How Does Shakespeare Use Light And Dark In Romeo And Juliet

“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light” (Aristotle). In other words, Aristotle means even during the darkest times of someone’s life, they must seek light to pull them out of the dark. This philosophy is similarly reflected in Shakespeare’s famous drama, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare uses light and dark imagery to emphasize the calamity and to make the emotions of his main characters more apparent. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is likely the most well known love story of all time, but there is much more to the plot than two star crossed lovers forbidden to be together. Romeo and Juliet serve as each other’s light; however, their love flourishes in the darkness. Juliet also acts as a light for

many other characters in the drama. His various uses of light and dark complicates his imagery, making the overall meaning deeper.

Shakespeare enhances his work with light and dark imagery to reveal Romeo and Juliet’s everlasting love for each other; he constantly uses this imagery which develops parallelism, emphasizing the main ideas running throughout the piece.

Shakespeare’s most obvious symbol of light is Juliet in Romeo’s life. At the beginning of the play, Romeo always subjects himself to the darkness, as he loves Rosaline, but she doesn’t love him back. He constantly feels sorry for himself and can’t seem to find happiness. He would rather envelop himself with darkness than with light. Lord Montague especially reveals his son’s sorrow when he claims, “Should in the farthest East begin to draw/ The shady curtains from Aurora’s bed/ Away from light steals home my heavy son/ And private in his chamber pens himself/ Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out/ And makes himself an artificial night” (I. i. 143-148). Everyone can see Romeo’s anguish, but

they don’t know how to pull him out of the darkness. However, once Romeo sees Juliet, she instantly lifts him into the light. From this point forward, Romeo constantly references the light when he speaks of Juliet. For instance, immediately after he lays his eyes on her, he declares, “O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!” (I. v. 49). Following this, Romeo’s happiness comes solely from Juliet’s light. For example, Romeo expresses, “ [her eyes are] Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven” (II. ii. 15). This further emphasizes how Romeo believes Juliet to be the only light in his life. Romeo’s desperation and impulsive decision of love end up making him more distraught when he finds out Juliet has died. Since Romeo quickly set his mind to believe Juliet to be the only good in his life, he was more prone to make the impulsive decision of taking his life to be with her. His life once again becomes full of darkness without Juliet in it. Romeo’s continuous comparison of Juliet to the light ultimately portrays his boundless love for Juliet, and his hurried conclusion that he cannot live without her.
Though most of the light imagery takes place when Romeo speaks of Juliet, sometimes Juliet compares Romeo to the light as well. Though Juliet is not in in a state of darkness prior to meeting Romeo, she still acquires a newfound light after they meet. He also serves as the only thing bringing her joy in life. When Juliet waits for the night to come so she can be with Romeo, she reveals, “Give me my Romeo, and when he 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” (III. ii. 22-26). Here, Juliet expresses when Romeo dies, she wants him made into stars, and that would make people wish for night because he’d make the night sky so beautiful. This reiterates Juliet’s belief of Romeo being the only light and bliss of her life. Though she directly compares him to the stars, or light, she also references the dark, as she claims the world would be in love with the night. Juliet does this to further accentuate how the world, and herself, would wish for darkness without Romeo there. … do I need a concluding statement?
Shakespeare portrays Juliet as a radiant light not just for Romeo, but also for other characters in the drama.

Although Romeo most frequently compares her to the light, Paris and Lord Montague do so as well. The reader sees the light comparison in Romeo’s words most often, as he states things like, “It is the east, and Juliet is the sun/ Arise fair sun, and kill the envious moon” (II. ii. _-_). This is just one of copious examples in which Juliet serves as Romeo’s light. From his words, the reader gains insight to Romeo’s feelings, being that Juliet serves as the only light he has. Likewise, Shakespeare depicts Juliet as the light illuminating Paris’s life. Though Juliet loves Romeo, Paris sincerely wants to marry Juliet. He has genuine intentions, and truly loves her. Juliet acts as the main light brightening Paris’s life. Even when Romeo kills Paris, his last dying wish is to lay next to Juliet in the tomb. Further, Juliet also acts as a light in Lord Montague’s life following her and Romeo’s deaths. He decides to raise a gold statue of Juliet in honor of her love for his son after they die. Montague realizes Juliet was the only bliss in his son’s life, even though she was a Capulet. He comes to the realization that because she serves as the light highlighting Romeo’s life, she in turns serves as the only light left for him. Juliet seemingly translates to Montague’s only happiness, as he recognizes she made Romeo cheerful and lively. In result, Montague vows to take after

his son and end the families’ meaningless fighting. Moreover, this acts as a form of parallelism. From the start of the play, Shakespeare repeatedly uses light and dark imagery. This idea stays apparent all the way to the end of the play by Lord Montague’s actions. Even though everyone is in a state of darkness due to the multitude of deaths, he produces a small glimmer of light with his gesture of a gold statue. Since Romeo loved Juliet and she helped the families come together, Montague offers some light shining through the darkness, even during such a tragic time. Overall, Shakespeare portrays Juliet as a constant light in everyone’s life, even through times of grief and darkness.
Although Romeo and Juliet act as each other’s light, their love thrives in the darkness. They could only be together and express their true feelings for one another at night, when they were alone and had privacy. something… The morning that Romeo needs to leave Verona, he discloses to Juliet, “More light and light— more dark and dark our woes!” (III. v. 36-37). By this, Romeo means as the sun rises, their troubles and sorrow will grow. They both believe Romeo’s exile is worse than death, so they will grow more somber as it gets lighter out, as that signals Romeo’s departure. In this case, the light works against them, as their light shines most brightly when it is in contrast to the darkness of the night. This makes Shakespeare’s use of imagery deeper and more complicated, as he doesn’t just use light for optimism and dark for misery. Romeo and Juliet display love and happiness even though they must sneak around under the cover of night and darkness. Further, this somewhat foreshadows the devastation about to occur, because they yearn for the night to last longer. Since darkness can be associated with grim events to follow, the reader can assume something bad may follow their wishes for the night and darkness to continue.