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Though Romeo does proclaim, early on in the play, that “Juliet is the sun,” his personification of her as a bright, solar force quickly turns dark and violent as he urges her to “kill the envious moon”—a quote that has two meanings. Romeo wants Juliet’s light to blot out the “moon” of his old love, Rosaline. But given the moon ...
- Potions and Poisons
Desperate to be reunited with his love, Romeo purchases...
- Modern English Translation
The Shakescleare version of Romeo and Juliet contains the...
- Setting
Romeo and Juliet is set in the real city of Verona, Italy,...
- Potions and Poisons
One of the most often repeated image patterns in Romeo and Juliet involves the interplay of light and darkness. For example, Romeo compares Juliet to light throughout the play. Upon first sight of her, Romeo exclaims that she teaches "the torches to burn bright" (I.5.43). She's also "the sun" who can "kill the envious moon" (II.2.3).
- The Motif of Light and Dark in Romeo and Juliet
- Romeo and Rosaline
- Juliet and The Light
- Ending Darkness
- Darkness Swallows Romeo and Juliet
- Comments
The images of light and dark are one of the most constant visual motifs in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Characters such as Benvolio, Juliet, and Romeo, who exhibit goodness, innocence, and love, are often seen giving off light, discussing light, or in the presence of light. Characters who exhibit violence, evil, and death are often assoc...
Associations almost instantly follow the very first mention of Romeo in the play with light and with darkness. After Montague’s wife asks Benvolio whether or not he has seen Romeo, he responds with, “…an hour before the worshipped sun / Peered forth the golden window of the east,…so early walking did I see your son” (I.1.117-22). After this, Montag...
Juliet is almost always associated with light. Almost immediately before Romeo meets Juliet, there is a foreshadowing by Romeo of his meeting with Juliet. “Give me a torch. I am not for this ambling. / Being but heavy, I will bear the light” (I.4.11-12). Not only is this a pun on the word light, but it is also a foreshadowing of Romeo’s bearing the...
Darkness is a perpetual presence in the final scenes of the play. When Paris is traveling to Juliet’s grave, he has a torch indicating that it is night (V.3.1). This is one of the darkest scenes in the play, both figuratively and literally. Finally, after Romeo and Juliet’s death, Prince Escalus gives a final speech saying, “A glooming peace this m...
Throughout the play, light and dark are almost as large of a presence as some of the characters. Light is seen when there is love, hope, and joy; darkness is present when hatred and death are afoot. All of these light and dark images foreshadow what is going to happen by the end of the play. Just as night swallows the day, so does darkness swallow ...
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Summary: In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses light and dark imagery to explore themes of love and conflict.Romeo often describes Juliet as a source of light, symbolizing her beauty and the ...
Romeo, forced to leave for exile in the morning, and Juliet, not wanting him to leave her room, both try to pretend that it is still night, and that the light is actually darkness: “More light and light, more dark and dark our woes” (3.5.36).
Moreover, light and dark imagery permeate almost every scene in Romeo and Juliet. It serves as a visual representation of the stark contrast between love’s radiance and society’s constraints. When Romeo first lays eyes upon his beloved Juliet at Capulet’s grand ballroom, he compares her beauty to “a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear,” highlighting her luminosity amidst an otherwise ...
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How does Romeo compare Juliet to light in Romeo & Juliet?
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What does Romeo and Juliet symbolize?
For Romeo, Juliet's presence transforms the dark, gloomy, underground grave into its opposite -- a room high in the air, full of light and joy. In the last speech of the play, Prince Escalus says that the morning sky is dark, fitting the mood of occasion: "A glooming peace this morning with it brings; / The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head" (5.3.306) [ Scene Summary ]
