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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.
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.
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 Mercutio tells Romeo that he believes Romeo has been visited by Queen Mab, he suggests that Romeo is becoming too caught up in daydreams and fantasy. Light and Darkness One of the central motifs of the play is the interplay between light and darkness.
- Looking For Themes and Symbols in Romeo and Juliet
- Love and Hate
- Fate and Free Will
- Youth and Age
- Death
- Light and Dark
- Oppositions and Oxymorons
Themes are recurring preoccupations that appear within a play. Sometimes these take the form of language, sometimes as imagery. Many of Shakespeare’s plays contain similar overarching themes such as conflict and change; but each play also contains its own ‘fingerprint’ of deeper themes too. Here we explore some of the particular themes you can find...
Romeo and Juliet is possibly Shakespeare’s most famous play, and everyone quickly recognises that love is the central theme. Equally as important though is the idea of opposing forces, and so hate plays a crucial role too. Love is represented in many ways, firstly as the stylized ‘Petrarchan Love’ that lovesick Romeo feels for the unattainable Rosa...
More opposing ideas here too. At the very opening of the play the prologue warns us of this, kicking off with the idea of “A pair of star-crossed lovers” for whom fate has already decided the outcomes. It is in the hands of the stars. Tension is created as Romeo and Juliet experience premonitions of ill-fortune, yet neither lose their ability to ac...
Many times you’ll see that the perceived differences between young an old fuel the events of the play. Contrast is made between the vigorous and sometimes impetuous emotions of youth against the more cautious wisdom which appears to come from maturity. We find this in the relationship between Romeo and Friar Lawrence. “I stand on sudden haste” urge...
All of these themes ultimately tie up with the notion of death versus life. The play is full of references to death, both serious and playful. Life seems to be pretty cheap in Verona, and that death is never far away is reflected in richness of the language used to describe it: “death-mark’d love”, “canker death”, “love-devouring death”, “death-dar...
One of the most arresting and recurring symbols used throughout the play is that of light and dark. Romeo and Juliet meet at night, and much of the time we spend with them together is in the hours of darkness. But time and again Romeo sees nothing but light from Juliet, “Juliet is the sun” he says. So much of their shared language concerns light an...
Along with the oppositions we’ve identified in theme and motif, oppositions also turn up spoken in the form of oxymorons. These literary devices are used within the play’s language to heighten the complexity and intensity of the emotions expressed. For example, confronting his own unrequited love for Rosaline Romeo says “Here’s much to do with hate...
Friar Lawrence’s words prove true over the course of the play. 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.
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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.”
