What's in a Name?
Juliet Capulet’s speech in Act 2, Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s most famous
speeches. In Julius Caesar, Cassius muses on the very same point that Juliet ponders: What’s in a name?
The two characters, however, come to opposite conclusions. Evaluate their reasoning below.
1. Line by line, summarize what each character is saying in your own words.
2. Complete the graphic organizers for each speech.
Juliet
Romeo and Juliet Act 2, Scene 2
‘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, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.
Juliet's major claim: ______________________________________________________________
Supporting
Claim/Argument
The speaker's explicit
evidence and reasons
The speaker's
inferences
Cassius
Act 1, Scene 2
Brutus and Caesar: what should be in that ‘Caesar’?
Why should that name be sounded more than yours?
Write them together, yours is as fair a name;
Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well;
Weigh them, it is as heavy; conjure with ‘em,
Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Caesar.
Now, in the names of all the gods at once,
Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed,
That he is grown so great? Age, thou art shamed
Your conclusion
Cassius's major claim: ______________________________________________________________
Supporting
Claim/Argument
The speaker's explicit
evidence and reasons
The speaker's
inferences
Your conclusion
Compare and contrast Juliet's and Cassius's major arguments and their development. How does each
argument affect the overall meaning of the text?