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Images of Light in "Romeo & Juliet"
Copyright 2001 by Aerinndis Welf. All rights reserved.
Shakespeare’s tragedy, Romeo & Juliet, is saturated with images of light and darkness as it moves through several days of conflict and hatred, and several nights filled with love and hope.
The play opens on Sunday morning where we witness a brawl between the houses of Capulet and Montague (I.i). This is where we first meet fiery Tybalt who appears most eager to perpetuate the hatred (I.i.70). The Prince, calling for an end to the fight, likens the violence between the houses to fire, admonishing, “You men, you beasts! That quench the fire of your pernicious rage with purple fountains issuing from your veins” (I.i.85). Lady Montague wonders where Romeo is (I.i.116). Benvolio says he has seen him up before the sunrise (I.i.118). Old Montague agrees with him, saying he has heard this many times, adding: “[As] soon as the all-cheering sun [begins to dawn], away from light steals home my heavy son … shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out, and makes himself an artificial night” (I.i.131). This passage sets up the future references to Romeo in darkness and as starlight. After the heads of the households have met with the Prince in the afternoon, Old Capulet discusses Paris’ interest in Juliet and invites him to a party that night (I.ii.20) where he may judge her against the other young women in attendance who, he says, are like “Earth-treading stars that make dark heaven light” (I.ii.25). A short while later, Romeo and Benvolio happen upon news of the party and Benvolio encourages a foray there so that Romeo can compare Rosaline to “some other maid … shining at this feast” (I.ii.98). Romeo resents the suggestion, saying that if he should ever see a woman who makes him think Rosaline is not beautiful, his current tears for her would turn “to fire” (I.ii.89) and burn his eyes for the “liars” they would be (I.ii.91). Here is some foreshadowing of the fire that is Juliet. The Capulet women are somewhere else in the house. Lady Capulet wishes to tell Juliet about Paris (I.ii.74).The nurse makes reference to Juliet’s birthday at “Lammas-tide” (I.iii.14), August 1st, which is approximately ten days off, setting the tale in late July, around the time the sun enters the astrological sign of Leo whose ruling planet is the sun itself. Mildly feisty at this moment, Juliet says she does not want the “honor” (I.iii.66) of marriage, nor does she look forward to seeing Paris at the evening’s festivities (I.iii.97). Nevertheless, the nurse encourages Juliet: “Go, girl, seek happy nights to happy days” (I.iii.105). We remember, however, that these are not necessarily such happy days. That night, Romeo and his friends arrive at the house among the torch-bearers (I.iv.). Romeo, still despondent and unhappy about being dragged along, wants to carry a torch because he does not wish to dance in merriment (I.iv.11). Three times he states his desire in this matter only to have Mercutio deny him that(I.iv.11-40). This is our first encounter with Mercutio — at night among the torches, full of humor and fiery with passion, both positive and negative.Though in darkness, Mercutio talks about “burn[ing] daylight” (I.iv.43) and “waste[ing] our lights in vain, like lights by day!” (I.iv.45). Arguing with Romeo, his light-hearted giddiness rapidly turns to dark intensity. His Queen Mab speech begins with images of delicate beauty in the moonlight, but turns to fearful and horrific visions of bloodshed, curses, and pain (I.iv.53-94). Queen Mab herself moves from mere dreams “gallop[ing] night by night through lovers’ brains” (I.iv.70) to something out in the waking world which “plats the manes of horses in the night and bakes the elf-locks in foul sluttish hairs” (I.iv.89). Romeo now speaks more seriously about his presence there, betraying his fear that “some consequence yet hanging in the stars shall bitterly begin his fearful date with this night’s revels” (I.iv.107). There is trepidation in the night, perhaps as a result of the outright violence of the day. Romeo first spies Juliet at the feast, thinking, “she doth teach the torches to burn bright” (I.v.44), and that he hasn’t seen “true beauty till this night” (I.v.53). Tybalt is also present at this party and shows once again his fury (I.v.54), but his rage is held in check by the honor of his uncle, Old Capulet, who does not seem to care much that Romeo is in attendance (I.v.65). We see that the fire of youth in Tybalt and the other young members of each house is what carries the feud more so than the glowing embers of the elders. After the feast, Romeo looks for Juliet (I.ii.30). When he sees her at the window, he expounds upon her beauty, likening her to “the sun” (II.ii.3), the “stars” (II.ii.15), as “daylight” (II.ii.20), and as a “bright angel” (II.ii.26). This musing sets up Juliet as the sun, a theme that runs throughout the remainder of the play. Juliet is afraid for Romeo’s safety, but he reassures her that “the cloak of night” (II.ii.75) protects him. When Romeo attempts to swear “by yonder blessed moon” (II.ii.107), Juliet scolds him and reminds him how the moon is ever changing and tells him that she feels uneasy about his vow because their love is “too like the lightning, which doth cease to be ere one can say it lightens” (II.ii.119). Romeo, too, feels some unease, and fears “being in night, all this is but a dream” (II.ii.139), perhaps remembering Mercutio’s words.Even so, Juliet moves the newborn relationship to marriage (II.ii.144), then dismisses him because “’tis almost morning, I would have thee gone” (II.ii.176). This is the twilight time, when it is not quite night, but not yet day. It is now Monday morning and Friar Lawrence speaks of the dawn, but could be speaking of Romeo and Juliet: “The grey-ey’d morn smiles on the frowning night … and fleckled darkness like a drunkard reels from forth day’s path and Titan’s fiery wheels. Now … the sun advance[s] his burning eye, the day to cheer and night’s dank dew to dry” (II.iii.1). Romeo has, again, not gone to bed in the night(II.iii.42), but this time it’s because of newfound joy, rather than sadness (II.iii.43). He visits Friar Lawrence and asks him to perform the marriage (II.iii.64). The friar agrees (II.iii.90) and Romeo sets off to join his friends. Back at the Capulet house, Juliet is waiting impatiently for the nurse’s return (II.v.). It is noon when we hear her restless wishing that the nurse could be as quick as “thoughts, which ten times faster glides than the sun’s beams, driving back shadows over low’ring hills” (II.v.5). Eventually, the nurse returns and tells Juliet that she will be married in a few hours (II.v.69) and that Romeo will climb to her window “when it is dark” (II.v.74). The marriage between Romeo and Juliet takes place in the afternoon. Friar Lawrence warns them, before performing the sacrament, that lustful love is like “fire and powder” (II.v.10) and that a more moderate, restrained love will last longer. This marriage is an unusual, happy occurrence in full daylight and the only time when Romeo and Juliet are together past dawn. Romeo, as the night, and Juliet, as day, are married and become, as such, a sort of twilight. After this, their relationship, and lives, decline. During the wedding, Benvolio and Mercutio while away the day in the hot sun. Benvolio is nervous and wants to leave (III.i.1), but Mercutio answers with jest (III.i.5-9), refusing to go anywhere. It is too late anyway, for the Capulets show up (III.i.35), looking for Romeo to answer Tybalt’s challenge. Romeo’s peaceful attitude and expressed love for Tybalt, now his kinsman (III.i.62), only makes Tybalt’s anger rise again (III.i.66), along with Mercutio’s (III.i.73). Since Romeo will not fight, Mercutio does (III.i.75). The quarrel is not his, but he carries the fire of the Montague rage anyway. Two feisty youths, Mercutio and Tybalt, like tongues of flame, duel under the mid-afternoon sun of hot July (III.i.85). Mercutio, first seen by torchlight the night before, now dies in broad daylight, the light of his life extinguished (III.i.122). It is only with the death of Mercutio that Romeo’s own rage is kindled (III.I.123). It is only now that he acts to uphold the ancient grudge between the houses. He lashes out at Tybalt, saying, “Fire-ey’d fury be my conduct now!”(III.i.124). The holy, or unholy, flame of Mercutio’s spirit seems to alight on Romeo and he kills Tybalt (III.i.132). During this time, Juliet is once again lamenting the slow passing of the day (III.ii.1-13). She is now anticipating Romeo’s arrival to consummate the marriage (III.ii.26-28) and thinks of him as “day in night” (III.ii.17), and as “little stars … [which] 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” (III.ii.22-25). The next morning — Tuesday — finds Romeo and Juliet having consummated their marriage and debating at length whether it is still night, allowing them more time together, or morning, the time for Romeo’s banishment (III.v.). It is again twilightą, when day and night are merged. Juliet, echoing her words spoken in the first twilight of their meeting, says, “O now be gone, more light and light it grows” (III.v.35) and he responds, “more light and light, more dark and dark our woes!” (III.v.36). It is true — Romeo and Juliet only find it possible to be together and happy at the crossroads of day and night. That evening, Juliet asks to be alone and drinks the poison (IV.iii.58), which allows her to avoid her arranged marriage to Parisannounced that morning, after Romeo left. The nurse finds Juliet seemingly dead on Wednesday morning, her wedding day.Romeo is experiencing a good day (V.i.4) until hearing from his servant that Juliet is dead (V.i.18). He plans to kill himself that night in her tomb (V.i.34) and seeks the apothecary, asking for “a dram of poison … [which will take life] … as violently as hasty powder fir’d doth hurry from the fatal cannon’s womb” (V.i.64). The nighttime has now been reversed, and it no longer holds hopeful love, but sadness and death. Entering the tomb, Romeo comments on Juliet’s enduring beauty and how she makes “this vault a feasting presence full of light” (V.iii.86). Her lingering fairness brings him a little joy — “a lightning before death” (V.iii.90)— and he vows to never leave her side in the “palace of dim night” (V.iii.107), the tomb. He thinks that by killing himself, he will “shake [off] the yoke of inauspicious >stars” (V.iii.111). He drinks the poison and dies (V.iii.120), after which Juliet awakens to find him and kills herself in dismay (V.iii.160-170). It is just about dawn and the lovers are again united, this time in death. It is now Thursday and both families, along with the Prince, are roused from their sleep to witness the result of the long-held family feud (V.iii.187-208). As before, the daylight is filled with unhappiness, though for once it is not filled with rage and violence. “A glooming peace this morning with it brings, the sun for sorrow, will not show his head” (V.iii.305), observes the Prince. Realization and hope arise from the trio of young lovers who lie in the tomb, and Old Capulet is the first to extend his hand in peace, rather than rage, to Old Montague (V.iii.296). Shakespeare’s tragedy, Romeo & Juliet, is saturated with images of light and darkness as it moves through several days of conflict and hate, and several nights of hope and love. ą[Please note that "twilight" is not limited to just the time around sunset, but is a between-time half-light, neither day/light nor night/dark or, conversely, both day/light and night/dark. Twilight occurs around sunrise as well as around sunset. According to Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, twilight is defined as such: "1: the light from the sky between full night & sunrise or between sunset & full night produced by diffusion of sunlight through the atmosphere & its dust. 2: an intermediate state that is not clearly defined.] ** Works Cited ** Shakespeare, William. “Romeo & Juliet”. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston:Houghton Mifflin, 1997. |
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