"What's In a Name" by William Shakespeare

YoHf:

This is one of the parts from "Juliet and Romeo" that I like most...

Juliet.
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.

Romeo.
[Aside.] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?

Juliet.
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;--
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title:--Romeo, doff thy name;
And for that name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.

Romeo.
I take thee at thy word:
Call me but love, and I'll be new baptiz'd;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.

Juliet.
What man art thou that, thus bescreen'd in night,
So stumblest on my counsel?

Romeo.
By a name
I know not how to tell thee who I am:
My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself,
Because it is an enemy to thee.
Had I it written, I would tear the word.

Juliet.
My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words
Of that tongue's utterance, yet I know the sound;
Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?

Romeo.
Neither, fair saint, if either thee dislike.

Juliet.
How cam'st thou hither, tell me, and wherefore?
The orchard walls are high and hard to climb;
And the place death, considering who thou art,
If any of my kinsmen find thee here.

Romeo.
With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls;
For stony limits cannot hold love out:
And what love can do, that dares love attempt;
Therefore thy kinsmen are no let to me.

Senior Member3,347

Anonymous:

"Life ain't easy for a boy named Sue" -Johnny Cash

Though "name" is a difficult to define word, the best I could make is "a word that a person is called by".

Mainly a name is verbal, "John, Juan, or Jean", other times it can be an action, as in ASL names.

They are used to identify a person. When the boy named Sue is "called", the image of a girl is conjured and a rebuttal must be made from the boy to define himself in their head... OR he must learn to deal with the fact that he is thought of as a girl. Would this turn him into a recluse?

Shakespeare discusses a rose having its name changed, but it is an inanimate object, unaffected by social influence.

I could continue with my mental rabbit hole, but I'll let other users pick up from here.

"What's In a Name" by William Shakespeare

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