Why was Mistress Agnes Released from Prison?

A possible solution for a 168-year-old mystery of literature in the aspect of law

Abstract

The ballad about Mistress Agnes [Ágnes asszony] was written in 1853 by János Arany, focusing on the relation of crime and punishment, which was mostly analyzed on the basis of literature and law. In my present study, I am making an attempt to solve the 168-yearold mystery through jurisprudence why the wise court of law discharged Mistress Agnes. Some lawyers endeavored to answer this question, but either some circumstances have been mistakenly considered to be obstacles of punishability, or they simply hesitated to announce the final verdict, thus as a result the case was explained by divine justice. The sin committed by Mistress Agnes deserves its consequences in the ballad by János Arany, however, the essential component is what we call her to account for. No doubt, the sin is different from the law-breaking and it is also unlikely that the only aim of the ballad is to describe a crime. However, if the beginning and the middle of a criminal procedure can be justified in the author’s work, there must exist a logical answer for the question why the defendant was discharged in the final phase.