A happy moment is surrounded by smiles, laughs, and light. Sadness is associated with frowns, tears, and darkness. A beautiful day is bright, sunny, and light, while an awful day is gloomy, rainy, and dark. The good things in life are often associated with light, and unfortunate times identified with darkness. These correlations have been known for ages, and were used by Shakespeare when he wrote his well-known, beloved play, Romeo and Juliet. Due to his use of inimitable language, the parallelism of light and dark imagery symbolizes the emotions felt by the characters and influences the atmosphere of the play.
Romeo is a romantic, but his ever-changing feelings can be hard to read. Shakespeare uses light and dark imagery to help the reader
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identify with Romeo’s mental state. Romeo initially considers Rosaline the love of his life. Because Rosaline, a Nun, can never love Romeo in return, he becomes distraught. Rosaline will “...not be hit With Cupid’s arrow. She hath Dian's wit…”(Act. 1, Sc. 2, ln 222-223). To emphasize Romeo’s depression, Shakespeare initiates the use of light and dark imagery to symbolize the sadness that surrounds Romeo at this time, “...O heavy lightness!...”(Act. 1, Sc. 1, ln 188). The association between darkness and Romeo’s negative mood reoccurs as the story progresses. Speaking to Juliet, Romeo exclaims “More light and light - more dark and dark our woes!”(Act. 3, Sc. 3, ln 36-37) for he dreads the dark times without her. When dark times pass, moods brighten. Romeo finds happiness and good fortune when he spends time with, and falls for Juliet. Shakespeare uses imagery to represent Juliet lifting Romeo’s mood by comparing her to light. When he first notices Juliet and her beauty, he remarks in awe, “O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!” (Act. 1, Sc. 5, ln 49). The comparison of Juliet to light continues into Act 2. As Romeo is nearing the balcony outside Juliet’s room, he sees her emerge, “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!” (Act. 2, Sc. 2, ln 2-3). The idea that Romeo’s mood is brightened by the light, Juliet, is truly made concrete before the lovers separate as Romeo whines, “A thousand times the worse, to want thy light! Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their books; But love from love towards school with heavy looks”(Act. 2, Sc. 2, ln 172-174). Shakespeare’s simile aids the understanding of light and dark imagery he continuously uses by explaining how lovers meet eagerly and with happiness, but depart with sadness. When Romeo meets his light, he is elated, however when he parts from the light, he encounters darkness, and experiences sadness. Happiness is said to be contagious; it would make sense that sadness is as well.
Light and dark imagery affects the overall atmosphere of the play. This is demonstrated by Romeo’s emotions influencing other character’s moods. Juliet mirrors Romeo’s joyous attitude when they are together, because she is elated by his presence, as he is by her’s because her “...true love is grown to such excess I cannot sum up sum of half my wealth”(Act. 2, Sc. 5, ln 35-36). Unfortunately, Juliet also mirrors Romeo’s darker emotions. As Romeo gazes upon what he believes to be Juliet’s corpse, his mindset turns dark, violent, and even desperate. “For fear of that I still will stay with thee And never from this palace of dim night Depart again. Here, here will I remain With worms that are thy chambermaids. O, here Will I set up my everlasting rest And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars”(Act. 5, Sc. 3, ln 109-115). As a result, he “[Drinks.] O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die [Falls]”(Act. 5, Sc. 3, ln 122-123). Juliet awakens to find Romeo now deceased, and her actions emulate his. “Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end. O churl! drunk all and left no friendly drop To help me?”(Act. 5, Sc. 3, ln 175-177). She acts on her suicidal, desperate thoughts as she cries “...O happy dagger! [Snatches Romeo’s dagger.] This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die [She stabs herself and falls]” (Act. 5, Sc. 3, ln …show more content…
182-183). Friar Laurence is affected by Romeo’s darkness as well.
After Romeo murders Tybalt, he averts execution and is sentenced to banishment. Friar Laurence delivers the news, boasting how lucky Romeo is. However, lovestruck Romeo finds this to be the worst punishment he could receive because “...Heaven is here, Where Juliet lives;...” (Act. 3, Sc. 3, ln 33-34). Friar Laurence is rightfully disgusted with Romeo’s perspective and ungratefulness and angrily conveys his displeasure. “O deadly sin! O rude unthankfulness! Thy fault our law calls death; but the kind Prince, Taking thy part, hath rushed aside the law, And turned that black word death to banishment. This is dear mercy, and thou seest it not.” (Act. 3, Sc. 3, ln 27-31). Romeo’s negative outlook and attitude induces anger and negativity from Friar Laurence, which is further evidence of light and dark imagery affecting other characters.
In addition to light and dark imagery influencing the emotions of the characters, it tampers with the emotions of the reader. When Romeo is with his light, Juliet, he is full of joy, as is she. Their delighted moods shape the atmosphere of the play creating an enlightened mood for the reader. The same effect occurs when Romeo encounters dark times. The dark imagery is expressed in a number of ways, including talk of death and desperation. No matter which way the darkness Romeo encounters is shown, it still evokes a depressing feeling for the
reader. An idea running through the course of an entire literary work is parallelism. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, light and dark imagery is an example of just that. Light and dark imagery is expressed countless times in the play, both directly and indirectly. The imagery is clearly used when Romeo frequently compares Juliet to light; he bluntly says it in the dialogue. There are additional subtle uses of imagery throughout the play. As Romeo is learning about his banishment from Friar Laurence, he is enraged because “Tis torture, and not mercy. Heaven is here, Where Juliet lives…” (Act. 3, Sc. 3, ln 33-34). Banishment is such torture because “There is no world without Verona walls, But purgatory, torture, hell itself”(Act. 3, Sc. 3, ln 20-22). Heaven is where Juliet and Hell is where she is not, as Juliet is to light and being without her is to darkness. This is another example of light and dark imagery in Romeo and Juliet. The light and dark imagery used in Romeo and Juliet is a form of symbolism that evokes emotional changes in the reader by providing indication of the characters’ emotions, thoughts, and feelings. Additionally, it is a form of parallelism that creates variation in the atmosphere of the play as a whole. Romeo’s internal emotional changes are illuminated by the imagery, enabling it to serve many purposes in Shakespeare’s beloved play.
Juliet strategizes her disastrous plan and worries, “How if, when I am laid into the tomb, I wake before the time that Romeo come to redeem me?” (Lines 30-32 of Act Four, Scene Three). Juliet is desperate to see Romeo, ergo she plans to fake her death. Her thoughts of Romeo finding her lifeless foreshadows their future. Romeo is deprived of the news of Juliet’s real state of health, therefore he says, “Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee tonight. O mischief, thou art swift to enter the thoughts of desperate men!” (Lines 34-36 of Act Five, Scene One). Once again, Romeo’s perception is only focused on Juliet. His mental instability leads him to think Paris is in the way obtaining true happiness, thus he slays him. Romeo acquires poison, stands beside Juliet, and states, “Here’s to my love! (Drinks.) O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.” (Lines 119-120 of Act Five, Scene Three). Romeo observes Juliet’s body and determines that he should die beside her. Juliet wakes to his lifeless body, and determines she should commit suicide, as well. Romeo’s foolish decisions lead to the death of himself and
When Nurse comes to tell Juliet what happened to Romeo and Tybalt, Juliet was really surprised. Juliet inquires “When thou didst bower the spirit of a fiend, in mortal paradise of such sweet flesh?”(3.2.87-88), comparing good versus evil drawing attention to the fact that although Romeo’s actions were evil, referring to Romeo killing Tybalt over the murder of Mercutio, his outward appearance remained appealing. Due to Romeo’s grave offense, he is now considered as a “devil”, but his appearance is so beautiful. The theme of opposites show that Juliet is astonished of Romeo’s internal conflict and deceiving external appearances. She continues to wonder, “Was ever book containing such vile matter, so fairly bound?”(3.2.89-90). Juliet is now asking if there was ever a book containing unpleasant things have a beautiful cover, using the metaphor of a bound book comment on her lover. Juliet is really confused in this section because she never thought Romeo would kill someone due to his previously shown solicitous nature. Juliet is trying to reconcile how if anyone is good, they can commit a horrible act, like how Romeo killed Tybalt. The universal truth is that good people do bad things
On first seeing Juliet, Romeo exclaims, "O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! / It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night / Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear; … So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows" (Act 1 Scene 5 Lines 44-48) Romeo describes Juliet's beauty in terms of light and dark. "She doth teach the torches to burn bright" means both that her beauty is brighter than the light of any torch and that she makes the whole room light up. The brightness of Juliet's beauty is made even brighter by the contrasts with the blackness of the "Ethiope" and the blackness of crows. The use of antithesis with the "snowy doves" and the "crows" creates a powerful opposing force showing how she stands out from the others. Another interpretation of the dove is that it is a symbol of peace and sets in place an image of Romeo and Juliet's love creating peace between the two rival families. Another moment is when Juliet is waiting for Romeo to come to her bed. In her imagination, the night will bring her love. She goes on to say, "Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night, / That runaways' eyes may wink and Romeo" (Act 3 Scene 2 Lines 5-6). Juliet is seeing things as though she is in bed, the curtains are closed, creating a dark atmosphere where they act their love. In the dark, the pair will create their own light, because "Lovers can see to do their amorous rites / By their own beauties" The use of courtly love is very common in theatres at the time of Romeo and Juliet because in those days people would dream and fantasize about courtly love and was an entertaining
Shakespeare has many prime examples of symbolism in Romeo and Juliet that helps the audience understand the relationship love and hate have, and how it relates to the plot. One example is of the light and dark (day and night). Although the day has the sun and is brighter and happier, their love flourishes in the dark. Due to this, Romeo constantly refers to Juliet as the sun. When Romeo is observing Juliet at her deathbed, he states, “For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes This vault a feasting presence full of light” (5.3 85-86) Even when Juliet is dead, Romeo proclaims that her beauty makes the vault full of light. Even when she is no longer alive, she is still the sun. Although people don’t consider death and beauty to be at all related, these two contradictions fit well together. Throughout all of these examples, Shakespeare represents that love and hate need each other to survive, just like the day and night, the light and dark, and the death and
When we look at the text closely Juliet uses the word black a lot, with thy black mantel and black-brown night. When the word black is used when we think of death, which evidently occurs a few times in the play. Juliet also uses words like 'hooded' which again. makes us think of death. In her speech she uses pathetic fallacy when she says 'cloudy night', which also suggests negative feelings.
thou art Romeo, for this drivelling love is like a great natural. Light In Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare used techniques such as Light. imagery to emphasise a mood or a particular speech. In Elizabethan times, when 'Romeo and Juliet' was written, the stage in which it would have been performed, would have been very simple. Therefore, Shakespeare had to rely on the words spoken by the characters to create the imagery needed.
Light is depicted as life and beauty and death and despair represents dark. The use of light and dark allows readers to view Romeo and Juliet’s love abstractly; Romeo and Juliet are shown to have multiple layers to their characters causing one to see them as more than spoiled brats. Shakespeare shows the two as opposing pawns who are internally trying to protect their king (their family honor) but at the same time yearning to escape the game of chess. Personification is used to represent that Death is in love with the idea of destroying light and has amorous feelings casting a shade of grey between the light and dark. Shakespeare writes in act five upon entrance of Juliet’s tomb “That unsubstantial Death is amorous, and that the lean abhorred monster keeps thee here in dard to be his paramour”(V.3.103-105). Shakespeare also refers to Juliet’s beauty as full of light, when Romeo sees Juliet in a death-like trance in the tomb, “For here lies Juliet and her beauty makes this vault a feasting presence full of light”(V.3.85-86). By using light and dark he allows the reader to understand the strength and devotion of Romeo and Juliet’s love not only throughout the scene, but also throughout the entire
Shakespeare uses dark and light imagery throughout the play to stand for death, violence, sadness and secrecy. In act one, scene two, Shakespeare uses dark imagery to convey Romeo's sadness. Montague describes romeo as creating an 'artificial night' which seems to reflect his dark, depressed mood.
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a play well known by all for its death and demise of its characters, as well as its tragic ending that leaves two star-crossed lovers to their fate. The true misfortune of Romeo and Juliet is that individually they ultimately all lose, however together, everyone wins. A tragedy is defined as an event causing great suffering, destruction and distress usually concerning the downfall of the main character. To lose is defined as causing someone to fail to gain something or to suffer. Death is a major subject in the play and significantly establishes the mood of the scene. These disastrous events affect everyone including ones mourning the death of their loved ones. However, there are also positive themes that
For example, Juliet became dramatic after spending time with Romeo. Juliet announces, “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.147-150). Juliet says this after discovering Romeo is a Montague, stressing Juliet’s newfound dramatic nature, as she believes Romeo is her only love despite having just met him. Moreover, in addition to making her dramatic, Romeo also influenced Juliet by making her impatient. When Romeo promises to send for her the next day, Juliet responds, “…`Tis twenty years till then,” which demonstrates impatience and drama, for Juliet is exaggerating how slow time passes (II.ii.182). This is similar to Romeo, who, at the beginning of the play, was depressed and also felt that time was going by slowly. Lastly, Juliet had a positive effect on Romeo’s mood. Romeo proclaims, “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!” (II.ii.3-4). Upon meeting Juliet, Romeo returned to his normal self, and was no longer depressed. Juliet effectively removed the darkness from his life, hence why he compares her to the sun. Thus, the influence Romeo and Juliet have on each other is clear, and affects their personalities in many
The story Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare is one of the greatest love story written some will say. These two lover come from feuding families, Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet. They are known for their spontaneous love but yet tragic ending. Throughout the story William Shakespeare uses a literary device called a motif. A motif help explains the theme, it’s an reoccurring element to explain the central idea using images, sounds, ideas or words. William Shakespeare used many motifs in the story but I decide to choose light and dark. Light and dark is an reoccurring imagery to compare Romeo and Juliet’s love and romance. The light and dark imagery is brought up many times but used in slightly different ways to enhance different meanings.
Light versus dark is a controversy lasting as long as time. They are opposites, yet they can have similar interpretations. Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, is about two teenagers falling in love secretly due to their parents’ feud. In the end, they both commit suicide because of their love. Woven into the story,is the motif, light and dark imagery. These can be represented in the connotations that the words allude to. Typically, light represents happier or more joyful meanings, and darkness represents topics that are more dreary and unpleasant. However, these interpretations can be flipped depending on circumstances. Throughout Romeo and Juliet, light and dark imagery can illustrate a variety of representations.
Romeo and Juliet is the tragic love story of two star-crossed lovers. Shakespeare used light and dark imagery throughout the play to make this story more dramatic and to show how their love is the light in the dark abyss of their families feud. Shakespeare uses light and dark symbolism in the book, as well, to display the characters intentions, if the character was against or in favor of the antagonist.
“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
The imagery used gives color to the language and there are certain images, which reappear more often in the play, so called iterative imageries, one of. these are light and darkness. This image gives a strong contrast used. to describe Romeo’s and Juliet’s love for one another. The less important characters, which most of the time are the lower class, such. as servants or musicians, do not have such richness in their word.