Search results
- Night is a key symbol in the play because it protects the characters. When Romeo is in Juliet’s garden he tells her 'I have night’s cloak to hide me from their sight'. Night makes him feel safe. We also see Romeo sneaking into Juliet’s room at night time to consummate their marriage.
senecalearning.com › en-GB › revision-notes
People also ask
What does light and dark imagery symbolize in Romeo & Juliet?
What is light and darkness in Romeo & Juliet?
How does Shakespeare use symbolism in Romeo & Juliet?
Why is Juliet so bright after death in Romeo & Juliet?
In act 2, scene 6 of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses symbolism to add emotion and imagery to the scene, to connect themes and motifs like love, death, and fate with...
- The Motif of Light and Dark in Romeo and Juliet
- Romeo and Rosaline
- Juliet and The Light
- Ending Darkness
- Darkness Swallows Romeo and Juliet
- Comments
The images of light and dark are one of the most constant visual motifs in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Characters such as Benvolio, Juliet, and Romeo, who exhibit goodness, innocence, and love, are often seen giving off light, discussing light, or in the presence of light. Characters who exhibit violence, evil, and death are often assoc...
Associations almost instantly follow the very first mention of Romeo in the play with light and with darkness. After Montague’s wife asks Benvolio whether or not he has seen Romeo, he responds with, “…an hour before the worshipped sun / Peered forth the golden window of the east,…so early walking did I see your son” (I.1.117-22). After this, Montag...
Juliet is almost always associated with light. Almost immediately before Romeo meets Juliet, there is a foreshadowing by Romeo of his meeting with Juliet. “Give me a torch. I am not for this ambling. / Being but heavy, I will bear the light” (I.4.11-12). Not only is this a pun on the word light, but it is also a foreshadowing of Romeo’s bearing the...
Darkness is a perpetual presence in the final scenes of the play. When Paris is traveling to Juliet’s grave, he has a torch indicating that it is night (V.3.1). This is one of the darkest scenes in the play, both figuratively and literally. Finally, after Romeo and Juliet’s death, Prince Escalus gives a final speech saying, “A glooming peace this m...
Throughout the play, light and dark are almost as large of a presence as some of the characters. Light is seen when there is love, hope, and joy; darkness is present when hatred and death are afoot. All of these light and dark images foreshadow what is going to happen by the end of the play. Just as night swallows the day, so does darkness swallow ...
Baylee Mitchamon April 05, 2020: This helped tremendously with my English 102 paper. Thank you! Terryon April 03, 2019: This really helped with my English literature revision Yapon December 17, 2014: Georgiane - Thanks so much. I started French in 5th Grade at scohol in Ireland but we all we did was play Scrabble in French for two years. I've offic...
The sleeping potion he gives Juliet is concocted to cause the appearance of death, not death itself, but through circumstances beyond the Friar’s control, the potion does bring about a fatal result: Romeo’s suicide. As this example shows, human beings tend to cause death even without intending to. Similarly, Romeo suggests that society is ...
JULIET. I’ll give him equal thanks, so we’re even. ROMEO. Ah, Juliet, if the measure of thy joy 25 Be heaped like mine, and that thy skill be more To blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath This neighbor air, and let rich music’s tongue Unfold the imagined happiness that both Receive in either by this dear encounter.
Juliet thus has the ability to transform darkness (often representing evil) into light (or goodness), and Romeo stands in awe of her glorious beauty. Romeo uses the sun, moon,...
ROMEO. Ah, Juliet, if the measure of thy joy. 25 Be heaped like mine, and that thy skill be more. To blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath. This neighbor air, and let rich music’s tongue. Unfold the imagined happiness that both. Receive in either by this dear encounter. ROMEO. Ah, Juliet, if the measure of thy joy.
