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Understand every line of Romeo and Juliet. Read our modern English translation. Romeo and Juliet complicates traditional notions of light versus dark and day versus night. Light is typically a symbol of openness, purity, hope, and good fortune, while dark often represents confusion, obscurity, and doom.
Romeo and Juliet complicates traditional notions of light versus dark and day versus night. Light is typically a symbol of openness, purity, hope, and good fortune, while dark often represents confusion, obscurity, and doom.
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. He feels sheltered and protected at night time because it encourages secrecy.
- Poison
- Thumb-Biting
- Queen Mab
In his first appearance, in Act 2, scene 2, Friar Lawrence remarks that every plant, herb, and stone has its own special properties and that nothing exists in nature that cannot be put to both good and bad uses. Thus, poison is not intrinsically evil, but instead it's a natural substance made lethal by human hands. Friar Lawrence’s words prove true...
In Act 1, scene 1, the buffoonish Samson begins a brawl between the Montagues and Capulets by flicking his thumbnail from behind his upper teeth, an insulting gesture known as biting the thumb. He engages in this juvenile and vulgar display because he wants to get into a fight with the Montagues but doesn’t want to be accused of starting the fight ...
In Act 1, scene 4, Mercutio delivers a dazzling speech about the fairy Queen Mab, who rides through the night on her tiny wagon bringing dreams to sleepers. One of the most noteworthy aspects of Queen Mab’s ride is that the dreams she brings generally do not bring out the best sides of the dreamers, but instead serve to confirm them in whatever vic...
One of the play’s most consistent visual motifs is the contrast between light and dark, often in terms of night/day imagery. This contrast is not given a particular metaphoric meaning—light is not always good, and dark is not always evil.
Explanations of Romeo and Juliet's symbols, and tracking of where they appear. Romeo and Juliet: Literary Devices Romeo and Juliet 's key literary devices explained and sortable by chapter.
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Romeo and Juliet subverts traditional symbols of light and dark. Generally, light represents goodness and hope, while dark signifies confusion and danger. Shakespeare upends these common associations, however, as day and bright lights are portrayed as negative in the play.
