Romeo and Juliet

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet used the literary device of foreshadowing to advance the tragic story of two teenage lovers. Foreshadowing was a warning or indication of an event that came later in the story. Shakespeare used many examples of foreshadowing to show an indication of the death or grave future of somebody. Shakespeare uses a few motifs, or reoccurring events, to tell the future.

In Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare references light and dark to show the love of the couple and the consequences. Romeo compares Juliet to light a few times during the play. When Romeo first sees her he says “O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!” (I.v.43). He is saying that she is so beautiful that she outshines all the other girls. Juliet compares Romeo with a light that illuminates the dark:

JULIET: Take Romeo and cut him out into little stars,

And he will make the face of heaven so fine

That all the world will be in love with night

And pay no worship to the garish sun. (3.2.23-6)

Here Romeo, transformed into a shimmering star forever, becomes the very definition of light, outshining even the sun. One of the more important instances of this motif is Romeo’s lengthy meditation on the sun and the moon during the balcony scene, in which Juliet, metaphorically described as the sun, is seen as “banishing the envious moon” and transforming the night into day (II.i.46). This symbolizes that the love of Romeo and Juliet will banish all darkness and make the darkness into light. This is kind of ironic because their love eventually does the exact opposite.

Another motif used by Shakespeare is poison. One use of poison is to give the reader a clue about a future death. After Romeo is banished by Escalus, Friar Lawrence tells...

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... Romeo and Juliet. Motifs are needed to understand the numerous themes in Romeo and Juliet. Also, they can reveal the innermost characteristics and personalities of characters, while enhancing the reader’s knowledge of any inner meanings to the specific themes of the play. Motifs are used to develop and make clearer the major themes of a play and reveal the nature of the play. Light and dark are used to compare Romeo and Juliet to brightness and darkness, like the sun and the moon. Poison is to indicate death. Power, money, and gold is a motif that has the ability to tempt the hearts of characters into believing that wealth is everything, but to righteous characters, like Escalus, power and money can be used for good.

Work Cited

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Eds. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992.