An examination of the oppositions and contrasts in Romeo and Juliet.

Authors Avatar

Amy Willis

Candidate Number: 0375

Centre Number: 01545

An examination of the oppositions and contrasts in Romeo and Juliet.

William Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet as an example of how both the emotions of love and hate can exist alongside and within two higher-class families at constant civil war with one another. This report will examine how this piece is told through the use of various contrasts, these are; love and hate, light and dark, language and reality, fortune and free will, public and private and finally death and life.

Romeo and Juliet was written in fifteen ninety-five although there is speculation that the idea and format of this play may not have been genuinely created by Shakespeare, as believed, despite this play being by far his most famous piece of work. Despite Romeo and Juliet being set in ‘Verona’, a fictional city in Italy, the social background of this play is typically that of sixteenth century England.  

The first contrast to be examined is that of light and dark. This contrast can be found in the play during a dialogue between Romeo and Juliet in Act three, Scene five. In this scene, Romeo and Juliet are just awaking in her bedroom after their wedding night together. They are playfully arguing whether it is indeed still night or whether it is indeed day as Romeo thinks it is. Romeo is sure morning is breaking and is determined to leave as if he was found in Juliet’s bedroom he would be punished with his life. Romeo would be killed as he belongs to the Montague family who are at civil war with the Capulet’s. Juliet is a Capulet.

The most commonly used symbol of this contrast is that of the bird both Romeo and Juliet can hear singing in the distance. The contrast arises because Julie believes that it is the nightingale, which only sings at night and Romeo believes that it is the Lark who sings at first light. We learn of this when Juliet exclaims, ‘It was the nightingale and not the Lark,’ these two birds symbolise the difference between both day and night and therefore light and dark.

Another of the contrasts used is that of the sun and the moon. Romeo makes reference to seeing the sun setting when he says, ‘What envious streaks do lace the severing clouds in yonder east,’ this reference is made to the east as this is where the sun sets. Juliet claims this light is not that of the sun but simply ‘some meteor that the sun exhaled’ this a reference to the moon.

Despite Juliet’s obvious desire for Romeo to stay, she contradicts herself by agreeing with Romeo that it is indeed light. Juliet’s reason for this sudden change in mind is that she discovers Romeo’s real motive for leaving which is to protect themselves from their families who would not approve. Juliet does this without having to admit that she was wrong or that she actually agrees with him by saying that it is ‘the lark that sings so out of tune.’

Join now!

The main contrast of this play is that of love and hate, which are also the running themes to this tragedy. The strong emotion of hate is displayed throughout the play due to the civil war between the Montague family and the Capulet family. We learn that this hate is an ‘ancient grudge’ during the prologue.

The main figure of hatred in the Capulet family is Tybalt, who is Juliet’s first cousin. We discover this when Tybalt declares ‘Now by the stock and honour of my kin, to strike him dead I hold it not a sin,’ ...

This is a preview of the whole essay