Romeo, Romeo...

Original Text:
JULIET O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?Deny thy father and refuse thy name;Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,And I'll no longer be a Capulet.

ROMEO [Aside] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?

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 partBelonging to a man. O, be some other name!What's in a name? that which we call a roseBy any other name would smell as sweet;So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,Retain that dear perfection which he owesWithout that title. Romeo, doff thy name,And for that name which is no part of theeTake all myself.

My half-ixed attempt at modernizing it.
JULIET: O Romeo, Romeo! why must you be Romeo? Deny your father and refuse your name; Or, if you will not, just be sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet.

ROMEO: (aside) Should I hear more, or should I speak at this?

JULIET: It's just your name that it my enemy; Your are yourself, though not a Montague. What's Montague? It's not a hand, or foot, or arm, or face, or 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; And so would Romeo, without his name, Keep all the dear senses of his being. O, Romeo, lose your name, And for that name which is no part of you Take all of me.

In response to Johnny D's comment: is there anything lost between the two? (I'm not even going to try Hamlet...)



I am a huge huge fan of the Animated Tlaes series the BBC and HBO released almost 2 decades ago. using Shakespeare's language, Leon Garfield abbreviated 12 plays down to 25 minutes each and Master Russian Animators took their talents to them. If you haven't seen one, click around youtube where fanatics like me have posted videos.
Tell me what you think!