VOA标准英语2011--Law Professor Turns to Shakespeare for I

Law Professor Turns to Shakespeare for Insights into Justice

William Shakespeare is celebrated¹ for his insight into human nature, but one law professor says the playwright² also had great insight into questions of justice.
Author Kenji Yoshino explores what lawyers and law students can learn from the bard³ in his recent book, "A Thousand Times More Fair: What Shakespeare's Plays Teach Us About Justice."
How important should empathy be for a judge? What about commitment to the rule of law? The question was raised in the 2009 confirmation⁴ hearings of Supreme⁵ Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
"We're not robots, to listen to evidence and don't have feelings," Sotomayer said at the time. "We have to recognize those feelings and put them aside."
Eliminating extremes
Kenji Yoshino, a professor of constitutional law at New York University, says Shakespeare examined these questions 400 years ago in his play "Measure for Measure."
According to Yoshino, two officials in the play represent opposite approaches. The first is governed by empathy and mercy.
"That notion of judging is represented by the Duke Vicentio at the beginning of the play," he says. "And what Vicentio's problem is that he's so merciful that the state sinks into anarchy⁶."
Lord Angelo, the judge who takes over in Vicentio's absence, enforces the law strictly⁷, without mercy.
As the plot unfolds, both approaches are shown to be wrong, says Yoshino.
"And I want to say, look, Shakespeare got there first and he eliminated both of these extremes. He showed that the first extreme is dangerous because it leads to too much mercy. Mercy in an individual is a wonderful thing, but mercy on the part of a governmental actor can be a very dangerous thing."
Rigid⁸ enforcement
Shakespeare, he says, understood that rigid enforcement of the law irrespective of circumstances is also unjust.
"So what we're looking for is jurists...who are able to balance the claims of empathy against the claims of the rule of law and can find that middle path."
Yoshino says Shakespeare dealt with questions of justice in many of his plays. He notes that in Elizabethan England, when the playwright was writing, the modern state and the rule of law were evolving.
In "Othello," for example, Iago convinces Othello that his wife has been unfaithful. The charge is based on the fact that she no longer has a handkerchief Othello gave her as a token of his love. What Othello doesn't know is that Iago asked his own wife to steal the handkerchief.
"Villain⁹, be sure thou prove my love a whore;
Be sure of it; give me the ocular proof:
Or by the worth of man's eternal soul,
Thou hadst been better have been born a dog
Than answer my waked wrath¹⁰!"
Seeing is believing
"Shakespeare calls this a problem of ocular proof, the idea that we need to see evidence before we believe in it and that, oftentimes, when metaphysical questions of guilt¹¹ or innocence¹² are difficult for us to answer, we have a tendency to reduce them to questions that pertain¹³ to physical evidence. So when we can't measure what's important, we make important what we can measure."
Yoshino believes this happened during the 1995 murder trial of O.J. Simpson, a former football star accused of killing¹⁴ his ex-wife and her friend in a jealous rage. Defense¹⁵ lawyer Johnnie Cochran faced what seemed like overwhelming evidence of Simpson's guilt. But the lawyer showed the jury a glove left at the crime scene and demonstrated that it appeared not to fit Simpson's hand.
Cochran repeated over and over. "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit¹⁶."
The jury acquitted¹⁷ Simpson. Several jurors later said the glove persuaded them.
Yoshino says the play that deals most directly with the law is "The Merchant of Venice." A dramatic courtroom trial determines if the money-lender Shylock can take a pound of flesh from the borrower Antonio, who defaulted on a loan. The use of human flesh as collateral¹⁸ is central to the story, and the court must decide if the contract can be enforced, even though it would result in Antonio's death.
"The quality of mercy is not strain'd
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath; it is twice blest; "
Insight into human conflict
The play's meaning is debated to this day. Yoshino says his students benefit from reading Shakespeare.
"Law students continuously surprise me in their capacity to respond to the humanities, and...when I teach my courses in law and literature, it is really seen as a healing or a recuperative experience both for the students and for me because I think that what a legal education does, to paraphrase¹⁹ another author, is that it sharpens the mind by narrowing it."
Yoshino says the narrow focus helps students isolate²⁰ relevant facts but it's incomplete. That's where literature helps, he says, and no one has more insight into human conflict than William Shakespeare.
"He just had such a deep knowledge both of human nature and of its various varieties. You can really populate an entire commonwealth²¹ with characters from Shakespeare's plays."
And fill a whole case book on the law as well.

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

3 bard   

n.吟游诗人

参考例句：

• I'll use my bard song to help you concentrate!我会用我的吟游诗人歌曲帮你集中精神！
• I find him,the wandering grey bard.我发现了正在徘徊的衰老游唱诗人。

4 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 anarchy   

n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• There would be anarchy if we had no police.要是没有警察，社会就会无法无天。
• The country was thrown into a state of anarchy.这国家那时一下子陷入无政府状态。

7 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

8 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

9 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

10 wrath   

n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒

参考例句：

• His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
• The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。

11 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

12 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

13 pertain   

v.(to)附属，从属；关于；有关；适合，相称

参考例句：

• His remark did not pertain to the question.他的话同这个问题不相干。
• It does not pertain to you to instruct him.你不适合教训他。

14 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

15 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

16 acquit   

vt.宣判无罪；(oneself)使(自己)表现出

参考例句：

• That fact decided the judge to acquit him.那个事实使法官判他无罪。
• They always acquit themselves of their duty very well.他们总是很好地履行自己的职责。

17 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

18 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

19 paraphrase   

vt.将…释义，改写；n.释义，意义

参考例句：

• You may read the prose paraphrase of this poem.你可以看一下这首诗的散文释义。
• Paraphrase the following sentences or parts of sentences using your own words.用你自己的话解释下面的句子或句子的一部分。

20 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

21 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。