"Thy name that is my enemy": the political and the distribution of the sensible regarding names in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Abstract

From the standpoint of a materialistic enunciation semantics, taking into account some principles from French discourse analysis, this article aimed to contrast the meanings of name per a character in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (1597) with the conceptualization of name per Guimarães (2002). In order to understand how proper names of people function within the play’s fictional world, I relied on materialistic assumptions about enunciation and meaning as developed by Pêcheux ([1975] 1995), Guimarães (1989) and Orlandi (1990, [1999] 2007). Furthermore, I sought to contemplate name bestowal in its political aspect as related to Rancière’s (2000) concept of distribution of the sensible, which, to a certain degree, partakes of the same materialistic assumptions about enunciation and meaning that can be found in Guimarães’ Event Semantics theory. The goal was, based on the combination of these theoretical propositions, to ponder on the question and statement posed in the following verses: “What's in a name? that which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet” – these are words spoken by Juliet, the character, who purports that the name of the character of Romeo is but an empty label. I concluded, from the point of view of historical materialism, that the name does indeed change the rose, as Romeo, having had that name bestowed upon him (his name) and having been designated a Montague (his surname) at birth, would inevitably become part of a hostile history as a member of a family which antagonizes the family of Juliet (who is designated a Capulet, her surname). In spite of the passion that enraptures the lovers and their perceptions of each other, the conflict and the political aspect inherent to this conflict keep on, and that which is imparted through the distribution of the sensible among all those who take part in the rivalry between families has consequences not only within the young lovers’ sphere of intimacy, but also within the public sphere of Shakespeare’s fictional city of Verona, wherein the play takes place.