Shakespeare, Law, and Marriage

ISBN-13: 9780521822633 / Angielski / Twarda / 2003 / 276 str.

B. J. Sokol; Mary Sokol

Opis

Combining legal, historical and literary approaches to the practice and theory of marriage in Shakespeare's time, this study discovers a broad range of information in a selection of Shakespeare's plays. Jerry and Mary Sokol approach the legal history of marriage as part of cultural history. The household was viewed as the basic unit of Elizabethan society, but many aspects of marriage were controversial, and the law was uncertain and confusing. The Sokols' analysis reveals much about Shakespeare's age as well as his work.

Recenzje

'… their careful amassing and mastery of evidence makes Shakespeare, Law, and Marriage a fine study of context. … has great value as a work of reference. Its careful organization, structure, and direct specificity make it a most useful volume.' MLR

Spis treści

Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. Making a valid marriage: the consensual model; 2. Arranging marriages; 3. Wardship and marriages enforced by law; 4. Financing a marriage: provision of dowries or marriage portions; 5. The solemnisation of marriage; 6. Clandestine marriage, elopement, abduction and rape: irregular marriage formation; 7. The effects of marriage on legal status; 8. Marriage breakdown: separation, divorce, illegitimacy; 9. 'Til death us do part; An afterword on method; Notes; Bibliography; Index.