Key Quote
“"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet"”
Juliet · Act 2, Scene 2
Focus: “word”
Juliet's philosophical argument — that names are arbitrary labels, not essential truths — challenges the feudal identity system that makes their love forbidden.
Technique 1 — RHETORICAL QUESTION / PHILOSOPHICAL ARGUMENT
Juliet's rhetorical question (a question posed for effect rather than an answer) opens a genuinely philosophical argument about the relationship between language and reality. She distinguishes between signifier (the word 'Montague') and signified (the person Romeo) — arguing that the label does not define the essence. This is intellectually sophisticated reasoning for a 13-year-old, positioning Juliet as the play's most rational voice.
The analogy (comparison to illustrate a point) of the rose is elegantly persuasive: a rose's fragrance exists independently of its name. Juliet extends this logic to argue that Romeo's essential worth exists independently of his family name. But Shakespeare creates tragic irony: in Verona, names DO matter — they determine life and death.
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RAD — PROGRESS
Juliet demonstrates remarkable intellectual progression: while Romeo expresses love through poetic imagery, Juliet analyses the social structures that oppose them. She is not merely emotional but analytical (systematically examining the problem), attempting to reason her way past the feud. This positions her as the relationship's thinker — more practically intelligent than Romeo.
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Technique 2 — DRAMATIC IRONY / TRAGIC FUTILITY
Juliet's argument is intellectually compelling (convincingly forceful) but socially futile (incapable of producing results): in her world, names determine everything — who you marry, who you fight, who kills you. The dramatic irony is devastating: the audience knows that the lovers' attempt to transcend their names will fail, making Juliet's beautiful logic a prelude to tragedy rather than a solution.
The speech also reveals Juliet's naivety: she believes that love can exist outside social structures, that two people can simply rename themselves and escape. Shakespeare presents this as both deeply admirable and tragically mistaken — the idealism of youth colliding with the immovable machinery of feudal society.
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Context (AO3)
PATRILINEAL IDENTITY
In Elizabethan England, identity was patrilineal (inherited through the father's line): your surname determined your social position, alliances, and enemies. Juliet's attempt to separate Romeo from his name challenges the entire structure of feudal (relating to the medieval system of lords and vassals) identity — a revolutionary act within her society.
WOMEN & NAMING
Women in Elizabethan society changed their names upon marriage, moving from father's to husband's identity. Juliet's meditation on names carries a gendered dimension: as a woman, she understands that names are imposed (forced upon someone) rather than chosen. Her challenge to naming is implicitly a challenge to patriarchal control.
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WOW — NOMINALISM vs ESSENTIALISM (Saussure / Derrida)
Juliet's argument anticipates the linguistic theory of Ferdinand de Saussure: the relationship between signifier (word) and signified (thing) is arbitrary (based on convention, not natural connection). A rose by any other name WOULD smell as sweet because names are social constructions, not natural truths. But Derrida would add a complication: we cannot escape language. Even Juliet's attempt to look past names requires language to articulate — she uses words to argue against the power of words. Shakespeare dramatises this philosophical paradox: the lovers' tragedy is that they understand the arbitrariness of names but live in a world that treats names as absolute. Knowledge of the constructed nature of social categories does not automatically free you from their power.
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