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A Struggle Between Good and Evil
Evil versus goodness
A Struggle Between Good and Evil
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Light Over Dark: The Choice Romeo and Juliet Didn’t Make
The purpose of the light/dark motif in Romeo and Juliet is to show how Romeo and Juliet are unable to tell light from dark, or good from bad. I think everyone has the potential to discern what choices lead to “light” and what choices keep them in the “dark”. So Romeo and Juliet had that potential but I don’t think they wanted to know about that, since nothing else mattered to them but them. In this play, Romeo and Juliet do never make a clear choice of light over dark because they almost do not want to deal that decision in the midst of their romantic bliss. They could have brought their situation, which was becoming more of a mess each day, into the light by speaking openly about it. However that would’ve ended, I think the feud would have to be reconciled in some way and I’m sure Romeo and Juliet would not have lost their lives doing this. By ignoring their responsibilities and ignoring the darkness that was impeding upon them, Romeo and Juliet in essence allow tragedy to befall them both.
In the first scene, Romeo is depressed because his love for Rosaline is a one-way love. His parents are worried because Romeo spends all his time in the dark. Even when it is light, he shrouds himself in darkness to reflect his dreary mood: Away from the 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. 137-140). This light/dark imagery shows that Romeo is choosing to keep himself engaged in a relationship which will always be at this inevitable stand-still, since Rosaline doesn’t return Romeo’s love, and has vowed chastity. This choice to remain at a stand-still keeps Romeo in the dark because he is not moving on in his life and facing the myriad of other romantic possibilities.
Benvolio helps bring Romeo back into the light by taking him to a feast where he meets Juliet, who is brighter to Romeo than anything in Capulet’s house: O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! (I.V. 44). Although, Romeo did feel unease earlier when he was going to this party with his friends: I fear, too early: for my mind misgives / Some consequence yet hanging in the stars / Shall bitterly begin his fearful date (I.
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.
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.
In the Franco Zefferelli adaptation, proceeding the extravagant Capulet party, Romeo walks down a dark stone path alone with his very boisterous friends trailing closely behind him. They sound drunken and unruly so Romeo seeks refuge from them by climbing rocks into a nearby forest. He pauses in the darkness to listen to his confidants joke about how fantastic a lover Romeo is, and he smiles in amusement at the contents of their commotion. Traveling deeper into the foliage, Romeo sees the light pouring from Juliet's window and continues towards it in curiosity. He walks slowly in the darkness until he clearly sees the illuminated palace in which Juliet resides, finding his love leaning on the balcony wall. Juliet wear a white gown which makes her appear very angelic and virginal. Her hair is soft, her eyes sparkle, and her innocence is undeniable. Romeo moves slowly and quietly through the bushes trying to get a better look at her, and, doubting his presence there at that time, he pauses and leans his head against a tree, trying to remain anonymous.
As Mehmet Murat İldan once quoted, “A man who refused light will remain in darkness even by the side of light.” Throughout Romeo and Juliet, light and dark imagery is used to intensify the tragedy in this story. Romeo exists in a dark, depressed state while thinking about his first love, Rosaline. Romeo doesn’t ever think he will be happy or see light again, yet Shakespeare provides light imagery that implies Romeo could have a positive future. Light imagery conveys that Juliet, a beautiful, young girl full of hope, dreams of bringing Romeo out of the artificial darkness he creates for himself. Shakespeare uses light and dark imagery in many ways, including setting the mood, capturing the characters’ personalities, and developing the characters
Love is dependent upon the slightest change, but it can cause the utmost drastic consequences. This is the truth of two lovers in William Shakespeare’s furthermost celebrated play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. In the case of Romeo and Juliet, love is inimical. Romeo comes from the family of Montague while Juliet comes from the family of Capulet. For reasons unknown, these two families are sworn enemies. However, Romeo and Juliet are not. In fact, they are in a secret relationship that only two others know about. The only two that Romeo and Juliet trust, the Nurse and the Friar. While the Nurse, Friar, and Juliet’s father, Lord Capulet, all have good intentions, they are all responsible for the suicides of Romeo and Juliet in the
Life is filled with difficult situations and tough choices to make. The question is, should we choose to make them ourselves? Some people feel it's best to do things alone, while others do not. For example, most of the characters in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare that are analyzed in the text, “What’s the Rush?: Young Brains Cause Doomed Love” by Lexi Tucker, do not consider other’s opinions at all. However, the opinions of people who love us positively affect our choices so it would be smart to consider them in most cases, but not in those that are very personal.
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
In essence, most of the tragic things that happened in the play were because Romeo didn’t sit down and think calmly and thoroughly what consequences would his actions lead to. This impulsive behaviour led him to problematic and poorly made decisions, which conclude to this tragic ending
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.
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...
(HOOK) How can one grave mistake made by a character eventually accumulate and have an immense impact on the plot of a storyline? Depending on the piece of literature, certain characters can create setbacks through their actions and choices. (CI) Likewise, a pair of star-crossed lovers face challenging obstacles based on certain decisions made by characters. (GS1) The protagonist of the play, Romeo Montague, generates various dilemmas because of the severe choices he makes, especially his decision to kill Tybalt. (GS2) Meanwhile, Mercutio, Romeo’s best friend, is another character who causes impactful changes in the play with his overdramatic personality. (GS3) Additionally, the character Friar Laurence ultimately makes the most drastic choice
Is love worth it all? As publicized in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, reckless decisions may possibly lead to an unforeseen and dreadful conclusion. He also makes it known that if feelings about a situation are over dramatized they can cause a hazardous faux pas. That is exactly what Romeo, Juliet, and Friar Lawrence implement in Shakespeare’s tragedy. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the major characters cause the tragic outcome of the drama through their bad choices and decisions.
/ She hath…”), nothing Benvolio says in return seems to bring solace to Romeo that he will find another love (I.1.216-217). This steadfast approach to loving Rosaline without her reciprocation is what Petrarchan sonnets are written about. Furthermore, when Romeo discovers that she is a Capulet, that also does not dissolve his feelings for her, made clear by him continuing to go to the Capulet’s party. When Romeo agrees to go to the party, he says: “I’ll go along, no such sight to be shown, / But to rejoice in splendor of my own,” (I.2.102-103). This shows that even though Romeo is aware that he will never be able to have Rosaline, he agrees to go to the party to prove no one else will ever live up to her; thus, proving Benvolio wrong and allowing himself to continue to exert his energy on this unrequited love. Romeo’s desire to focus on Rosaline adds to his influence by the Petrarchan sonnet, where Romeo is blinded by this unrequited love and sees no solution besides to suffer through his feelings. This willingness to wallow creates a unique outlook on Romeo’s expectation of love for the rest of the play: Romeo expects love to be
Accidentally, incidentally, unintentionally, intentionally; no one ever really knows, but we are for certain one thing: “the heart isits own fate.” For Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, two star-crossed lovers in Shakespeare’s masterpiece play ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ this holds especially true. Romeo and Juliet’s “misadventure piteous overthrow” is fueled by their love for each other and their determination to be together, no matter what. Romeo and Juliet’s love with stands the hate surrounding them. Thus, fate is undoubtedly the most responsible influence for the two young lovers’ heartbreaking tragedy.
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.