Leading scholars in the field analyze Shakespeare's plays to show how their dramatic content shapes issues debated in conflicts arising from the creation and application of law. Individual essays focus on such topics such as slander, revenge, and royal prerogative; these studies reveal the problems confronting early modern English men and women.

Will be the first book-length study comparing Scott and Byron-no such book exists to date

Acknowledgments Notes on Contributors English Law in Shakespeare's Plays; C.Jordan & K.Cunningham Drama, Law and Rhetoric in the Age of Coke and Shakespeare; A.D.Boyer The Wilde Side of Justice in Early Modern England and Titus Andronicus ; D.Callaghan & C.R.Kyle Landholding, Leasing and Inheritance in Richard II; W.O.Scott Cast out of Eden: Property and Inheritance in Shakespearean Drama; N.E.Wright & A.R.Buck Avoiding the Issue of Fraud: 4 and 5 Philip & Mary c. 8 (the heiress protection statute), Portia and Desdemona; C.Ross Accomplished with What She Lacks: Law, Equity and Portia's Con; T.C.Bilello Drama and Marine Insurance in Shakespeare's London; L.Wilson Noises Off: Participatory Justice in 2 Henry VI ; L.Hutson Truth, lies and the law of slander in Much Ado About Nothing ; C.S.Clegg The 'Amending Hand': Hales v. Petit, Eyston v. Studd and Equitable Action in Hamlet ; C.Sale Macbeth : Absolutism, the Ancient Constitution, and the Aporia of Politics; P.C.Herman Arms and Laws in Shakespeare's Coriolanus ; R.Lemon Measure for Measure and the Law of Nature; E.Hanson Index