This collection celebrates the quadricentennial anniversary of Shakespeare's First Folio (1623), examining the intersection of law, literature, history, and performance through eight scholarly essays. The volume explores how the First Folio serves as a crucial lens for understanding the politico-legal implications of Shakespeare's works, addressing themes of identity, authorship, orality, performance, and print culture in early modern England.
The collection provides interdisciplinary analysis of legal concepts embedded in Shakespeare's plays, from constitutional questions in King John to juridical thought in The Tempest. Contributors examine parliamentary representation, legal subjectivity, authorship and ownership rights, and comparative legal vulnerabilities across different cultural contexts. Each chapter demonstrates how Shakespeare's dramatic works engage with contemporary legal frameworks while remaining relevant to modern jurisprudential debates.
This volume serves advanced students, researchers, and scholars in law and literature, Shakespeare studies, legal history, and comparative literature. It appeals to academics working at the intersection of humanities and legal studies, offering fresh perspectives on canonical texts through rigorous interdisciplinary methodology. This book was originally published as a special issue of Law & Humanities.