Vol. 08 · Shakespeare ·Romeo and Juliet, Act II.ii ·Juliet
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
Not quite the line.
How it's usually quoted
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
What Shakespeare actually wrote
"That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet." Juliet — Romeo and Juliet, Act II.ii
Why it matters
The compressed version loses the subject ("that which we call a rose") and with it Juliet's argument — that the name is the problem, not the thing named.
More from the canon.
Browse the rest of the shelf, or try a cold reading.