Cherries and Roses

If a cherry were called a rose, or a rose a cherry, they would not change, would they? This reminds me of Shakespeare's famous sentence in the play Romeo and Juliet, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

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 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.





However, the fixed connections between objects and names have been so rooted in our mind that any change to them seems disturbing. Just imagine my friend Annie and I exchange our Chinese names! Our friends, and even our mutual friends, would feel weird or laugh when calling us by the new name. The power of conditioning!