Justice through women’s eyes: a journey through literature, theatre, opera and jurisprudence, concluding with a meeting with the First President of the Court of Cassation.

A journey through literature, theatre, opera and jurisprudence to examine, from different perspectives, the relationship between women and justice. This is the focus of the series of meetings ‘Justice through women’s eyes’, promoted as part of the PhD programme in Law and Human Sciences at the University of Insubria and curated by Professors Gianmarco Gaspari and Barbara Pozzo.

The programme features a series of events with University lecturers which, starting from some of the great “trials” of the classical and modern tradition – from Aeschylus’ Eumenides to the figures of Antigone and Medea, through to Portia in The Merchant of Venice and twentieth-century narratives – highlights how justice is represented, discussed and “enacted” through female characters, institutional roles and moral dilemmas.

The meetings will mainly take place in the Aula Magna in via Sant’Abbondio, Como, and will conclude with a special event at the ‘Paolo Borsellino’ Municipal Library, with the participation of the First President of the Court of Cassation, Margherita Cassano.

The series opens on 6 March with Dominique Feola and the meeting ‘Athens, 458 BC: a trial for matricide – reflections on Aeschylus’ Eumenides’. On 16 March, the programme continues with ‘The Antigones: from Sophocles to Anouilh’, featuring contributions from Michele Saporiti and Chiara Perini. On 26 March, the focus will be on ‘Medea: from Euripides to Pier Paolo Pasolini’, with a presentation by Paola Biavaschi.

On 20 April, the series resumes with ‘The representation of Justice in opera’, led by Geo Magri. On 28 April, the spotlight turns to Shakespeare with ‘Portia’s justice in The Merchant of Venice’ and a contribution from Barbara Pozzo. On 11 May, attention shifts to Susan Glaspell and ‘A Jury of her Peers’, with a presentation by Valentina Jacometti.

On 18 May, the meeting dedicated to Daphne Du Maurier, ‘My Cousin Rachel’, will be led by Arianna Visconti from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan. The series closes on 19 May with Margherita Cassano and the event ‘Ian McEwan: The Children Act’.