Shakespeare's Legal Language: A Dictionary

(Paperback)

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The law is a central theme in many of Shakespeare's plays and every play in the canon makes reference to legality or justice. Indeed, Shakespeare's use of legal language throughout his work shows he was clearly familiar with legal terminology and he shows considerable interest in the capacity of legal language to convey matters of social, moral, and intellectual substance. This encyclopedia-style dictionary explores early modern social life, legal thought, and the interaction of these within Shakespearean drama. Entries include: 'bond', 'divorce', 'impediments', 'slander', 'perpetuity', 'precedent', 'statute', 'treason', 'usury'.

Reviews

"In Shakespeare's Legal Language: A Dictionary, B.J. and Mary Sokol employ a dictionary format to account for language in the plays that relates to English law in Shakespeare's day. Explanations of the legal meaning and history of terms draw largely upon standard legal histories. In most entries, these extended definitions are followed by an overview of the terms' appearances or significance in the plays; relevant legal and Shakespearean scholarship is then cited or summarized, and extensive cross-references guide readers through networks of related terms. At the end of the volume, there is an index of legal terms and concepts, an index of the plays that indicates where defined terms occur in each play, and a bibliography of the scholarship cited in the entries. The book emerges as a comprehensive... cross among dictionary, concordance, and annotated bibliography."- Helen Anna Borrello, The Shakespearean Apocrypha: A Publication of the Shakespeare Yearbook -- The Shakespearean Apocrypha: A Publication of the Shakespeare Yearbook

Author Bio

B. J. Sokol is Emeritus Professor of the University of London (Goldsmith's College) and Senior Research Associate at University College London, UK. Mary Sokol is Honorary Research Fellow withThe Bentham Projectat University College London, UK. She is a qualified lawyer and the co-author of Shakespeare, Law and Marriage (CUP).