© 1999 by Oxford University Press
Shakespeare and the English equity jurisdiction: The Merchant of Venice and the two texts of King Lear
The article reviews connections long alleged between equity and a variety of Shakespeare's plays. Not all writers have been responsive to the complexities of overlapping but differing uses of the term 'equity'. Also many critical treatments of Shakespeare and equity incorrectly characterize the historical relations between the early modern common law and equity jurisdictions only in relation to a notorious political crisis of 1616. A more fine-grained analysis of lawyers' discussions and of legal and political developments allows the delineation of subtler historical dynamics and of conceptual and terminological differences. Following from this it is argued that many twentieth-century claims that the supposed conflicts of Elizabethan equity and law jurisdictions inform passages or themes of I, Henry IV, Measure for Measure, and especially The Merchant of Venice, are unfounded. However, it appears that Shakespeare did refer to co-operative equity and law jurisdictions in the quarto version of King Lear, although the relevant passage and indeed its scene were removed from the folio test. This, together with the historical detail provided, suggests a dating of at least some of the folio revisions of King Lear.