At a time when the rule of law is being reshaped and, in certain respects, even severely distorted, this volume examines the ways in which literature both legitimises the principles underlying the present rule of law and anticipates assumptions that take shape before new ideas are publicly felt or articulated within legal discourse. Literary acts of agency thus contribute to a reconfi guration of the legal sphere, advancing arguments through an aesthetic form that remains closely connected to broader social and cultural practices. Rather than approaching literature merely as a vehicle of ruling ideology or as a moral signpost for future legal developments, this volume considers how literary texts negotiate the interval between the rule of law as an ideal and how it is enacted in practice.