The play opens with the poetic form of a sonnet being read by the chorus. This sets the scene and introduces the story of two young lovers caught between their families and ending with the lovers’ deaths,
“Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny”. (Prologue)
A sonnet is usually defined as being written from a lover to his beloved. This therefore has special relevance to the play. As sonnets are a very structured type of prose, Shakespeare cleverly contrasts the order of this opening sonnet with the immediate disorder of the first scene which shows quarrelling servants who provoke a fight between the houses of Montague and Capulet. This would have been a very busy scene, with many actors on stage creating a sense of confusion. Having this large fight scene right at the start of the play creates tension and emphasises the violence between the two houses.
By using this comparison between something beautiful (the sonnet) and something dark (the fight) Shakespeare first uses his recurring theme of comparison between light and dark.
The sonnet is also used by Romeo and Juliet in their first love scene, this time spoken by both characters, Romeo says
“If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss”.(Act 1, scene 5)
Romeo earlier compares Juliet to “a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s ear”. This is another comparison between light and dark because Romeo is saying that Juliet is something beautiful amidst something horrible and chaotic. The play as a whole is a comparison between light and dark with the young lovers being the source of light amidst the darkness of the ongoing feud between the two families.
Throughout the play, there are many references to life and death, another comparison of light and dark. Nearly all the elements of the play; conflict, death, poison are dark, while the love between Romeo and Juliet is the only element which could be described as light in the play. Romeo speaks of Juliet as a “bright angle shining in the night”, again the vision that the love is the only light in the play and is surrounded by darkness. Also, Juliet describes Romeo as “whiter than new snow upon a raven’s back”.
The language throughout the play also makes this comparison between light and dark. Shakespeare’s characters are continually cursing and banishing each other throughout the play, even in the very first scene when Tybalt says
“What drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word as I hate heel and all Montagues and thee!”.
(Act 1, scene 1)
However, this is contrasted by the beautiful language between Romeo and Juliet. In the famous balcony scene Romeo says
“It is the east and Juliet is the sun, Arise, fair sun and kill the
envious moon”.
This further illustrates the idea that their young love is seen as the light in the play, as Romeo refers Juliet to the sun.
When Romeo meets Juliet he uses a metaphor to describe her
“She doth teach the torches to burn bright”
He is saying that she is so beautiful her beauty outshines the torches. This tells the audience that she is supposed to be very beautiful. This is important, as in Shakespeare’s time Juliet may well have been played by a boy and so he needed to convey the idea of her beauty to the audience. By mentioning torches he is also telling the audience that the scene is set at night. Live torches were probably not used at it would be a dangerous fire risk. However, actors might have carried them to depict night.
He also says “she is like a snowy dove among crows” . This further emphasises Juliet’s bright beauty indicating that she stands out from the crowd and may be very fair skinned. All this reinforces Juliet as being like the sun or the stars.
It is important to understand that Shakespeare wrote this play to be performed, not just read. When Romeo and Juliet meet, their speech shows the sequence of their actions from handholding to kissing. In the balcony scene, it is cleverly stage crafted because Romeo is standing in the dark looking up at Juliet symbolising that Romeo sees Juliet as “a bright angel shining in the night”.
Shakespeare stages nearly all of the love scenes in the play at the night, and all of the fight scenes during the day when people supposedly feel secure. This creates tension and unease and is another contrast between light and dark. The love scenes are staged in the dark away from all the unsettling events of the day. It could be seen that the love between Romeo and Juliet can only exist away from the unsettling events of the daytime so it flourishes during the night. The violence and disorder of the two families takes place during the daytime while the love takes place at night.
Tragically, it is the love between Romeo and Juliet that causes their deaths. The ‘light’ of their love is snuffed out in its infancy by all the darkness happening around it. The young lovers’ deaths are the price that is paid for peace between the two families.
To conclude Shakespeare uses the language, stage direction, costume, props and themes of the play (conflict and love, ie darkness and sunlight) to capture the dominating image of light that is the young love between Romeo and Juliet.