셰익스피어의 법률 희곡 『베니스의 상인』과 『자에는 자로』를 통한 셰익스피어의 법률관 연구

The Merchant of Venice is a Shakespeare’s representative legal play. Even though the play deals with many themes such as love, race, religion, appearance and reality, etc.. we can’t understand the play fully without considering its legal elements. Shylock tries to revenge Antonio who hindered his business and disdained him harshly by means of legal process. In Venice court, Shylock requires Antonio’s flesh persistently, sticking to the literal interpretation of the letters of the bond. Shylock’s cruel intention, however, is blocked by smart Portia’s judgment using the same literal interpretation of the bond as Shylock’s. Measure for Measure is Shakespeare’s another legal play and a parallel to The Merchant of Venice in many aspects. In this play, Shakespeare questions the rigid legalism once again by describing Angelo’s strict enforcement of the law and his abuse of legal authority. Daniel Kornstein insists that “the enduring legal contribution of this play is its sensible and balanced approach to the fundamental problems of law: how to control human behavior effectively by means of rules.” In both plays, Shakespeare deals with the concept of law, legal interpretation, and the conflict between the spirit of the law and the letter of the law. While Shylock and Angelo stand on rigid literalism and legalism, Portia and Isabella personify the spirit of equity. Shakespeare’s message in both plays may be the fact that laws can bring unjust results if they were not balanced with equity and that law and authority is to be exercised with understanding of human minds, equity, discretion and flexibility. According to some critics like W. Nicholas Knight, Shakespeare’s attitude to the law influenced the English legal history. Even today, many people in the judicial world refer to Shakespeare’s keen insight to the law.