In a piece of literature authors often use light and dark imagery to express emotion, displaying the positivity that light holds versus unsafetiness that lies in the dark. In Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet, the affectionate lovers defy their parents’ everlasting strife and seek out the darkness as a haven where their marriage can thrive. In order to keep their forbidden relationship under wraps, the amorous couple avoids the daytime and the exposure that lies with it. Throughout the play, Romeo constantly refers to brightness to express his adoration for Juliet and her radiance. Shakespeare reverses the typical stereotype of light and dark imagery, showing danger in the daytime in contrast to protection that night offers while using …show more content…
light as a model of Juliet's beauty.
Romeo adds romance to the balcony scene, using light as a symbol of Juliet's beauty by comparing her to the sun. After meeting his soulmate Juliet, who belongs to the house of Capulet, at Capulet's feast, Romeo dashes over to Lord Capulet's garden in hopes of seeing his true love once again. As the breathtaking Juliet emerges from her chamber overhead on the balcony, Romeo pours out his overflowing amount of love for Juliet in the metaphor, “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun” (Shakespeare 2.2. 1-2). Romeo uses the sun’s light as a symbol of Juliet’s immeasurable beauty in his comparison. The sun’s vibrant rays stretch on for miles, glistening with beauty as they shower the Earth with light. Just as the sun’s light spreads beauty throughout the planet, Juliet is a glowing goddess whose eye-catching beauty shines equally as …show more content…
bright in Romeo’s eyes. Not only is Romeo describing Juliet’s incredible attractiveness, but he is also showing the enormous amount of devotion he dedicates to his marriage, and the happiness that Juliet brings him. The dedicated sun proves to be superior to other parts of nature, as it is the sole provider of life to every creature in the vast world. Romeo connects the life providing task of the sun alone to his marriage in the sense that Juliet’s love is the only love he needs to power his life. The sun’s capability to turn a rainy day into a lively utopia is identical to the happiness Juliet has given Romeo, which has flipped his life around from the gloomy prison that held his mind captive as a result of his prior heartbreak from Rosaline to a joyful paradise with his beloved. As much as most people adore the elegant sun and its beauty, Romeo and Juliet despise the daytime for the reason that it exposes their forbidden marriage to all of Verona.
On his exile day, Romeo awakens at sunrise from a restful sleep beside the love of his life to a lark’s song. The morning bird’s chirping warns Romeo that the sun is rising, so he prepares to leave Juliet’s chamber in order to keep their illicit relationship a secret. At first, Juliet insists that the music is not coming from a lark, but is the song of the night bird, the nightingale. A scary realization that the tune is from the morning lark quickly strikes Juliet, therefore Romeo rushes out of her room, crying, “More light and light, more dark and dark our woes” (3.5. 36). Romeo’s remark expresses the affectionate couple’s absolute hatred of daytime, displaying their increasing depression as sunlight fills the day. Bustling Verona streets pose danger to the spouses during the day. If the two lovers from the conflicting houses of the Capulets and the Montagues were caught together, their marriage would be terminated. Not only would the couple’s relationship crumble to pieces, but they would also face harsh criticism from their belligerent families, especially since Juliet is supposed to marry Count Paris. Romeo and Juliet are left with no other choice but to separate during the cruel daylight, leaving their life shattering to nothing without being in each other's
arms. To avoid exposure from the garish daytime, Romeo and Juliet seek night out as a shelter where their love is protected from the crazy Capulet-Montague family feud. Romeo risks his life all for a moment to be with Juliet on the night of Capulet’s feast by visiting his family’s despised enemy, Lord Capulet’s, home. Worried for Romeo’s life, Juliet warns her darling that if the kinsmen spot a villain from the house of Montagues trespassing on her father’s property, they will murder him. Valiant Romeo assures Juliet that he is safe under the disguise of night, saying, “I have night’s cloak to hide me from their eyes” (2.2 80). Although most people are asleep during the dead of night, those Veronians that are night owls would never be able to see the lovers hidden by night’s darkness, which shields them with a pitch black film. In this regard, the couple can spend time together without the menacing worry of getting caught, primarily by their incompatible parents, hanging over their heads, a fear that constantly bothers them during the daytime. Under the moonlight and out of their parents’ restraints, the lover’s relationship is free to flourish.
Akin to Laurent 's play, Romeo and Juliet occurs at night. This illustrates the way Romeo and Juliet 's love exists in a world separate from the hatred of the feud, flourishing only at night, an allusion to the forbidden nature of their relationship.
Throughout the whole play, we see Romeo refer to Juliet as light. There are many examples of this in the balcony scene and at the Capulet. party in Act 1, scene 5. When Romeo first meets Juliet he states. O she doth teach the torches to burn bright" Romeo says this after first setting eyes on Juliet, he is saying that.
During Shakespeare’s time, feasts and balls were very popular amongst the members of upper class. The masks worn to these festivities were often extremely detailed, fabulous, and expensive. The main component to make those masks catch people’s attentions is the colour. The background colour of the mask is purple, the symbol of power and wealth. In the play, Juliet is the daughter of a big family – the House of Capulet. The Capulet family is one of the Patriarch families of Italy, the other one is the House of Montagues. Recall that purple represents power and wealth, in Act I Scene V it shows how powerful and wealthy Juliet (and her family) is, because masquerades would only be held if nobility (the House of Capulet) could demonstrate their own wealth, status, and power. However, the mask is not painted all purple, because those wealth, titles are not all belongs to Juliet, it’s partly just because she’s born in this family, and she doesn’t contribute as much. Therefore, there is a space that is painted purplish-white.
William Shakespeare is amazing at using extended metaphor in Romeo and Juliet to show love between the characters, the word choice that Shakespeare uses to write extended metaphor is very detailed. During the balcony scene, Romeo says something towards Juliet which is an extended metaphor which shows love Romeo said, “Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief that thou her maid art far more fair than she” (Shakespeare 2.2.3-5). What this means is that Juliet is being compared to the sun and Romeo is telling Juliet to arise beautiful woman and kill the envious moon so Juliet is a fair sun which has to destroy the darkness which is the moon. Romeo is saying that Juliet is as beautiful as the sun which shines over the world they live in. A little later during the balcony scene, Romeo uses extended metaphor again to compare Juliet to something good. Romeo is in love with Juliet and her beauty because Romeo always complements Juliet with something lovely and he speaks of Juliet in a nice way. For example, Romeo says “O, speak again, bright angel, for thou art as glorious to this night, being o’er my head as is a winged messenger of heaven unto the white-upturned wondering eyes” (Shakespeare 2.2.29-32). This really shows the love that Romeo has for Juliet because he compares her to a bright angel and being compared to an angel shows that she’s very glorious and mighty with beautiful features. Also, Romeo complements Juliet’s eyes again saying that her eyes are awestruck and so pretty that all mortals fall back to gaze this shows that Romeo is in love with all of her beauties and all the other people are too. Romeo says a lot of extended metaphor during the play to compare Juliet to things that are of beauty and not something that is horrible thus extended metaphor is used to show the love between
At the start of this scene Romeo has sneaked into Juliet?s bedroom and has stopped the night in her bed. In the morning Juliet does not want Romeo to leave as she exclaims ?it was the nightingale, and not the lark.? Which means that the nightingale sounds in the night and the lark sounds in the morning meaning that if it is the lark Romeo must go but Juliet believes it was the nightingale so that Romeo can stay? Romeo knows he must go and pronounces ?it was the lark, the herald of the morn.? Meaning that the lark is the sign of the morning and the nightingale sing?s at night so if it was the lark it would be time for Romeo to go but Juliet can?t stand it when Romeo is gone so she is convinced it was the nightingale. When the nurse comes in and tells Juliet that Romeo must leave because her mother is coming Juliet finally realises that Romeo has got to go and she starts weep for Romeo.
Juliet’s personification of night identifying the secrecy of darkness as a positive quality is also Juliet defending her own secrecy. Literally, darkness makes Romeo and Juliet’s love possible by masking it from their parents. Juliet asks in the beginning of the soliloquy, “spread thy close curtain, love-performing night, / That runaways’ eyes may wink” (3.2.4-5). The night’s darkness hides Romeo and Juliet’s love much as a curtain blocks the view of a room from curious onlookers. If anyone were to see, Juliet’s reputation would have suffered greatly, as well as her relationship with Romeo. Later on, Juliet asks the night, “Hood my unmanned blood; bating in my cheeks,” (3.2.13) Not only is Juliet thankful that night will allow her to meet Romeo in secret, she is also thankful that the night conceals her affection for him. Women in Verona were expected to be polite and moderate, yet Juliet’s affection fo...
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
An example of this is “Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night, That runaways’ eyes may wink and Romeo leap to these arms, untalk’d of an unseen”. Juliet is longing for Romeo to come and consummate their marriage at night, which is when they can be together, as their relationship is too unnatural for them to meet at day, due to the hatred of their families. It is further proven that the dark imagery represents passion. Juliet is passionate about Romeo, as she has made up her mind to give her maidenhood to him, which is something she can never undo. An additional quote is “Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops. I must be gone and live, or stay and die… Let me be ta’en, let me be put to death; I am content, so thou wilt have it so“. Romeo has just consummated his marriage with Juliet. He says that the stars are gone, and that daylight is coming. Romeo must leave, as Verona is waking up, and he will be killed if he is seen with Juliet. Even with this risk, he considers staying with Juliet, as he enjoys being with her. Dark imagery is used to show how passionate Romeo is about Juliet. He made their marriage legal, and is even considering risking death to stay with her longer. He has permanently committed to her, and cannot go back. As the evidence presented shows, the dark imagery in Romeo and Juliet reflects the theme of passion.
However, in act two, scene two, the mood is altogether more optimistic and Shakespeare uses a lot of light imagery particularly when Romeo is describing Juliet. When he first sees her on the balcony, he compares her to the sun. This clearly conveys Romeo's passion for Juliet as the sun is a giver of life, a brilliant source of light and has connotations of happiness and cheer, which contrasts greatly with Romeo's previous melancholy. Furthermore, Romeo exclaims that Juliet's eyes and cheeks are 'bright and later call her a 'bright angel' which suggests the strength of his admiration for her - to him, she is more of a divine, or spiritual light; a beacon of hope.
He does not think he will ever be happy again, he doesn’t want to be out during the day and creates an artificial night, but this changes the moment he sees Juliet. Juliet, instantly becomes the new love of Romeo, bringing him out of the darkness and becoming the light to Romeo’s darkness. Montague, concerned about his son’s behavior says, “But all so soon as the all-cheering sun should in the farthest East being 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. 142-148) Montague saying this explains how Romeo has been acting extremely upset and depressed, shutting out all light and enveloping himself in darkness. However, when he meets Juliet, everything changes and he begins to embrace the light. Romeo muses, “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is East, and Juliet is the sun!”(II.ii. 2-3) Here, Romeo refers to Juliet as the sun, for she has brought light into his life, bringing him out of the darkness. Due to Juliet, Romeo goes from being depressed all the time to learning to embrace the light and finding
Romeo attends the Capulet’s feast as a part of a masquerade. When his eyes suddenly catch a glimpse of Juliet, he exclaims, “o she doth teach the torches to burn bright! / It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night/ As a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear” (Shakespeare 1.5.43-45). When Romeo compares Juliet to a torch, he makes a metaphor, suggesting that her beauty and radiance resemble the light of a torch. He continues to refer to Juliet’s beauty when he compares her to a sparkling jewel that catches the eye of the night sky (the “Ethiop” being a person of dark skin). Romeo correlates Juliet to a torch and a jewel, but never once mentions anything about her personality, even when he has his first interaction with her at the feast. Romeo simply feels desire towards Juliet and seems to over exaggerate his feelings for her. He relentlessly speaks about how beautiful she is when he questions, “did my heart love till now? forswear it sight!/ For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night” (Shakespeare 1.5.51-52). It is evident that Romeo cannot focus on anything else but Juliet’s looks, which is a sign of physical attraction rather than love at first sight. Romeo proclaims to “love” Juliet the minute he lays eyes on her. However, if he falls in love with just the sight of Juliet, there is no other reason he can claim to be in “love”
When Romeo sees Juliet on her balcony, he is struck by her beauty and compares her radiance to the sun. In a soliloquy, as he is aware that Juliet does not hear him, he expresses love for her that outshines his love for Rosaline, the moon. Unlike the sun, the moon is cold and remote, symbolizing Rosaline’s
Juliet cries a lot when she finds out about her husbands fate. Her parents think that she is grieving about the death of her cousin, but instead Juliet is crying for the murderer of her deceased cousin. The nurse brings Juliet the bad news about Romeo (Juliet’s husband) and Tybalt (Juliet’s cousin). She tells Juliet that Romeo has been banished form Verona for murdering Tybalt, who killed Mercutio. Juliet is devastated by this news and starts to mourn about her banished husband (Romeo). Later that day, Paris comes over to the Capulet residence to talk abou...
Also the night will shield them from anyone seeing when they make love to each other. From this we can tell that darkness is one of the main themes in the story as it revolves around tragedy and misfortune because many characters die. Juliet shows us that she wants the darkness to come when she says: 'And bring in cloudy night immediately. Spread thy close curtain, love performing night' Not only does this quote indicate to us that Juliet wishes for the night to come however, it tells us that she wishes to make love to Romeo: 'So tedious is this day' Also this quote tells us that she cannot wait for the day to be over.