Rudbeckia

August 27, 2014 Photo (239/365): "Black-eyed Susan"

In Act II of Shakespeare's tragic tale of "a pair of star-cross'd lovers [who] take their lives," Juliet tells Romeo that names are meaningless, an artificial convention. Juliet declares: "What's in a name? / That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet." (Romeo and Juliet II, ii, 1-2). 

She loves Romeo, a person who is called "Montague", not the Montague name itself or the Montague family with whom her Capulet family has feuded for years. Romeo, out of his passion for Juliet, rejects his family name and vows, as Juliet asks, to "deny [his] father" and instead be "new baptized" as Juliet's lover. 

Yet, Juliet may be a bit mistaken. Names do hold great meaning and importance. New parents pore over books until they finally discover the perfect moniker and initials for their babies. A person's name is an integral part of her identity (I am especially proud of the evolution of my name - read more here). Certain images immediately come to mind when one hears the name "Poindexter", "Tiffany", or "Butch." "A rose by any other name" may smell as sweet, but certain flowers do have prettier names than others like "Jasmine" and "Lily". . . poor "Black-eyed Susan" aka "Rudbeckia".