The Importance of the Law in The Merchant of VeniceThe connection between Shakespeare and the law is not new; Scholars have long understood that legal discourse can lead to a better understanding of Shakespeare's works. But the reverse is also true: the study of Shakespeare can lead to a deeper understanding of the fundamental nature of law. A play like The Merchant of Venice has a lot to offer during such a reading. The action of the play concerns contract law, but questions of status, moiety, precedent, and transfer are also raised. At the most fundamental level, however, the trial scene in Act IV illustrates the conflict between fairness and the strict construction of the law. Equity, in the legal sense, is “justice according to principles of equity and not strictly according to a formulated law.” (Gilbert 103). This definition, although easily understandable, presents us with a problematic, even dangerous, structure of opposition. Law and fairness lie at the ends of a certain justice continuum and are exclusive. The definition implies that one can have justice according to “equity” or justice according to “formulated law”. However, if the law is not intrinsically just, if a concept of fairness is required, how can we say that the law fulfills its objective? And if “fairness” is not found within the bounds of “formulated law,” where does it come from? Of course, this argument is not new; the conflict between law and equity was recognized even in medieval England. From early childhood, we are indoctrinated with a sense of justice, fairness, right and wrong. Every schoolyard echoes with cries of “No fair cheating!” » It seems that we know passages in the middle of Shakespeare's papers. 4th ed. New York: Longman-Addison Wesley Longman, 1997. Gilbert Law Dictionary. Chicago: Harcourt Brace, 1997. Homer. The Iliad. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1990. Keeton, Legal and Political Background to George W. Shakespeare. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1967. Kornstein, Daniel J. Killing All the Lawyers? : Shakespeare's legal appeal. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1994. The Merchant of Venice. British Broadcasting Corp. Jonathan Miller. Real. Jack Gold. Time-Life Video, 1980. Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. Bevington 178-215.---. The Merry Wives of Windsor. Bevington 252-87. Ward, Ian. Shakespeare and the Legal Imagination. Law in context. London: Butterworths, 1999.White, Edward J. Commentaries on Law in Shakespeare. St. Louis: FH Thomas Law Book Co., 1911.