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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.
- Light/Dark and Day/Night
Romeo wants Juliet’s light to blot out the “moon” of his old...
- Potions and Poisons
Desperate to be reunited with his love, Romeo purchases...
- Act 1, Scene 3
Juliet’s nurse says she’s aware of Juliet’s age, because her...
- Light/Dark and Day/Night
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.
- 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...
Romeo and Juliet study guide contains a biography of William Shakespeare, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.
In Juliet’s balcony soliloquy the audience is able to see how desperate she is to have a way in which Romeo could not be a Montague. This desperation is what leads Juliet to go to the Friar after Romeo’s banishment for the potion which leads to the tragic ending.
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The theme of ill-fated love frames the story of Romeo and Juliet from the beginning. During the Prologue, before the play officially commences, the Chorus makes several allusions to fate, including the famous reference to Romeo and Juliet as a “pair of star-crossed lovers.”
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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.
