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 o f Shakespeare's plays. Not all writers have been responsive to the complexi ties of overlapping, but differing uses of the term 'equity'. Also, many cr itical treatments of Shakespeare and equity incorrectly characterize the hi storical relations between the early modern common law and equity jurisdict ions only in relation to a notorious political crisis of 1616. A more fine- grained analysis of lawyers' discussions and of legal and political develop ments allow the delineation of subtler historical dynamics and of conceptua l and terminological differences. Following from this it is argued that man y twentieth-century claims that the supposed conflicts of Elizabethan equit y and law jurisdiction inform passages or themes of 1 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 jurisdic tions in the quarto version of King Lear, although the relevant passage and indeed its scene were removed from the folio text. This, together with the historical detail provided, suggests a dating of at least some of the foli o revisions of King Lear.