Shakespeare Moot Court Project

Shakespeare in My Canada

Desmond Manderson and Paul Yachnin created the Shakespeare Moot Court Project in

2002, aimed at exploring the interpretative nature of 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 of

various topics. In 2003-2004, the project took on the issue of same-sex marriage in “Love on

Trial: Same Sex Marriage and the Law of Shakespeare.” Halpern v. Attorney General of

Canada, a case from 2002 that challenged the heterosexual definition of marriage in Ontario,

was the starting point of the project. The legality of same-sex marriage according to

Shakespeare was considered in relation to the meaning of the institution and the necessity of

heterosexuality within it (Manderson 479). The case was initially decided in favor of same-sex

marriage, and later was appealed and heard for a final time on 27 September 2004 at McGill

University to a packed audience, an event which is the subject of this paper. While “Love on

Trial” is an exercise in the connections between law, literature, and the social function of

Shakespeare, it also performs a cultural function in its connection to a contemporary Canadian

social issue. The blending of Canadian concerns regarding same-sex marriage and the authority

of Shakespeare are joined in this project to create a forum to discuss the national issue in a

literary context.

The arguments for both sides of the appeal were previously published in the McGill Law

Journal and are thus referred to here. Desmond Manderson’s first argument for the legality of

same-sex marriage is the “Armenian argument”: both same-sex marriages and marriages

between Armenians do not occur in Shakespe...

... middle of paper ...

... issue that was nonexistent in the

sixteenth 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 a

particularly Canadian issue. Thus Manderson’s and Yachnin’s adaptations of Shakespeare are

related to issues of the nation. This tie between Shakespeare and Canada has been present

throughout the history of the country, and “Love on Trial” suggests the continuing importance of

Shakespeare in Canada.

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Works Cited:

Fischlin, 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 Marriage

in the Court of Shakespeare.” McGill Law Journal. 49.3 (2004): 475-514.