Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be

Juliet and the light motif.

This is the second essay about Romeo and Juliet, which discusses Juliet and the light motif. You can find all the Shakespeare essays here, and the schedule for future meetings here. The first part is here, do read it first. We meet on Sunday 3rd March, 19.00 UK time to discuss Love’s Labour’s Lost. Paid subscribers can also join this chat about the play.

If you want to join the Shakespeare book club, subscribe today.

---

Romeo & Juliet is a play of light and dark.

Light is a constant motif and image, from Romeo’s first lines to the lovers’ dying speeches. Capulet calls for more light at the party. With his friends on the streets, Romeo feels a heavy burden so he carries the lights. Mercutio calls for hedonism now, or else “We waste our lights in vain, like lamps by day.” Romeo first calls Juliet the light that from yonder window breaks. When she asks how he got into the orchard, he says it was with love’s light wings. Juliet is repeatedly symbolised as light. The acts are structured as a series of dawns and dusks.

And light is not always a good thing: the lovers don’t want the sun to rise on them in the bedroom, which will mean Romeo must leave. “More light and light it grows”, cries Juliet. Romeo replies, “More light and light; more dark and dark our woes!” He is always the shadow to her light. In the balcony scene he says, “Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon.” Since he has been entirely associated with night, and remains in the shadows in this scene, this is at once a call for the end of virginity (the moon being Diana, goddess of chastity) and an example of Romeo’s death drive.

---

The rest of this essay is for paid subscribers. Below the paywall, you can find out about the tragic foreshadowing in Juliet’s speeches, and the importance of the line “Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be”.

A paid subscription gives you access to essays where you learn the different ways of understanding and interpreting works of literature. If you want to cultivate your taste through deeper knowledge and increased insight, become a paid subscriber today. It’s approximately the cost of a cup of coffee once a week, but gives you access to all my writing. And you can join our book club sessions (usually 7pm, UK time, monthly, on a Sunday; I’m open to other times.)