Eternal Bonds, True Contracts: Law and Nature in Shakespeare's Problem PlaysIn Eternal Bonds, True Contracts, A. G. Harmon closely analyzes Shakespeare s concentrated use of the law and its instruments in what have often been referred to as the problem plays: Measure for Measure, Troilus and Cressida, The Merchant of Venice, and All s Well That Ends Well. Contracts, bonds, sureties, wills all ensure a changed relationship between parties, and in Shakespeare the terms are nearly always reserved for use in the contexts of marriage and fellowship. Harmon explores the theory and practice of contractual obligations in Renaissance England, especially those involving marriage and property, in order to identify contractual elements and their formation, execution, and breach in the plays. Using both legal and literary resources, Harmon reveals the larger significance of these contractual concepts by illustrating how Shakespeare develops them both dramatically and thematically. Harmon s study ultimately enables the reader to perceive not only these plays but also all of Shakespeare s writing including his poetry as integral with, and implicated in, the proliferating legalism that was helping to define early modern English culture. |
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Other editions - View all
Eternal Bonds, True Contracts: Law and Nature in Shakespeare's Problem Plays A. G. Harmon Limited preview - 2012 |
Eternal Bonds, True Contracts: Law and Nature in Shakespeare's Problem Plays A. G. Harmon No preview available - 2004 |
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achieve Achilles All's Angelo Antonio appetite Arden edition Bassanio bed-trick Bertram ceremony characters claims Clarkson and Warren Claudio and Juliet's comedies commercial bond consummation Cymbeline death deeds Diomedes disjunction dowry dramatic Duke's emphasis added Ends faith father flesh friendship bond Greeks Hector Helena honor husband Ibid integrity Isabella Juliet justice King Lear King's legal instruments lust Mariana marital marriage contract marry match means Measure for Measure Merchant of Venice mock contract natural law nature's Pandarus Parolles parties performance perverse play's pledge Portia Problem Comedies problem plays reason relationship Renaissance res and verba riage ring says scene sexual Shakespeare Shakespeare's Problem Plays Shylock similar Simpson society Sokol surety takes thee theme Thersites things thou tion transformation trick Troilus and Cressida Troilus's Trojan true contract Twelfth Night Ulysses union valid Vienna virtue vows Walton-on-Thames wife William Shakespeare Winter's Tale words
References to this book
Shakespeare and Cognition: Aristotle's Legacy and Shakespearean Drama Arthur F. Kinney Limited preview - 2006 |