morss-rosencrantzand-2004.pdf (858.64 kB)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are nevertheless dead: the hypothetical adolescence of Prince Hamlet and the contested remorselessness of young offenders
A young man stabs a defenceless elderly man to death, and remarks “I’ll lug the guts into the neighbour room.” Martha Grace Duncan has argued that such apparent remorselessness and other forensic features must be interpreted differently in children and young people as compared to adult defendants, because of developmental effects. Professor Duncan discusses a range of fictional as well as real examples in pressing her claim, and also appeals to psychiatric, psychological and psychoanalytic expertise. In order to examine the general validity of her argument, it is hypothesised here that a Duncanian adolescence defense has been presented for Prince Hamlet who, miraculously revived, now stands his trial for murder. It is argued that the “adolescence defense” is unsound in principle and that children and youth (whether or not as superannuated as the Prince of Denmark) should be treated in the same forensic manner as adults. If we respect children and youth, we must respect their autonomy however uncomfortable for us this may be: “So young, my lord, and true.”
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University of New England law journalVolume
1Issue
2Pagination
187 - 197Publisher
University of New EnglandLocation
Armidale, N.S.W.ISSN
1449-2199Language
engPublication classification
C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2004, University of New EnglandUsage metrics
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