Shakespeare's legal maxims

Description

"Shakespeare's legal maxims by William Lowes Rushton" is a literary-legal treatise written in the early 20th century. It examines how Shakespeare’s plays embed and accurately translate Latin legal maxims, arguing that the playwright possessed genuine legal training. The book’s likely topic is the demonstration of Shakespeare’s legal knowledge through detailed comparison of legal principles with passages from the plays, presented as evidence that he studied law. The work opens with a defensive notice about earlier editions and misattributions, then proceeds as a continuous series of maxims paired with Shakespearean excerpts and succinct legal commentary. It explains judicial impartiality and the rule against judging one’s own cause; the authority of precedent; the distinct roles of judge and jury; possession and title; the legal unity of husband and wife; fixtures law; statutes that “sleep” but do not die; the Chancellor’s seal; a gaoler’s liability for escapes; lawful oaths and perjury; execution conforming to judgment; obedience to judicial orders; sovereign immunity; the need for concurrence of act and intent, including madness, misadventure, unlawful acts turning accidental deaths into murder, and self-defence; coroner’s findings in Ophelia’s case; contempt against judges as against the king; heraldic devices and seals; royal coinage; the city as its people; the danger of unenforced laws; the limits of will versus law; impartial justice; market value; attempts versus completed deeds; forfeiture of legal benefits by subverters of law; the credibility of deathbed statements; the sacred nature of swearing; and the “necessity of time.” It concludes that the consistent, precise application of these maxims across the plays is best explained by the poet’s having been, at least for a time, a student-at-law. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Subjects

• Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Knowledge -- Law
• Law in literature
• PR