Quote Originally Posted by mjp1050 View Post
As in, "I want to go cry somewhere private instead of here." This is Juliet's soliloquy when she just found out her husband got banished for killing her cousin, so I'd say that's not an unwarranted reaction.

I think you've misunderstood my position. I'm not arguing that "where" is the best (or correct) translation of "wherefore". I'm trying to explain why the mistake isn't as unreasonable as it's been made out to be.
I would agree that, in most of these cases, these lines seem only slightly off. "Oh Romeo, where are you, Romeo" works vaguely as it could be "where are you now, Romeo?" and is fine, since she is talking to herself (especially since he reveals himself to be right there moments later). Beyond that, I think the issue is context -- Juliet is sitting by herself and talking to herself. Why couldn't she be asking about his location, then wondering if a name change (as mentioned, strangely his first name, which isn't the problematic one) would solve these problems? I think the context is a major issue. If, in among a series of slightly odd sounding dialogue, something sounds like a where term that kinda-sorta might not make perfect sense, are you going to notice that this slightly unusual wording is the one you aren't getting right and wonder what is up enough to go inquire. And that leads back to my primary conjecture -- most of the people who don't go about finding out what wherefore actually means fail to do so because they don't notice the issue, and they don't notice it because they don't care enough. Not some willful ignorance but instead the polar opposite -- benign non-investiture. Considering how many people experience Shakespeare through a class assignment they just want to get through or watching a play in which their child is performing, this seems at least highly plausible as an explanation.