Shakespeare's Imaginary Constitution: Late Elizabethan Politics and the Theatre of Law

拟议的研究将考虑伊丽莎白时代宪法法理学在莎士比亚戏剧中的表现，特别关注这些戏剧在15世纪90年代和17世纪初伦敦剧院的演出。我将特别考察位于南沃克班克赛德的伊丽莎白时代晚期伦敦剧院的能力，以提供一个史无前例的公共论坛来描述和接受政治思想。正如托马斯·德克尔在谈到新剧院时指出的那样，他们给了农民们一个凳子，就像你的圣殿一样：你的臭臭虫有同样的自由，可以置身于他的烟草烟雾中，就像你可爱的库蒂埃所拥有的那样[《古尔斯·霍恩-布克》，1609]。研究项目的核心将是对原始材料的严格审查，以确定这种平等主义对制度性国家权威机构构成了多大的威胁。南华克作为“自由”的地位(超出伦敦金融城和萨里大法官的管辖范围)是否允许莎士比亚描绘有争议的宪政模式；往往与伊丽莎白时代晚期君主制的专制主义模式背道而驰？纵观莎士比亚的几部戏剧，就会发现作者对法律和法律程序的迷恋：《威尼斯商人》、《衡量标准》和《李尔王》都将审判的《阿贡》表现得极其戏剧化。但法庭固有的戏剧性只是法律的一个方面，莎士比亚显然对此着迷。与法庭上的法律研究相比，这一研究项目更感兴趣的是探索莎士比亚对国家治理的戏剧性描述与早期现代法学家(如埃德蒙·普洛登、托马斯·史密斯、爱德华·科克和弗朗西斯·培根)提出的宪法理论之间的相关性，以及探索早期法律学者的影响，如约翰·福特斯库、克里斯托弗·圣德意志和托马斯·莫尔。正如斯蒂芬·格林布拉特等学者所指出的那样，伊丽莎白时代的政治是作为戏剧的一种形式被引导并呈现给法律学科的。因此，我们应该考虑一下诗剧在描绘无形原则方面所扮演的独特角色，比如公平、善政和正义。伊丽莎白统治的最后十年，从1590年到1603年女王去世，恰逢莎士比亚成为一位成功的剧作家和诗人，在政治上，这是一种显著的绝对主义趋势。随着皇家特权越来越多地被用来绕过普通法司法管辖权的合法权威，因此著名的律师们主张不成文的古代宪法的至高无上地位，在君主制对绝对帝国权威的扩张主张面前，保证英国臣民的某些基本自由。这项研究项目将集中在莎士比亚戏剧和当代法学家的作品中反映出的宪法理论和政治实践的这种戏剧性差异。研究的主要成果将是一本10万字的专著，题为《莎士比亚想象中的宪法：伊丽莎白后期的政治和法律剧院》。我与Hart出版社签订了出版这本书的合同，如果我的提议被接受，我将能够在我与出版商商定的最后期限前完成并提交手稿。这部专著由六个实质性章节组成。我已经完成了两章(每章15,000字)，并将在2009年秋季华威大学授予的学习假期期间再完成两章。如果被接受，这项建议将使我能够在研究假计划期间完成剩余的两章(加上引言和结论)。这本书将对现有的法律和文学领域的跨学科学术做出重大贡献。

The proposed research will consider the representation of Elizabethan constitutional jurisprudence in the plays of Shakespeare, paying particular attention to the performance of these plays in the London playhouses of the 1590s and the early 1600s. I shall examine especially the capacity of the theatres of late Elizabethan London on Southwark's Bankside to provide an unprecedented public forum for the depiction and reception of political ideas. As Thomas Dekker noted of the new theatres, they allowed 'a stoole as well to the Farmers sonne as to your Templer: that your Stinkard has the self-same libertie to be there in his Tobacco-Fumes, which your sweet Courtier hath' ['The Guls Horne-Booke', 1609]. Central to the research project will be rigorous scrutiny of primary material, to establish how great a threat such egalitarianism posed the organs of institutional state authority. Did the status of Southwark as a 'Liberty' (beyond the jurisdiction of the City of London and the Justices of Surrey) allow Shakespeare to portray contentious models of constitutional governance; often antithetical to the absolutist model of late Elizabethan monarchy?A brief glance at even a handful of Shakespeare's plays reveals the author's fascination with law and legal procedure: the 'agon' of the trial is represented to supreme dramatic effect in 'The Merchant of Venice', 'Measure for Measure' and 'King Lear'. But the inherent drama of the courtroom is only one aspect of he law, with which Shakespeare was clearly fascinated. Of greater interest to this research project than a study of law in the courtroom is the broader and more imaginative purpose of exploring the correlation between Shakespeare's dramatic depictions of state governance and the constitutional theories propounded by early modern jurists, such as Edmund Plowden, Thomas Smith, Edward Coke and Francis Bacon (as well as exploring the influence of legal scholars from earlier periods, such as John Fortescue, Christopher St German and Thomas More). As scholars such as Stephen Greenblatt have noted, Elizabethan politics was conducted and represented to subjects of law as a form of theatre. It is appropriate therefore to consider the unique role played by the performance of poetic drama in portraying invisible principles, such as equity, good governance and justice.The 'long' last decade of Elizabethan rule, from 1590 to the death of the Queen in 1603, which coincided with the emergence of Shakespeare as a successful dramatist and poet, was marked in political terms by a notable absolutist trend. As the Royal Prerogative was used increasingly to circumvent the legitimate authority of common law jurisdiction, so eminent lawyers asserted the supremacy of the unwritten ancient constitution, guaranteeing to English subjects certain fundamental freedoms in the face of expansive monarchic claims to absolute, imperial authority. The research project will focus on this dramatic divergence of constitutional theory and political practice, as reflected in Shakespearean drama and the works of contemporary jurists.The primary output of the research will be a monograph of 100,000 words, entitled 'Shakespeare's Imaginary Constitution: Late Elizabethan Politics and the Theatre of Law'. I have a contract for the publication of the book, with Hart Publishing, and the acceptance of my proposal will enable me to complete and submit the manuscript by the deadline which I have agreed with the publisher. The monograph consists of six substantive chapters. I have completed two chapters (of 15,000 words each) and will complete two more chapters in the period of study leave awarded by The University of Warwick in autumn 2009. If accepted, this proposal will enable me to complete the remaining two chapters (plus the Introduction and Conclusion) during the period of the Research Leave Scheme. The book will be a major contribution to existing interdisciplinary scholarship in the field of law and literature.