Cross-examinations of law and literature
Subtitle: Cooper, Hawthorne, Stowe, and Melville
By: Brook Thomas.
Series: Cambridge studies in American literature and culture
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1987
Place of publication: Cambridge; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 300
Subjects: American fiction -- 19th century -- History and criticism.; Law in literature.; Law and literature.; Law -- United States -- History.
Description: Weaving together legal and literary history, Cross-examinations of law and literature focuses on one aspect of antebellum American culture: the unique relationship between law and literature. Thomas reads legal history through the lens of individual works of literature (Cooper's The Pioneers, Hawthorne's The House of Seven Gables, Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, and selected works by Melville), to show how the period's legal reasoning achieves much of its persuasive power. In his view, legal discourse relied on and helped to shape the narratives that many Americans constructed about the conflicts between the law of the heart and that of the head, between the private and public spheres, and between the individual and society (cover).
Notes: Bibliography: p. 256-291.
Includes index.