The Law and Literature

Because I stubbornly believe that it is not the artist's job to succumb to despair but to find an antidote to the emptiness of existence.  (Quote from Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris)

• Art 37(1), FC.Oedipus Rex, Sophocles. Jocasta, queen of Corinth, unwittingly marries her son Oedipus. (Marami pang pwede sa Oedipus Rex ni Sophocles. That guy is great.) For stories of incest in the Bible, see my notes sa Art 337 ng RPC.
• Art 37(2), FC. The Children of Hurin, JRR Tolkien. The titular characters, Turin and his sister Nienor, lived under a vengeful god's curse. Yada yada yada, they ended up getting married, and upon discovering their kinship, commit suicide. Bible: depende sa tradition na makakasalamuha natin, Abraham and Sarah are either half-siblings or first-degree cousins. 

• Art 114, RPC. Treason. Just hit the history books. 

• Art 117, RPC. Espionage. Hit the history books!

• Art 122, RPC. Piracy in general and mutiny x x x. Ahoy there, matey! Wala akong maisip na specific example.

• Art 134, RPC. Rebellion/Insurrection. HIT THE HISTORY BOOKS!

• Art 142, RPC. Inciting to Sedition. Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas, Aurelio Tolentino. Just ask me the plot and what happened when said play was staged. Mas obvious na sagot: Noli at Fili. 

• Art 246, RPC. Parricide. Oedipus Rex, Sophocles. Oedipus unwittingly kills his father, Laius, in what appears to be valid self-defense. So does penalty attach? (It's noteworthy that the original Athenian legend from which Sophocles based his tragedy did not state that there was any self-defense or any other exempting, mitigating, or justifying circumstances whatsoever.) 

• Art 247, RPC. Death Under Special Circumstances. "A Gentleman's Agreement," isang Filipino short story na medyo contemporary lang, but for the life of me hindi ko na maalala yung author. Story goes like this: Husband kills unfaithful Wife thru poison then hires wife's Paramour, an attorney, to represent him in court. Come to think of it, parricide to, hindi to kasama sa Art 247, dahil hindi naman nahuli ni Husband si Paramour at Wife. Totoong halimbawa: Blood Wedding ni Lorca, a brilliant Spanish playwright. Bride marries Groom, then elopes with her Former Lover, has sex with him in the forest, Groom catches them, Groom and Former Lover duel to the death. Actually kung nabuhay si Groom pwede niyang i-avail ang Art 247. So talagang wala akong example ng Art 247.

• Art 248, lahat ng circumstances except (2), (3) at (4). Murder. "The Cask of Amontillado," Edgar Allan Poe. 1. May means to weaken the defense nung pinatay ni Montresor si Fortunato, given that nilasing muna niya ang biktima. 5. Kung di ba naman evident premeditation yung buong plot ay hindi ko na alam kung ano 'yon. 6. Kung hindi ba naman "inhumanly augmenting the suffering of the victim" maituturing ang paglibing ng buhay kay Fortunato, ewan ko na lang kung ano 'yon.  Interestingly, Montresor tells the tale of how he murdered Fortunato only after fifty years, so nag-prescribe na 'yung crime. Wahaha. 

• Art 253. Giving Assistance to Suicide. Most, if not all, samurai stories have this. 'Eto ang favorite ko. Shogun by James Clavell. Half the samurai mentioned in that story committed hara-kiri, and being samurai, they had seconds who had the honor of chopping off their heads. 

• Art 255. Infanticide.  Marami 'yan, di ko lang maalala at this point. 

• Art 260. Responsibility of Participants to a Duel. The Three Musketeers ni Alexandre Dumas (pere). And basically every other story na may gentlemen who prefer to settle things over sabres or pistols. (May conspiracy din siguro na contemplated sa "One for all, all for one!")

• Art 261. Challenging to a Duel. See immediately preceding entry. 

• Art. 262. Mutilation, first paragraph. Basically what people did, centuries ago, to keep boys' voices abnormally beautiful, ethereal, and high-pitched. On the other side of the globe, basically what courtiers did centuries ago, if they happened to serve in court or in kings' harems. 

• Art 266-A and B. Rape. Naku kalurki. 

• Art 272. Slavery. Genesis. Nung binenta ng mga kapatid ni Jose si Jose sa mga taga-Ehipto. Yada yada yada. Also, Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind. And basically every story that features a negro slave of a Caucasian master. The list goes on. 

• Art 275 (3). Abandoning of Persons in danger x x x; 3. Abandoned Child under Seven Years. The Silmarillion, JRR Tolkien. Somewhere in that Old Testament-esque tale tells the story of the cruel warriors who, after killing King Dior of Doriath, left his two infant sons to starve in the forest.

• Ar 278 (1), (3), at (5). Exploitation of Minors. Sans Famille, Hector Malote. Maybe some of us remember a 90s cartoon called "Remi" whose titular character is sold by his adoptive father to a gypsy vagrant. May nobela yon at kasalanan ng nobelang iyon kung bakit ako naging literature major and hence, a law student. UNBROKEN CHAIN OF EVENTS YAN. Wahaha. Sans Familleliterally means "no family" or "without a family" sa napakahirap bigkasing wikang Pranses.

• Art 311. Theft of Property of the National Library and National Museum. Gusto ko actually 'tong gawin, pero bawal. Wahaha. 

More to come pag sinipag ako. Wahaha.