Juliet’s Call to Transcend the Name

This passage from Romeo and Juliet captures a moment of divine intimacy, where Juliet—almost angelic in her vision—calls Romeo toward a higher, sacred union. She sees through the illusion of names, questioning what it truly means to be. “Montague” is not Romeo’s essence—it is not his hand, nor foot, nor any part belonging to a man. To her, identity is not rooted in the body or family, but in the spirit. Juliet invites Romeo into a kind of spiritual marriage, where the soul sheds its worldly name and takes on love as its new form. In response, Romeo accepts. If he is to receive all of Juliet—if he is to be united with her in total love—he must cast off his name, his old self, and be reborn. In this act of surrender, he becomes newly baptized, and Romeo as he was will no longer exist:

JULIET

‘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.

ROMEO

I take thee at thy word:
Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.