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The meaning and origin of the expression: O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?

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

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 meaning and origin of the phrase 'Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?''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.

The meaning and origin of the phrase 'Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo'See other phrases and sayings from Shakespeare.

Gary Martin - the author of the phrases.org.uk website.

By Gary Martin

Gary Martin is a writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

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