The Complementary Contrast of Light and Dark
Light in Romeo and Juliet is a white crayon. It is bold and powerful, but also rather bland against white paper. Hence, the need for darkness. In the story, the dark acts as black paper, fully allowing the white crayon to shine. The thematic elements of light and dark act as a platform for Shakespeare to highlight the dynamics of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship. Romeo and Juliet, being forbidden lovers from feuding families, have to conceal their relationship. Their love is spontaneous and intense, the kind of love that yearns to shine as brightly as possible. While Romeo and Juliet obsessively crave to have this love at all times, the current society forbids them from openly expressing their affection.
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To Romeo, Juliet shines brighter than any other girl: “It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. / Arise, fair sun and kill the envious moon” (2. 2. 3-4). This powerful comparison to light shows the magnitude of Romeo’s love for Juliet. Throughout the play, Romeo continues to praise Juliet for her beauty and brilliance. These continued comparisons emphasize the intensity of their love. Additionally, Romeo’s fixation with Juliet being his light demonstrates how his whole life revolves around her, similar to how planets revolve around the sun or moths swarm to a light. Light, however, does not just demonstrate the intensity of Romeo and Juliet’s love, but also the severity and importance of keeping their relationship a secret. Unlike darkness, with light comes to the ability to see the truth. Romeo and Juliet know that they themselves are in peril when the world is light: “Your lady mother is coming to your chamber. / The day is broke, be wary, look about. / Then, window, let day in, and let life out” (3. 4. 39-41). In the case of Romeo in Juliet’s bedroom, light coming through the window directly correlates with the risk of them being discovered. As it gets lighter, the sooner Romeo has to leave. By it not being night, the cover for Romeo and Juliet’s love is no longer there, leaving their love transparent and visible. Therefore, as night disappears, Romeo must
Juliet is brighter than the torches which light the whole room and that she teaches them to be as bright as she is. Romeo then goes on to talk of Juliet as "a snowy dove trooping with crows," saying that Juliet is a bright, white dove, a symbol of peace. walking among black crows; she stands out like a beacon of light in the dark. Romeo then asks. My heart loves it till now, forswear it.
Romeo and Juliet is known as one of the greatest love stories, but it has its fair share of tragedy as well. The story riddles with themes throughout. Love is the first theme and there is no greater love than the love Romeo and Juliet share. Shakespeare offers his audiences just as much hate as love in Romeo and Juliet. The families of both Romeo and Juliet involve themselves in centuries of feuding. The ongoing feud between the Montagues and Capulets drives Romeo and Juliet into a life of secrecy, which ultimately causes their deaths. Youth is another theme and ties directly to how young both Romeo and Juliet are both in their age and their relationship. The story of Romeo and Juliet uses sex as a theme as well although not in the intimate details of more modern stories. The two lovers concerns are not with the wishes of their warring families, they just want to be together “Deny thy father and refuse thy name / Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn by my love / And I’ll no longer be a Capulet” (2.2.34-36). Love is the first theme Shakespeare displays in this play.
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.
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
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Yukio Mishima’s The Sound of Waves, the secondary characters play an essential role in the book. In Romeo and Juliet by an English playwright and poet William Shakespeare, Friar Lawrence is an important secondary character who designs solutions for Romeo and Juliet and brings the play into the dramatic results. The failure of his plan causes the tragedy of death for both main characters at the end of the story. In The Sound of Waves, Shinji Kubo, a young and poor fisherman in Uta-Jima falls in love with Hatuse, a rich man’s daughter. Shinji and Hatsue try to be together throughout the book, but encounter many difficulties with their neighbors. Shinji’s mother tries to help Shinji and Hatsue by asking many people and going to shrines to beg the gods for help to get them together.
A character goes through many changes that depend on the kind of events they experience. The play “Romeo and Juliet” written by William Shakespeare, uses different tones and language that shows the readers that Juliet, a Protagonist, changes over time, proving the idea that she is a dynamic character. At the beginning of the play, we are introduced to a young, innocent and inexperienced girl, Juliet the daughter of Lord Capulet . She has not yet seen the real world and is raised by the person she trusts most, her nurse. Juliet begins as a naive child who has thought little about love and marriage, but she grows up quickly upon falling in love with Romeo, the son of her family’s great enemy. Due to the fact that Juliet is a girl in an aristocratic family, she has none of the freedom Romeo has to rome around the city, climb over walls in the middle of the night, or get into swordfights. As we begin to learn more about the character of Juliet, we learn that Juliet is not the girl she used to be anymore. She is more courageous and willing to break the rules. She goes against her and her family beliefs. In the beginning of the play she obeys her parents. But as the play descends Juliet is disregarding of what her parents say. She is no longer the innocent girl she use to be. Shakespeare use of language helps the reader to see the change in a character that makes them a dynamic character.
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.
middle of paper ... ...peaceful; the only light we can see is coming from the pool and the fairy lights which are near the balcony, this sets a very romantic mood for Romeo and Juliet. The lighting in Franco Zeffirelli’s film is very subtle; the only source of light that has been used is coming from inside the Capulet. residents from other rooms. Again the lighting is very important and it is dim and you cannot see a lot, which makes it more interesting. and romantic for Romeo and Juliet.
Romeo & Juliet Romeo and Juliet was a tragedy, but it did not have to be. Many things could have been done to prevent their deaths. Many characters contributed to their deaths. The sole character that was responsible for their deaths is Friar Lawrence. Friar Lawrence is responsible for the deaths of the lovers because he was secretive with their relationship, he was unable communicate effectively, and he had a cowardly persona.
“Here’s to my love! Drinks. O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.” (V.iii.119-120). This is a quote out of Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet detailing rash decisions of people madly infatuated. In this play, two lovers (Romeo and Juliet) have a relationship that is shown to be quite shallow. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses idioms, allusions, and monologues to show that Romeo and Juliet have a shallow relationship.
Throughout the course of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship, they are constantly faced with trials and tribulations. Every time they overcome an obstacle, they are met with another issue, one after the other. Because they are so overcome with the kind of desperation and impulsivity that love produces, they are willing to risk disownment by their polarized families, disobey the wishes of their parents, and even put their lives on the line for one another. All of these risky and dangerous situations that Romeo and Juliet decide to place themselves in are taken without the concrete knowledge that the outcomes of their actions will successfully aid them in their goal of being together in the end. To showcase this underlying theme of love as a dangerous
Love is often perceived as something perfect and flawless in today’s society. However, Romeo and Juliet, a play written by William Shakespeare, portrays love as a form of passionate and violent force that comes with both rewards and consequences.The tragedy focuses on two young lovers called Romeo and Juliet, whose families are intertwined in an ancient feud that disrupts the peace in Verona, Italy. For love, the two teenagers are driven to overcome obstacles they will never imagine doing, and as a result, they along other family members are forced to pay the price of their lives. Through the play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare exhibits the reality of young love through the portrayal of the Queen Mab Speech, the impulsive actions taken by both lovers, and the results caused by the powerful nature of their love.
Young love; a questionable topic since the early days of mankind. Even after centuries have passed, many still wonder whether it is considered true love or just plain lust. This mystery reincarnates itself through Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The question that arises in this tragic love story of young, supposedly star-crossed lovers is who is to be truly blamed for their deaths within the first two acts? With a story as complex as this one, the blame can fall on various characters. However, the most evident characters to take the fall are Benvolio, Romeo and Friar Lawrence.
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.