The Lawyer Image and Trial Scenes in Shakespeare: A Rhetorical Perspective

Abstract

Abstract: Rhetoric plays an essential role in early modern English education and exerts a profound influence on Shakespeare’s writings. What’s more, rhetoric offers a convenient channel through which Shakespeare could discuss such topics as law, justice and good, etc. Through his masterly use of rhetoric, Shakespeare presents various scenes of “injustice visible” to audiences of different ages. From the perspective of philosophy of right, even a “bad guy” is entitled to a lawyer’s service in his defense on court while a modern nation has a legal obligation to provide a just trial for its citizens. In this sense, both the negative images of lawyers and trial scenes in Shakespeare’s plays throw a light upon the social transition of England from a traditional society based on the principle of virtue and obligation to a modern nation justified by its protection of individual rights.

Key words: Shakespeare, rhetoric, law

Feng Wei. The Lawyer Image and Trial Scenes in Shakespeare: A Rhetorical Perspective[J]. Foreign Literature Studies, 2018, 40(1): 88-96.

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