Why 'Wherefore Art Thou Romeo' Mean?

O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?

Because of the base word where, modern ears often interpret this line as asking the question: “Where are you, Romeo?” In fact, it’s asking, “Why are you Romeo?” The following line gives us a clue:

Deny thy father and refuse thy name.

Since what kept the lovers apart was their feuding families, they could be together without impediments if he had a different name. Why was he Romeo? (Indeed, a few lines later, Juliet asks, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet.”)
The fact is, adding prepositions to where was an unusually productive way to make words in English.
In these compounds, where meant “what” or “which,” so that, for example, whereon meant “on what” and wherein meant “in what”—and wherefore meant “for what,” or “why.” Shakespeare used it in other plays as well:

But wherefore do you droop? why look you sad?
—Shakespeare, King John, Act 5, Scene 1

Wherefore was I born?
—Shakespeare, Richard III, Act 2, Scene 3
If wherefore is distinctly archaic as an adverb, it continues to be used as a noun meaning “reason” (a synonym of why when used as a noun), and nearly always in the phrase (that we now understand to be perfectly redundant) “the whys and the wherefores.” The phrase goes back at least as far as 1640:

Ile have my celler lockt, no schoole kept there
Nor no discovery, Ile turne my drunkards,
Such as are understanding in their draughts,
And dispute learnedly the whyes and wherefores,
To grasse immediatly, Ile keep all fooles,
Sober or drunk, still fooles, that shall know nothing,
Nothing belongs to mankind, but obedience,
And such a hand ile keep over this husband.
—John Fletcher, Rule a Wife and Have a Wife, Act III, Scene 1

Now, should you ever have to pause to think about the word’s meaning when you encounter wherefore in a text, at least you’ll know why.

Comments

Do you know how the world was created?

The Indigenous people of Australia told a story of how everything on Earth was asleep. The Father of All Souls was the only one who had awakened and awakened Mother Sun. He commanded him to come down and give life to all forms of Earth, plants, insects, caves and everything else. The Father of All Souls was pleased with the work of Mother Sun. Later, this gave birth to two children, the Breakfast Star and the Moon. These were born children who would later become the offspring of mankind. The legend of Heliopolis This legend comes from ancient Egypt. He says that in the beginning, there was only one chaotic water called the Nun. The sun god Ra appeared from a lotus flower and gave light to the Universe. Ra created Shu, the god of the air, and Tefnut, the goddess of tame. These two gave birth to the goddess of heaven Nut and the god of Earth, Geb. From them the physical world took shape. The legend of the Maya In the Mayan culture, Tepe the creator and Gucumatzi, the feathered soul, cr...

This is the secret of the orientation of a traveling pigeon

Traveling pigeons have long served as long-distance secret messenger senders. Traveling pigeons were later replaced by other messaging tools, such as telex, telegram, and in the new era of telephone and internet. Pigeons have been sending messages, mostly messages written over very long distances, from one state to another. But how is it possible for a bird to know the correct orientation and find the address? The dove can fly without resting about 1000 km. It is not programmed like today's GPS through classic orientation. In whatever country you leave a pigeon it will still be reoriented to find the home, or just its owner. The main orientation of a pigeon is the sun, while its orientation becomes more difficult when there is no sun. Another important orientation is the magnetic fields. If you put a dove in a small iron and wooden lodge, the orientation will be easier when in the wooden house. It is assumed, according to some studies of American scientists, that the brain of a p...

Is the tattoo haram?

Answer: Praise be to Allah alone, praise and peace be upon Muhammad ... The tattoo is a permanent mark or drawing on the skin that is injected through the needles under the superficial layer of skin. Most often, "tattoo artists" use a hand machine that acts like a sewing machine, with one or more needles piercing the skin continuously. With each puncture, the needles release color. The health damages he can cause are many, such as allergic reactions, various skin infections and blood diseases, including hepatitis B, hepatitis C, tetanus and HIV, the AIDS-causing virus (AIDS). However, even if it were not the cause of those diseases, the tattoo is haram because it changes and interferes with the creation of Allah, who gave man the most beautiful form. Although tattooing is a growing fad, it is a primitive act that people have done in ancient times, while Islam forbade it from this ugly and not flattering act (in my opinion), hence the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sall...

Why?

Search This Blog