Rome and Juliet Theme

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Theme of Stars Allusions to the stars can be seen frequently throughout Romeo and Juliet. The first time we hear about stars in the novel is in the prologue when Romeo and Juliet are referred to as "Star-crossed lovers" , which is a symbolic meaning of the two feuding families that Romeo and Juliet belong to; this signifies the fate that is unavoidably against them. Next, In Scene 2, Romeo says : "Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven. Having some business, do entreat her eyes. To twinkle in their spheres till they return". Here Romeo sees Juliet and is overcome by her grace. He refers to her eyes that he thinks shine so bright they light up the sky as stars, using stars as a metaphor for beauty. Later in the play, Juliet says of Romeo : Come, gentle night, — come, loving black brow'd night, Give me my Romeo; and when he shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars, And he 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.” Here Juliet is talking about how lonely she is and how much she misses Romeo. She says if he was to die (disappear) , she would want the stars to light the sky with his face and that would make night much more bearable.The stars here represent what she wants to be permanent- Romeo and her being together although she knows that this cannot be and he has to leave just like the stars disappear and the sun comes up. In Noel Kinnamon’s article “Imagery in Romeo and Juliet”, he says that “images and image clusters play an important role in defining character, reinforcing theme, and even establishing mood or atmosphere in Shakespeare's plays.” He adds that in Romeo and Juliet, light imagery in various forms appears in nearly every scene. The stars symbolize the inescapable misfortune of the young lovers and how the fate of Romeo and Juliet has already been set out for
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