Light And Darkness In Romeo And Juliet Essay

In the beginning both Romeo and Juliet are in a symbolic darkness. As soon as Romeo sees Juliet he compares her to the torches in the Capulet’s hall: “O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! (I.II.26)” Later Juliet compares Romeo to a lightening flash, which also ties into the symbolic speed of their love. Lightening is short and sudden, it does not last forever; as is their romance, the darkness will triumph. The duality comes in when they actually start to be together. The light starts to become an enemy because they have to part at dawn. They soon become friendly with the dark again and then forever will be in the dark because they commit suicide. This also brings up another type of duality, the duality of their love. Both Romeo and Juliet are enemies and lovers. As Juliet says, "My only love sprung from my only hate! / Too early seen unknown, and known too late! / Prodigious birth of love it is to me, / That I must love a loathed enemy. (I.V.139-142)” The Nurse and Friar Lawrence both try to help the two of them, but in the end the lovers suffer. Although their deaths are tragic, they are extremely important examples of duality. Without the suicides, the Capulets and Montagues would not have been able to begin fixing old

This is used to capture Romeo’s raw emotions, as he slowly drags himself down the hallway, not wanting to face what lays before him. Romeo is wearing a modern outfit, as this relates to the modern style of the film, and is holding a gun in his right hand. This uses dramatic irony because the audience is aware that it will play a part in the death of Juliet. The lighting is dull, as it is set during the night, and the only source of light is the candles and crosses in the tomb. The scene is dark, to represent the tragic events that will unfold.

Upon seeing Juliet Romeo exclaims, “O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear; Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!” Romeo compared her to a torch because seeing her made everything come into focus. Juliet also compares Romeo not only to the sun but calls him even more mighty than the sun when she says, “Give me my Romeo. And when I shall die,Take him and cut him out in little stars, And he will make the face of heaven so fine. That all the world will be in love with night, And pay no worship to the garish sun.” So with Romeo and Juliet one goes on a rollercoaster full of references to the light and dark of a situation, but the very last line of the play the Prince says darkness has returned and everything will return to what it once was. The Prince addresses the whole community when he says, “A glooming peace this morning with it brings.The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head.Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things.Some shall be pardoned, and some punishèd.For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” In Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare makes it bluntly undeniable that fate was in control and whether the light or dark would

Throughout Romeo and Juliet’s flourishing relationship, celestial imagery is used when talking about each other and bringing out the pure love they have for one another. Through a combination of metaphors, personification, poetry, similes, and allusions, their emotions for each other are shown with celestial imagery being the center theme of their love. Romeo speaks delicately about Juliet’s eyes when he acclaims “Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,” (2.2.15) Romeo refers

The audience know from the prolong both Romeo and Juliet are ‘star-crossed lovers’ (doomed and destined) and that their affection is ‘death-marked.’ The dialectal language that Shakespeare used to communicate their love for each other was written so expressively and romantically. For example, in Act 2, Scene 2, Romeo speaks, "But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the Sun.

There are many metaphors in the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare relates Romeo to the theme of light and darkness. He first states, “Under love’s heavy burden do I sink. A torch for me. Let wantons lights of heart tickle the senses rushes with their heels.” When Shakespeare writes this he shows how depressed Romeo is. Romeo is sorrowful, because he loves Rosaline, but she does not love him. He is telling his friends to go have fun, and he will hold the torch to light their happiness. He believes he cannot be happy without her, so he is willing to illuminate other’s happiness. Shakespeare also shows the aspect of light connected to Romeo by saying, “O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright.” Shakespeare portrays

A shadow mirrors someone but does not show the full detail and potential of one. Romeo and Juliet were never fully together and complete, which is why they always shadowed each other throughout the development of the play. In Juliet’s monologue, when she waits for the nurse to return, she states, “Driving back shadows over louring hills”(2.5.6). Juliet uses a metaphor here to describe that her message of love should be powerful enough to move the shadows over the rising, dark hills. The concept of shadows displays darkness in the sense that the love that Juliet is trying to get across to Romeo is being restricted by the dark, louring hills. In this scene, the shadows act as a barrier and an obstacle that the Nurse cannot overcome which signifies the main conflict present in their relationship. Romeo proclaims, “Have they been merry, which their keepers call/A light’ning before death! O, how may I/Call this a light’ning?” (5.3.89-91). Romeo is explaining that men are always happy before death. Romeo is not satisfied playing the figurative role of Juliet’s shadow and not being able to die himself being comfortably happy about his love for her. Romeo dies in the light of Juliet and is the darkness of the relationship. Over the progression of the story, Romeo and Juliet failed to express their idiosyncratic feelings of love and sympathy for each other, but instead revealed a shadowed form of each other which led to an incomplete ending to a relationship’s

During Romeo and Juliet’s wedding night, Juliet expresses her want for Romeo to stay by describing “Yond light is not daylight; I know it, I./It is some meteor that the sun exhales/To be to thee this night a torchbearer/And light thee on thy way to Mantua./Therefore stay yet; thou needst not to be gone.” (III.v.12-16). Juliet pretends there’s presence of darkness so Romeo will remain with her, which shows her sadness and lack of light destined once Romeo departures. Juliet later describes herself as “having an ill-divining soul!/Methinks I see thee, now thou art below,/As one dead in the bottom of a tomb./Either my eyesight fails, or thou lookst pale.” (III.v.55-58). Juliet just previously spoke of her yearn for night to remain so Romeo would stay; however, she describes Romeo looking pale and ill-like, which foreshadows to their next engagement: death. The light and dark imagery develops the idea of Romeo and Juliet’s love and their long to be with each other forever. Additionally, their longing for each other hints at their death in the near future because of Shakespeare’s word choice. Ultimately, the light and dark imagery used throughout the play foreshadows to the impending events, especially Romeo and Juliet’s

“He will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will fall in love with night” (Shakespeare 3.2.25-26) . In the configuration Romeo and Juliet by WIlliam Shakespeare, the undenied love between Young Juliet and determined Romeo showed that true love overcomes all obstacles. Although Romeo and Juliet were in love many terrible events occurred due to their love. In this story Shakespeare conveys the idea that love creates a negative impact on life.

Once Juliet caves in and accepts that Romeo must leave, they bid their final goodbyes with Romeo agreeing that “more light and light- more dark and dark our [their] woes”. The pair’s pain increases the brighter it gets because the rising light is casting a shadow over, or darkening, their emotions. Dark and light imagery are used in conjunction to reveal how the role of light has become dark and Romeo and Juliet’s dislike towards this change. To Romeo and Juliet’s pleasure, darkness maintains its role in easing their love, while only for the duration of this scene, light becomes an obstacle impeding their

Throughout Romeo and Juliet, the ideas of light and darkness are used in parallel with the plot to show the change of the mood from sweet and romantic to perilous, unpredictable, and ultimately, catastrophic. At first, the concept

In lines 18-20, Juliet’s personification reveals her true emotions. Juliet personifies Romeo’s skin as whiter than snow. She also personifies the night as gentle, loving, and black-browed. Juliet’s personification affects the following scene because the night is anything but gentle and loving. Juliet’s night is dark and horrible. She is told that Romeo is banned and that she may never see him again. All the thoughts and dreams she has of being with him may no longer come true. Additionally, the personification of the night affects the whole play because we later see how nighttime does not bring happiness as Juliet believes it does. Both Juliet and Romeo commit their suicides at night. The night is a time of sadness and darkness in the tragedy, the opposite of gentle and

A lantern, slaughtered youth, for here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes this vault a feasting presence full of light.” Light and dark imagery is used to describe Juliet as she acts as a source of light in the darkness of the tomb. The idea of light and dark imagery suggests a spiritual light that may surround the couple beyond death and deepens the dramatic impact. The audience is further positioned to see through the use of a metaphor, how Juliet’s beauty lights up the tomb. Clearly, Shakespeare wants Romeo to feel struck by the way Juliet’s beauty appears to defy death, as she still looks alive.

Before entering the party, Romeo expresses a deep fear of “some consequence yet hanging in the stars.../But he that hath steerage of [his] course/Direct [his] sail” (1.4.114-120). This foreshadow hints at the deaths of many to come. Although Romeo seems to feel rather strongly about this premonition, he chooses to agree to the wishes of his friends. As Romeo watches Juliet from her garden, he conveys his love for her by revealing that “It is the East, and Juliet is the sun” (2.2.3).

The light and dark theme is very apparent in Romeo and Juliet as there are frequent symbols and meanings. When Romeo calls Juliet “the sun,” he means that Juliet is his new founded love who shines so bright to take over the darkness. Juliet is currently everything to Romeo and he wants her. The Sun is the brightest object, so that is what Romeo wants and means. He also tells Juliet, the sun, to kill the envious moon due to the moon’s jealousy. He later continues this by calling Juliet’s cheeks and eyes the sun. “The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars.” He uses the sun’s bright intensity to describe her cheeks and her eyes stream so vivid as well. Romeo agrees that Juliet is a bright angel. Her cheeks will outshine the glowing stars in the night, Romeo describes them. So the theme of light is to represent positive outgoing things, while the dark is supposed to