Identity In Romeo And Juliet

What’s In a Name?

When people think of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the rivalry between families that acts as the main conflict often comes to mind. Due to this rivalry, identity, whether it is by name or by family, becomes a major theme in the play. A name is something that defines a person, something that they carry with them through their entire life, and the same goes for a family name, along with it’s history. If a person’s name were to be changed, a question is brought to the surface to determine whether or not that person’s characteristics will change as well. This question about identity and others like it are often brought up for discussion during various scenes in Romeo and Juliet and plays a huge role in the decisions of the characters along with the overall outcome of the play, which is why personal identity is such an important theme.

One of the most apparent uses of identity within the play also happens to be one of Shakespeare’s most famous lines during one of the most famous scenes in Romeo and Juliet.

When speaking to each other alone for the first time, Juliet asks, “wherefore art thou Romeo” (2.2.36). This is Juliet basically asking why he is called his name, Romeo Montague, because this silly name is preventing them from being together. Because there had been generations of hate between both of their families, the actual names of the two made the situation for them involve so much hardship. Something as simple a name, defining someone’s identity, can be the breaking point between long lasting love or

loneliness.
During another scene in the play earlier on, a fight had broken out between the Capulets and Montagues even before Romeo and Juliet had met. During the fight, Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, yelled, “As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee” (1.1.72). As Tybalt clearly states, his fight broke out simply because of the last names of a group of men. Because these men couldn’t refrain from fighting just because of the identity defining them, the entire city of Verona realized that they had enough of the fighting and went to the Prince, changing the events of the play. Identity is a huge part in what makes the play so violent and is the main reason for many of the events that occur. Because most of the characters as well as the time period the play is set in cannot seem to grasp that a name doesn’t make a person who they are, the struggle of identity is a major theme in the play.