily what a modern audience would expect comedy to be. Though,
there may be some funny moments, a Shakespearean comedy may involve some very
dramatic storylines. Usually what defines a Shakespearean play as a comedy is that it
has a happy ending, often involving a marriage.
 A struggle of young lovers to overcome problems, often the result of the interference of
their elders
 There is some element of separation and reunification
 Mistaken identities, often involving disguise
 A clever servant
 Family tensions that are usually resolved in the end
 Complex, interwoven plot-lines
 Frequent use of puns and other styles of comedy
 The Shakespearean plays which are usually classed as Comedy are:
 The Merchant of Venice,
 Twelfth Night, All's Well That Ends Well,

 Shakespearean Tragedy-
 Tragedies may involve comic moments, but tend towards more serious, dramatic plots
with an ending that involves the death of main characters.
 Characters become isolated or there is social breakdown
 Ends in death
 There is a sense that events are inevitable or inescapable
 There is usually a central figure who is noble but with a character flaw which leads them
towards their eventual downfall
Examples of tragedy----

Julius Caesar
Macbeth
Hamlet
King Lear
Othello

The Merchant of Venice

 Romantic comedy-triumph of love n friendship over malice n cruelty

 Setting (time) · 16th century, Written between 1594-1598
 Setting (place) · Venice and Belmont, Italy
 two settings: Venice and Belmont. The first of these locales is real, the second imaginary
 main plot: The story of the bond of flesh
 sub-plot: The story of the three caskets
 Shakespeare intended Venice and Belmont to represent opposite sets of values. Another
view is that the two worlds are complementary
 Venice stands for the public side of life where business, law, and manly friendship
predominate –
 Belmont represents the private treasures of the heart, including romantic love and an
appreciation of the merciful side of God’s nature. An imaginary world of music, laughter,
and domestic bliss.
 Climax - the trial scene where Portia, disguised as a man of law, intervenes on Antonio’s
behalf.
 Sources of the play
 Il Pecorone by Florentine in 1378 (Italian work)
 Stephen Gosson in The School of Abuse mentions a play called The Jew by Richard
Cumberland
 The Jew of Malta by Christopher Malta

 THEMES- (Elaborate the following points in your words.)

 Self-interest versus love
 Anti-Semitism (often called the longest hatred of Jews) is an age-old problem. For
centuries Jews have been accused of treacherous acts, including the murder of Jesus,
poisoning wells, etc.
 The play is about the serious social issue, particularly the problem of anti-Semitism.
 Greed vs. mercy and compassion. the divine quality of mercy;
  Good does conquer evil and that would have been a message Shakespeare wanted to
convey to his audience.

Dramatis Personae (characters)-

 Shylock - A rich Jewish moneylender in Venice.
 Antonio - A Christian merchant whose love for his friend Bassanio prompts him to sign
Shylock’s contract
 Bassanio - a gentleman of Venice and a dear friend of Antonio.
 Gratiano - A friend of Bassanio’s who accompanies him to Belmont. Gratiano falls in
love with and eventually weds Portia’s lady-in-waiting, Nerissa.
 Jessica - Although she is Shylock’s daughter, Jessica hates life in her father’s house,
and elopes with the young Christian gentleman, Lorenzo.
 Lorenzo - A friend of Bassanio and Antonio, Lorenzo is in love with Shylock’s
daughter, Jessica. He schemes to help Jessica escape from her father’s house, and he
eventually elopes with her to Belmont.
 Nerissa - Portia’s lady-in-waiting and confidante. She marries Gratiano and escorts
Portia on Portia’s trip to Venice by disguising herself as her law clerk.
 Launcelot Gobbo - Bassanio’s servant. A comic character who is especially adept at
making puns, Launcelot leaves Shylock’s service in order to work for Bassanio.
 Old Gobbo - Launcelot’s father, also a servant in Venice.
 The prince of Morocco - A Moorish prince who seeks Portia’s hand in marriage. Gold
casket
 The prince of Arragon - An arrogant Spanish nobleman who also attempts to win
Portia’s hand by picking a casket. Like the prince of Morocco, however, the prince of
Arragon chooses unwisely. He picks the silver casket.
 Salarino - A Venetian gentleman, and friend to Antonio, Bassanio, and Lorenzo.
Salarino escorts the newlyweds Jessica and Lorenzo to Belmont, and returns with
Bassanio and Gratiano for Antonio’s trial. He is often almost indistinguishable from his
companion Solanio.
 Solanio - A Venetian gentleman
 The Duke of Venice - The ruler of Venice, who presides over Antonio’s trial.
 The chief magistrate
 Although a powerful man, the duke’s state is built on respect for the law, and he is unable
to help Antonio.
 Tubal - A Jew in Venice, and one of Shylock’s friends.
 Doctor Bellario - A wealthy lawyer and Portia’s cousin. Doctor Bellario never appears
in the play, but he gives Portia’s servant the letters of introduction needed for her to make
her appearance in court.
 Balthasar - Portia’s servant, whom she dispatches to get the appropriate materials from
Doctor Bellario.
 Legally speaking, the play is concerned with contract law.
 Throughout the play, Shylock, and by extension, all Jews, are presented as money-
hungry, conniving, and cruel. Shylock the Jew, as he is called by everyone in the play is
compared with a dog, a cur, and a demon, and is referred as the very devil incarnation.
 Portia cleverly proves to the Jew that strict adherence to the law will go against him. He
can take a pound of flesh but no blood or skin.
 Shakespeare creates one of his most interesting and memorable villains, the moneylender
Shylock, who is intent on carrying out a gruesome contractual obligation: “The pound of
flesh which I demand of him is dearly bought. ‘Tis mine, and I will have it.”