The line is used by Juliet as she’s standing on her balcony, considering her situation with Romeo and the feud their families have been engaged in for years.
Interestingly, there are several other versions of this quote in different printings of Shakespeare’s plays. For example:
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose,
By any other name would smell as sweet.
Today, the quote can be found in any essay about the young lovers’ plight as well as in numerous film and television adaptions of the story. It’s not uncommon to hear the quote in everyday life as well. It’s so well-known that it has become somewhat of a cliché.
Explore What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet
- 1 “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”Meaning
- 2 Where Did Shakespeare Use This Quote?
- 3 Why Did Shakespeare Use This Quote?
- 4 FAQs
- 5 Other Resources
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”Meaning
The quote is spoken as a way of alluding to the feud between the two families.
Their names are what is separating them, and, as Juliet proves in the quote, names don’t really mean anything. They can change, and the person will still be who they were before. The idea of intermarriage between Romeo and Juliet is incredibly taboo, and Juliet mourns that fact through this logical argument on her balcony.
Where Did Shakespeare Use This Quote?
This quote appears in Act II, Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet. This famed tragedy contains some of Shakespeare’s best-known quotes. This one is spoken by Juliet while standing on the balcony. As part of the famous balcony scene, these lines are commonly quoted, seriously or humorously, in similar circ*mstances. The lines are spoken to herself, but they are overheard by Romeo, who is standing nearby. Here is the quote in context:
’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. O, be some other name
Belonging to a man.
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet.
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And, for thy name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.
Juliet is at her father’s party and thinks that Romeo has gone home. He’s lingering in the garden and watching the young girl on her balcony. She leaves her room, stands on the balcony, and speaks these words, she thinks, to herself. But, he hears her and comes out, and they begin an interaction.
Within these lines, Juliet says that names do not make something that it is. Even if a rose had a different name other than “rose,” it would still be the same flower. Juliet makes a profound observation about the nature of names in these lines, and Romeo hears her wisdom.
The rose is used as a metaphor for the names that Juliet and her love interest have themselves. Even if Romeo had a different name, he’d still be Romeo. The name does not change him. This is meant to provide evidence in support of ending or breaking the feud between their families.
Romeo responds to Juliet’s ideas about names and meaning with the following lines:
I take thee at thy word.
Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized.
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.
He makes a romantic, metaphorical gesture, suggesting that he’s going to throw away his name and be nothing to her but her “love.” He’ll be baptized in this new role. Later, after being reprimanded by Juliet for spying on her, he reveals that he does not know how to “tell thee who I am.” He says that his name is “hateful to myself” because it is an enemy to Juliet.
Why Did Shakespeare Use This Quote?
Shakespeare used this quote within Romeo and Juliet as a way of asking readers and audience members to consider the meaning, or lack thereof, of names. What role do names play in everyday life, and what power do they have? For Romeo and Juliet, names are, unfortunately, significant. It is because of the names the two have that they can’t marry and end up losing their lives. All for a name, the two young lovers lose their lives, something that the families mourn at the end of the play.
FAQs
Who says, “A Rose by any other name would still smell as sweet?”
This quote appears in Romeo and Juliet and is spoken by the latter. She speaks it, she thinks, to herself during the balcony scene. But, Romeo is in her garden, listening to her monologue.
How does Juliet show her maturity?
Juliet shows her maturity several times throughout the play including in the balcony scene as she analyzes the meaning of names and the importance they actually hold.
What did Shakespeare mean by “what’s in a name?”
The speaker, Juliet, is considering what is truly in a name. What control, she wonders, does it have over the object or person it’s attached to? She deduces that it has no real control, only that which people are willing to give to it.
Other Resources
FAQs
Within these lines, Juliet says that names do not make something that it is. Even if a rose had a different name other than “rose,” it would still be the same flower. Juliet makes a profound observation about the nature of names in these lines, and Romeo hears her wisdom.
What is the meaning of a rose by any other name would smell as sweet? ›
A quote from Shakespeare “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” has important meaning which applies to the everyday life of all humans. This quote suggest that a name is just a label to distinguish one thing from another.
What does Juliet mean when she says what's in a name that we call a rose? ›
“What's in a name? That which we call a rose/ By any other name would smell as sweet.” This is Juliet's line when she is telling Rome that a name is nothing but a name and it is hence a convention with no meaning behind it.
What literary device is that which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet? ›
Example: Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet uses analogy in the infamous balcony scene when Juliet compares a name to a rose saying, “What's in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other word would smell as sweet./So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called” (2.2.
Which of Shakespeare's characters says a rose by any other name would smell as sweet? ›
“What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Shakespeare's Juliet declares her indifference to the rival family name of her lover, Romeo.
What is the symbolism in a sweet smell of roses? ›
Equality can't be yours.” Innocence immediately comes to mind, especially when viewing the girl's faces, which show confused sadness, rather than the anger that clearly reflects on many of the faces of the marchers. Even the sweet smell of the roses seems to stand as a testament to innocence.
What is a negative sentence for the rose by any other name would smell as sweet? ›
No rose by any other name would smell as sweet. A rose by any other name wouldn't smell as sweet.
What point is Juliet making when she says a rose by any other name would smell as sweet? ›
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" is a popular adage from William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, in which Juliet seems to argue that it does not matter that Romeo is from her family's rival house of Montague. The reference is used to state that the names of things do not affect what they really are.
What does the Juliet rose symbolize? ›
Roses' conventional positive associations with love, beauty and sweetness are familiar to all and border on the cliché. Shakespeare also used the rose to convey the painful side of love and the passing of time. In Juliet's lament on love, the rose is a metaphor for the darker aspect of love.
What is the article in the rose smells sweet? ›
'A' and 'an' are the indefinite articles and 'the' is the definite article. In the given statement, 'the' is used before the noun 'rose'. Therefore, this statement is true. The rose smells sweet.
Stop and smell the roses. (idiomatic) To relax; to take time out of one's busy schedule to enjoy or appreciate the beauty of life. To stop and smell the roses means intentionally slowing down, lifting your eyes, and paying attention.
What does smell like a rose mean? ›
idiom. informal. : to have success or good fortune in a situation in which one was likely to fail, be harmed, etc. The scandal forced several board members to resign, but the chairman came out smelling like a rose.
What's in a name that which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet 2.2 43 44? ›
She is essentially saying that even if a rose was called something else it would retain its characteristics such as, for example, its sweet smell. She emphasizes that the name of something does not change its nature. Juliet makes this remark in Act 2, scene 2.
What does reading a rose by any other name would smell as sweet? ›
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” means that you can call a rose anything else and it would still retain what makes it what we currently know as a rose. Your name is Romeo, Juliet declares, and if your name was anything else you would still be the person I love.
Does rose smell ___ sweet sweetly? ›
The rose smell sweet.
Sweet is the correct adjective to be used here as it depicts smell of the rose.
What does the rose symbolize in Shakespeare? ›
By successfully employing the rose imagery, Shakespeare extols the virtues of love, beauty and youth, displays his faith in the immortality of his verse. The rose imagery in Shakespeare's sonnets helps readers appreciate and cherish the beauty and youth, love and truth all the time.
What does rose scent symbolize? ›
The smelling of roses, being a refined and exquisite sensation, may be the equivalent of a highly-spiritual and, likewise, exquisite experience. Or it may be the spiritual compensation for a painful spiritual experience.
What does the rose symbolize in Romeo and Juliet? ›
Romeo and Juliet (1595)
That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” this famous quote from Romeo and Juliet means a lot of things: rose symbolizes beauty, love, and passion, but the thorns are a reminder that love can also be painful: their love that was symbolized by the rose, kills them both.
What does the idiom smell the roses mean? ›
Stop and smell the roses. (idiomatic) To relax; to take time out of one's busy schedule to enjoy or appreciate the beauty of life. To stop and smell the roses means intentionally slowing down, lifting your eyes, and paying attention.
What does it mean when someone says you smell like roses? ›
: to have success or good fortune in a situation in which one was likely to fail, be harmed, etc. The scandal forced several board members to resign, but the chairman came out smelling like roses.
