Shakespearean English, or "Why is misunderstanding easier than learning?"

[Ortho]

Going by the dictionary, which can be authoritative here because no one uses the word any more, there is only one meaning of 'wherefore'.

It's just that people who don't know the word make a guess based on 'where' being in it more often than they guess based on similarity to 'therefore'. The guess is wrong, and doesn't even make sense if you pay attention to what's being said -- the word is used 5 times in the play.

It's interesting that you bring up the other uses of "wherefore". Even with the word appearing multiple times in the play, let me try to illustrate why so many people make the mistake of translating "wherefore" as "where".

Here're the original lines:

Why, how now, kinsman! wherefore storm you so?
...
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
...
How camest thou hither, tell me, and wherefore?
...
But, wherefore, villain, didst thou kill my cousin?
...
All this is comfort; wherefore weep I then?

Here's a modern translation:

"Hey there, friend, why are you so angry?"

"Oh, Romeo, why are you Romeo?"

"How'd you get here, and why?"

"But why, villain, did you kill my cousin?"

"This is comforting; why should I cry now?"

And now we have people mistaking "wherefore" for "where":

"Hey there, friend, where are you storming off to?"

"Oh Romeo, where are you, Romeo?"

"How'd you get here, and where?"

"But where, villain, did you kill my cousin?"

"This is comforting; where should I cry now?"

See why the issue occurs? Every single time "wherefore" is used, "where" can be substituted and the line makes just as much sense. Only line #3 sounds strange, but even then, it can be explained away as emphasis.

So it really isn't that unreasonable for people to conclude that "wherefore" means "where".