I love roses. Even when their lovely fragrance makes me sneeze, thorns rip at my arms, and there are tiny bugs all over them, I still love roses. They have a nice enough name, but if they were called something else, I would still love them.Obviously Shakespeare must have loved roses too. He wrote about them frequently, and with fondness. One of the most well-known of his quotes is from Romeo and Juliet.
What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. (Romeo & Juliet Act II, Sc. II)When his star-crossed lovers met and fell in love, the only difficulty they had with loving each other was their names. There is a nice summary of their situation at Dummies.com:
The famous balcony scene defines the fundamental problem in the play. Juliet asks, "O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" (2.2.33), or "Why is your name Romeo?" The only obstacle to their love is their names. If they had different names, they could marry and have kids, the play would be over before intermission, and everyone could go home early.