Romeo And Juliet Sun And Moon Analysis

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare revolves around the love affair of Romeo and Juliet, whose families are sworn enemies. They fall in love early in the play in spite of their backgrounds, and pursue their love relentlessly, eventually leading to their tragic deaths. The main themes that Shakespeare addresses in this romantic tragedy are love and romance. This is conveyed through Shakespeare’s use of celestial, sun and moon and nature imagery, which captures the purity of the love felt and expressed by the lovers. Shakespeare also talks about the strength of the love between Romeo and Juliet and he refers to heavenly beings to propel Romeo’s burning desire for Juliet’s love.

Religious imagery is used in Act 1 Scene 5 to capture the

Moon imagery is also used to convey the desire for love to be long-lasting rather than short-lived. Shakespeare describes Juliet’s balcony as the “east” and Juliet as the “fair sun”. The symbolism of the quote relates to how Romeo sees Juliet as a remover of darkness, in the same way that the sun removes the darkness of night when it rises. The removal of darkness in literature has often been linked to the idea of positivity and hope. Describing Juliet as the sun also conveys Romeo’s impression of Juliet's beauty, which is so bright that he believes it is only comparable to the sun - the brightest thing in the world. He also uses personification to compare this “sun” to the “envious moon” . The use of the adjective “envious” indicates an allusion to Diana, goddess of the moon, being used here to show that she is jealous of Juliet’s exceptional brilliance. This conveys to the audience Romeo’s belief that Juliet’s beauty is unparalleled. She is, in his eyes, more precious and bright than anything else in existence. Furthermore, in the balcony scene, Romeo states that he will “swear by the moon”, but in this case, Juliet then replies “O swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon”. The adjective “inconstant” refers to something that changes frequently and is unreliable.

Romeo’s description of Juliet is echoed in the concept of The Great Chain of Being, in which women were placed at the bottom of the hierarchy, whereas angels were directly below God. These images elevate her to the position of a deity in his life, someone he believes to be divine, thus revealing his love and admiration for Juliet. Furthermore, the personification of love as an angel as in the quote “with love’s light wings did I o’erperch these walls”. Through the metaphor “love’s light wings,” Romeo states that love carried him across the walls to Juliet's balcony. A double entendre is also used in “these walls” to connote a deeper meaning where the walls represent obstacles in life such as their feuding families. Shakespeare emphasises that love is so powerful that it can make one take great risks that may even endanger one’s