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?’.
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.
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.
See other phrases and sayings from Shakespeare.
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