Counter-evidence: I first read and watched the play in Hungarian translation, where there is no confusion about “wherefore” and “why”. It still hasn’t occurred to me that the line doesn’t make sense, and I’ve never heard anyone else in Hungary pointing this out either.
I also think you are too literal-minded in your interpretation of the line, I always understood it to mean “oh Romeo, why are you who you are?” which makes perfect sense.
This is a common response, but I don’t think it makes sense if you read the rest of the soliloquy, much of which is specifically about meditating on the nature of names (“a rose by any other name smells just as sweet”)
Counter-evidence: I first read and watched the play in Hungarian translation, where there is no confusion about “wherefore” and “why”. It still hasn’t occurred to me that the line doesn’t make sense, and I’ve never heard anyone else in Hungary pointing this out either.
I also think you are too literal-minded in your interpretation of the line, I always understood it to mean “oh Romeo, why are you who you are?” which makes perfect sense.
This is a common response, but I don’t think it makes sense if you read the rest of the soliloquy, much of which is specifically about meditating on the nature of names (“a rose by any other name smells just as sweet”)