Law & Literature

Shakuntala indru Bharvani, a fullbright scholar from the City of New York University and Head, Department of English, Government Law College, Churchgate, Mumbai, INDIA through extensive research has made references on the intertwined features of Law with Literature from Plato to Gandhi, Shakespeare to George Eliot, Charles Dickens, Arthur Conal Doyle, Mark Twain, John Galsworthy, E M Forster, Lord Macaulay on 'Warren Hastings', N A Palkhiwala,..... with excerpts and critical notes making it a treatise on CRIME & LAW

See the opening phrase: "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers" - Shakespeare King Henry VI, part 2 act IV, Scene 2

Crime has provided criminal lawyers, policemen, detectives, journalists and WRITERS with wholesome work and a full-time profession. In a country where there are so many scams and so much unemployment, can we ignore an area that keeps such a large workforce gainfully employed? she asks in her Introduction.

Suicide, Murder, Execution, Interpretation of Wills & other Unilateral Documents, Emergency, Apology(greek word 'apologia' means an explanation or a defence), circumstantial evidence, Justice, sorrow, have all been dissected and analysed with reference to the Literary excerpt dealt upon which is intellectually stimulating and educative.

I took a liking to the particular excerpt of 'Bernard Shaw's - St. Joan' Joan's trial lasted from Feb 21st until May 23rd 1431. She was finally burnt at the stake in the market square at Rouen  on May 30th

25 years later, the trial was re-opened by her family members. The earlier judgement was overturned and declared null and void. In 1920, the Church of Rome officially declared Joan to be a saint.

This is the story of a young and a courageous girl, who though she was alone and defenceless, had the courage to hold on to her convictions and beliefs to the very end.

A sincere effort by a University teacher portraying the essence of 'Law and Literature' giving you a treatise on 'Wisdom' versus 'Cunning' as in the example of odysseus and Sisiphus in Plato's Apology.