By Any Other Name

Throughout the novel, Picoult pairs Emilia and Melina, even choosing names that are almost anagrams for one another. In what ways are the two women similar despite the vast differences in their upbringings and time periods? How do they differ?

Picoult weaves Shakespearean language and allusions throughout the text, allowing characters to say phrases used in the plays. She includes an appendix at the end tracking her references. Choose one of her references and explain how the allusion enhances or changes the reading experience. Why might she have chosen to include it?

The novel’s title By Any Other Name is an allusion to a passage from Romeo and Juliet, in which Juliet says, “What's in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.” Why might Picoult have chosen this for her novel’s title? What does the title imply about the importance of names, recognition, and fame?

Andre and Kit Marlowe are paralleled in the novel, with both men acting as friends and confidantes to their respective heroines. In what ways are the men similar? In what ways are they different?

At times, Melina focuses on her struggles to be published to the detriment of her friendship with Andre, who endures his own obstacles. Similarly, Jasper sometimes doesn’t recognize the nuances of race and gender in his reviews. What do these characters, and their realization suggest about people’s tendencies to lack perception of others and focus on their own problems?

By Any Other Name is a fictional answer to the real literary puzzle of whether Shakespeare wrote all the works attributed to him. How does Picoult support her theory of the true authorship of Shakespeare’s works? What parts of the novel were rooted in the historical record, and where did she take fictional liberties?

Though both Melina and Emilia experience romantic love, their primary relationships throughout the text are not romantic, but familial or platonic. Why might this novel de-emphasize romance, and how does that connect to its themes about gender and societal expectations?

To what extent does the novel have a happy ending, especially for Emilia? What factors in her life stand in the way of her happiness? How does Picoult use the supernatural to offer a different ending for her heroine?