Romeo, Juliet and philosophy

[Aankh]

This is a very silly question, but it has puzzled me for ages, and I would really appreciate an answer.

In Act 2 Scene II of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet utters those famous lines:

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?

Now, if you check the dictionary, you will find that ‘wherefore’ means ‘why’.

So, please explain to me why an infatuated teenage girl is asking her boyfriend complex, metaphysical questions such as “O Romeo, Romeo! Why are you Romeo?” instead of making out with him in the backseat of yon horse-drawn carriage? I mean, the meaning of life is fun and all, but surely not that important on a moonlit night?

[Tusculan]

Yes it is.

A more serious WAG: she’s not asking a philosophical question but venting her frustration at the odd chance that her true love happens to belong to the wrong family. Like people saying: ‘why am I not rich and pretty?’, ‘why doesn’t she love me?’, ‘why is the SDMB so slow?’

[Aankh]

Oh, of course! :smack:
The Case of the Missing Comma!

She says “Wherefore art thou Romeo”, not “Wherefore art thou, Romeo”. Thank you very much, Tusculan.

puts on the dunce hat and sits in the corner

[Aankh]

In my defence, though, she would have made more sense had she said “Wherefore art thou Montague?”

[constantine]

*Originally posted by Tusculan *
**Yes it is.

A more serious WAG: she’s not asking a philosophical question but venting her frustration at the odd chance that her true love happens to belong to the wrong family. Like people saying: ‘why am I not rich and pretty?’, ‘why doesn’t she love me?’, ‘why is the SDMB so slow?’ **

I think Tusculan has it exactly right. (See this site)
Here’s a longer passage:

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.

Remember first of all that at this point in the scene, Juliet is not even aware Romeo is there. She thinks she’s just by herself on her balcony.

Furthermore she is talking to herself (with Romeo overhearing), not about a metaphysical issue (or at least not a purely or even primarily metaphysical issue) but a concrete immediate problem: she’s in love with the son of her father’s sworn enemy.

In other words, it’s only his name that’s the problem:"'Tis but thy name that is my enemy"–it’s nothing fundamental about him. If he only had a different name, everything would be fine. He would “Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title.”

Don’t want to spoil the surprise but

the relationship doesn’t work out

[Dizzy_Fingers]

*Originally posted by aasna *
**In my defence, though, she would have made more sense had she said “Wherefore art thou Montague?” **

“For never was there a greater feud
Than that between Capulet and Montague. . . d.”

• “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged”

[athelas]

Whooshed is me.