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human-identity
The legal case centers on the question of what defines humanity, culminating in a court ruling affirming Starhouse's human status.
1 chapter across 1 book
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (2004)Susanna Clarke
4. Tubbs versus Starhouse: a famous case brought before the Quarter Sessions at Nottingham a few years ago.
The chapter recounts the story of Mr. Tubbs, a Nottinghamshire man obsessed with seeing a fairy, who becomes convinced that his coachman, Jack Starhouse, is a fairy. Despite Starhouse's protests of humanity, Tubbs's suspicion leads to Starhouse's dismissal and a subsequent legal case where Starhouse is declared human under English law. The episode ends unhappily for both men, illustrating the persistent belief in fairies in England and the social consequences of such beliefs.