Richard H. Mcadams
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226924939
- eISBN:
- 9780226924946
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226924946.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, Shakespeare Studies
In Othello, a legal question is posed for lawyers regarding Iago: is he criminally liable for the murder of Desdemona? An extraordinary thought experiment for testing the limit of Elizabethan ...
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In Othello, a legal question is posed for lawyers regarding Iago: is he criminally liable for the murder of Desdemona? An extraordinary thought experiment for testing the limit of Elizabethan complicity law, Othello favorably contrasts the deliberative elements of legal process with the more arbitrary process of private vengeance. This chapter argues that while criminal law provides a frame through which to view and study Othello, the play itself also offers something in return: thought experiments for examining law—showing the virtue of legal processes by the tragedy which its absence creates. It uses criminal complicity rules to explain and understand the choices which Iago makes in the play, suggesting that a legal analysis might show how legally trained members of the original audiences interpreted the play.Less
In Othello, a legal question is posed for lawyers regarding Iago: is he criminally liable for the murder of Desdemona? An extraordinary thought experiment for testing the limit of Elizabethan complicity law, Othello favorably contrasts the deliberative elements of legal process with the more arbitrary process of private vengeance. This chapter argues that while criminal law provides a frame through which to view and study Othello, the play itself also offers something in return: thought experiments for examining law—showing the virtue of legal processes by the tragedy which its absence creates. It uses criminal complicity rules to explain and understand the choices which Iago makes in the play, suggesting that a legal analysis might show how legally trained members of the original audiences interpreted the play.
Alison L. LaCroix, Richard H. McAdams, and Martha C. Nussbaum (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190610784
- eISBN:
- 9780190610807
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190610784.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, Drama
Writers of fiction have always confronted topics of crime and punishment. This age-old fascination with crime on the part of authors and readers is not surprising, given that criminal justice touches ...
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Writers of fiction have always confronted topics of crime and punishment. This age-old fascination with crime on the part of authors and readers is not surprising, given that criminal justice touches on so many political and psychological themes essential to literature and comes equipped with a trial process that contains its own dramatic structure. This volume explores this profound and enduring literary engagement with crime, investigation, and criminal justice. The collected essays explore three themes that connect the world of law with that of fiction. First, defining and punishing crime is one of the fundamental purposes of government, along with the protection of victims by the prevention of crime. And yet criminal punishment remains one of the most abused and terrifying forms of political power. Second, crime is intensely psychological and therefore an important subject with which a writer can develop and explore character. A third connection between criminal justice and fiction involves the inherently dramatic nature of the legal system itself, particularly the trial. The ongoing public conversation about crime and punishment suggests that the time is ripe for collaboration between law and literature in this troubled domain.Less
Writers of fiction have always confronted topics of crime and punishment. This age-old fascination with crime on the part of authors and readers is not surprising, given that criminal justice touches on so many political and psychological themes essential to literature and comes equipped with a trial process that contains its own dramatic structure. This volume explores this profound and enduring literary engagement with crime, investigation, and criminal justice. The collected essays explore three themes that connect the world of law with that of fiction. First, defining and punishing crime is one of the fundamental purposes of government, along with the protection of victims by the prevention of crime. And yet criminal punishment remains one of the most abused and terrifying forms of political power. Second, crime is intensely psychological and therefore an important subject with which a writer can develop and explore character. A third connection between criminal justice and fiction involves the inherently dramatic nature of the legal system itself, particularly the trial. The ongoing public conversation about crime and punishment suggests that the time is ripe for collaboration between law and literature in this troubled domain.
