In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, a play by William Shakespeare, love and hate are reappearing emotions just like light and dark are also reappearing images. Light typically symbolizes love and darkness symbolizes hate, but Shakespeare switches the meanings to make a statement on love and hate. In the tragedy, Romeo and Juliet’s love is born from the hate of their families and they inevitably die as a price for the feud. In many instances regarding love and hate, these emotions, although polar opposite, actually have the same face established by Shakespeare’s contrast. This contrast demonstrates that love and hate can coexist as well as bring out each other, where love inspires hate and vice versa. The animosity between the Montagues and
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At the end of act 3, Juliet insists it’s still nighttime but Romeo knows he must leave or else he’ll die. Juliet eventually gives in and exclaims, “More light and light--more dark and dark our woes” to express her eternal love and hate for his departure (3.5.36). The light, typically positive, is the prime factor of the lover’s grief as it separates Romeo and Juliet, two inseparable lovers. They wish they had more time together and this ironic example is used to explain how love can also inspire hate, since light, usually symbolizing life, can also symbolize hate. This example heightens the tragic ending because the audience understands that the lover’s love will have to be matched with hate, or in other words, their deaths. Another example is after the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet, where the Prince honored the day since “A glooming peace this morning with it brings. The sun for sorrow will not show it’s head” (5.3.305-306). The day brings peace, but it also brings sorrow with it. This emphasizes the blur between light and dark as it is day, yet the sun does not shine. The light symbolically honors the hate from the families to conclude the play’s tragedy. Shakespeare contrasts here to emphasize that the love of Romeo and Juliet had to be given up in order for the hatred of the families to turn to love. In this manner, Shakespeare was able to utilize contrast to heighten the play’s tragedy to this moment, where the audience knew that the families’ hate overcomes Romeo and Juliet’s love, as love pays the price for hate. As a result, Shakespeare employs contrast between light and dark to heighten the play’s tragic ending and express the relationship between love and
At the end of act 3, Juliet insists it’s still nighttime but Romeo knows he must leave or else he’ll die. Juliet eventually gives in and exclaims, “More light and light--more dark and dark our woes” to express her eternal love and hate for his departure (3.5.36). The light, typically positive, is the prime factor of the lover’s grief as it separates Romeo and Juliet, two inseparable lovers. They wish they had more time together and this ironic example is used to explain how love can also inspire hate, since light, usually symbolizing life, can also symbolize hate. This example heightens the tragic ending because the audience understands that the lover’s love will have to be matched with hate, or in other words, their deaths. Another example is after the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet, where the Prince honored the day since “A glooming peace this morning with it brings. The sun for sorrow will not show it’s head” (5.3.305-306). The day brings peace, but it also brings sorrow with it. This emphasizes the blur between light and dark as it is day, yet the sun does not shine. The light symbolically honors the hate from the families to conclude the play’s tragedy. Shakespeare contrasts here to emphasize that the love of Romeo and Juliet had to be given up in order for the hatred of the families to turn to love. In this manner, Shakespeare was able to utilize contrast to heighten the play’s tragedy to this moment, where the audience knew that the families’ hate overcomes Romeo and Juliet’s love, as love pays the price for hate. As a result, Shakespeare employs contrast between light and dark to heighten the play’s tragic ending and express the relationship between love and