Shakespeare Moot Court Project Essays -- William Shakespeare

Shakespeare in My CanadaDesmond Manderson and capital of Minnesota Yachnin created the Shakespeare Moot Court Project in2002, aimed at exploring the interpretative nature of natural law and literature in relation to Shakespeare.In this court, Shakespeare is law his plays and sonnets form a body of law used to argue cases ofvarious topics. In 2003-2004, the object took on the issue of same-sex marriage in Love onTrial Same Sex Marriage and the justice of Shakespeare. Halpern v. Attorney General ofCanada, a case from 2002 that challenged the heterosexual person definition of marriage in Ontario,was the starting point of the project. The legality of same-sex marriage according toShakespeare was considered in relation to the meaning of the institution and the necessity ofheterosexuality at bottom it (Manderson 479). The case was initially decided in favor of same-sexmarriage, and later was appealed and heard for a final time on 27 September 2004 at McGillUniversity to a packed audien ce, an event which is the subject of this paper. While Love onTrial is an exercise in the connections between law, literature, and the social function ofShakespeare, it also performs a ethnical function in its connection to a contemporary Canadiansocial issue. The blending of Canadian concerns regarding same-sex marriage and the authorityof Shakespeare are joined in this project to create a forum to discuss the national issue in aliterary context.The arguments for both sides of the appeal were previously published in the McGill LawJournal and are thus referred to here. Desmond Mandersons first argument for the legality ofsame-sex marriage is the Armenian argument both same-sex marriages and marriagesbetween Armenians do not slip by in Shakespe... ... issue that was nonexistent in thesixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Though the trial is interested in looking at law, literature,and the interpretations of both through Shakespeare, in this case it becomes a forum to discuss apartic ularly Canadian issue. Thus Mandersons and Yachnins adaptations of Shakespeare arerelated to issues of the nation. This tie between Shakespeare and Canada has been constitutethroughout the history of the country, and Love on Trial suggests the continuing importance ofShakespeare in Canada. 6Works CitedFischlin, Daniel and Mark Fortier. General Introduction. Adaptations of Shakespeare.Fischlin, Daniel and Mark Fortier, eds. London Routledge, 2000 1-22.Manderson, Desmond and Paul Yachnin. Love on Trial Nature, Law, and Same-Sex Marriagein the Court of Shakespeare. McGill Law Journal. 49.3 (2004) 475-514.