Question

Explain Juliet's soliloquy about the importance of names. a) Juliet believes that names are meaningless. b) Juliet expresses the idea that names can't define love. c) Juliet emphasizes the significance of her own name. d) Juliet argues that names determine a person's character.

Answer 1

Juliet's soliloquy in Romeo and Juliet confronts the importance of names. She argues that names don't define the inherent qualities of people or things, nor does a name determine the validity of love.

Step-by-step explanation:

In Juliet's soliloquy in Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare explores the idea that names are essentially meaningless. Juliet expresses this idea when she says 'What's in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.' (II, ii, 43-44). In this, she is suggesting that the names we give things do not change their inherent characteristics. She is challenging the idea that her love for Romeo is wrong simply because he is a Montague, arguing that his family name does not define him as a person or determine their love.

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