Crime and Consequence in Early Modern Literature and Law

Crime and Consequence in Early Modern Literature and Law explores how changing ideas about criminal sanction were reflected in and engaged with in early modern English society, broadening the scope of current law and literature debate into the area of consequence. It offers analysis of both major and lesser-known literary texts, including Shakespeare, and explores new primary resources on early modern criminal sanction.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 16 August 2023
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

In a time when approximately three hundred crimes were classified as felonies and punishable by death, a contemplation of crime inevitably leads to a preoccupation with consequences. Crime and Consequence in Early Modern Literature and Law examines contemporary literary and legal texts, including drama, poetry, and commentaries on the law, and considers how the notion of proportionate punishment was imagined in the early modern period and how the potential for justice to miscarry might influence that imagining.

The book broadens the scope of current law and literature debate into the area of consequence, offering an analysis of both major and lesser-known literary texts, including Shakespeare. It explores new primary resources on early modern criminal sanction and provides a new entry point for a wider examination of early modern culture. The book will appeal to students, academic specialists, and to a more general audience with an interest in the history of crime.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781474454360