O romeo, romeo, wherefore art thou romeo why is it important

The story is about a book set up at Universal. The headline is incredibly frustrating. Wherefore isn’t a fancy way of saying where. It’s a fancy way of saying why or therefore:

As longtime readers will know, I’m generally not Mr. Stickler when it comes to word usage. I’ve gotten several terms wrong over the years, including “begging the question.” I fully understand that words change meaning over time as languages grow and adapt. English is particularly nimble in this regard, and that’s a good thing. English is not Latin.

So why my beef with “wherefore?”

Wherefore isn’t a modern word in any sense. Its only use is in lame callbacks to the balcony scene in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. So every time it’s misused as a synonym for “where,” the writer reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of the iconic scene.

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!

She’s not asking where he is. She’s asking why this hot guy she’s in love with has to be Romeo, a Montague, member of the rival gang. If we were writing that line now, it would be something like:

JULIET

O Romeo, Romeo, why must thou be Romeo?

But the where/wherefore mistake is so fundamentally entrenched that we now expect Juliet to be straining at the edge of the balcony, looking out in the night with hopes of seeing her true love. It sets up the idea that she knows he’s coming, that a rendezvous has been set. It changes the scene in fundamental ways.

I’m a realist: this fight will never be won. I’m certain I’ll go to my grave having just read a headline on the Mentalinet which makes the exact same mistake. I’m calling it out simply in hopes that some of my readers might join the fraternity of people who know that it’s wrong, and will bristle when they see it.

Speech: “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”

By William Shakespeare

(from Romeo and Juliet, spoken by 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.

‘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.

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More About this Poem

The literal meaning of 'O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?' would appear to be 'Where are you Romeo?'. In fact, using the meaning of wherefore that would have been commonplace in Shakespeare's day, the playright suggested the meaning of 'For what reason are you Romeo?'.

What's the origin of the phrase 'O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo'?

This is one of Shakespeare's best known lines - from, of course, Romeo and Juliet, 1592.

The 'wherefore' here means why rather than where. Juliet makes her speech from the balcony while Romeo stands unseen in the shadows beneath.

What Juliet is asking, in allusion to the feud between her Capulet family and Romeo's Montague clan, is 'Romeo, why are you a Montague?'. Their love is impossible because of their family names and she asks him to change his allegiance, or else she will change hers.

‘Wherefore art thou’ is one of Shakespeare’s most famous lines, spoken by Juliet in his Romeo and Juliet play. After meeting Romeo at the party her father has thrown to celebrate her engagement to Paris, Juliet goes up to her room. She steps out onto her balcony and, not being able to get the handsome young Romeo Montague out of her mind she sighs, and speaks her mind out loud.

She says:
“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art though 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.”

On first coming to that, most school students would think that she’s wondering where Romeo is. Their teachers often have to put them straight on that because ‘wherefore’ is one of those early modern English words that have been lost to us, but in this case it looks very much like a word we do use – ‘where.’ Hence the confusion.

Although Shakespeare’s language is not difficult to understand because it is so much like the English we speak today, some words have been lost or have evolved to mean something entirely different. For example, if Juliet or the nurse had referred to Romeo as a brave young man they would have meant that he was handsome or fine-looking. If they had talked about him as a knave they would have been saying that he is a little boy or a servant. There are many such words in Shakespeare but not enough to make his texts difficult to understand. The meaning is usually very clear when read in context.

However, ‘wherefore’ is a bit more difficult because it could be confusing. In Renaissance English ‘wherefore’ meant ‘why.’ So Juliet is saying “Why are you Romeo?”

This is an expression of Juliet’s fear that this newly awakened love will end in failure. There is an ancient feud going on in Verona between the Capulets and the Montagues. She is a Capulet and Romeo is a Montague. There is no way that any union between them could occur because the hostility between the two families is firmly established and the situation is unmovable.

Her fear of failure is well-founded because they go ahead with their love affair and actually get married. And, just as she fears, it results in failure.

In that speech Juliet is wishing Romeo is not Romeo Montague but that he had a different name. It wouldn’t matter what his name was as long as it wasn’t the name of Montague’s son. If the boy she has just fallen in love with were from any other family it would be fine. The implication of the feud is lying heavily on her, as it does throughout the play. In her view, if he changed his name, or, indeed, if she changed hers, they would still be the same people. “What’s in a name?” she says. “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” It’s not Romeo’s name that makes her love him, it’s the boy she has fallen for, regardless of his name. It’s such a pity that he’s a Montague. And so she sighs “why are you Romeo”

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Romeo and Juliet | Romeo and Juliet summary | Romeo and Juliet characters: Benvolio, Friar Laurence, Juliet, Mercutio, Queen Mab, Romeo, Tybalt, | Romeo and Juliet settings | Romeo and Juliet themes | Romeo and Juliet in modern English | Romeo and Juliet full text | Modern Romeo and Juliet ebook | Romeo and Juliet for kids ebooks | Romeo and Juliet quotes | Romeo and Juliet quote translations | Romeo and Juliet monologues | Romeo and Juliet soliloquies | Romeo and Juliet movies | Romeo and Juliet performance history

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