Mr. Childs
English 1 Honors
29 January 2015
Romeo & Juliet Metaphors William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet includes countless metaphors and similes that are used to describe the relationship between Romeo and Juliet. Act 2, Scene 2 also known as the balcony scene portrays the complex relationship between the “two star crossed lovers”(6). There is no absolute definition of love and everyone finds out his or her interpretation differently. William Shakespeare uses metaphors to describe love so the reader/audience can figure out their own interpretation of the metaphor and love. One of Shakespeare’s many metaphors is when Romeo says, “O, speak again, bright angel”(26). In this line, Romeo is speaking up to Juliet who is on the balcony. The metaphor compares Juliet to a bright angel above Romeo. Likewise, Romeo is standing below Juliet and is staring up at her on the balcony where light is coming from behind of her. This metaphor is also a religious reference because seeing and looking at a bright angel will cause happiness and joy. The metaphor shows us that Juliet is as holy as angel to Romeo. Romeo also means that Juliet has the same grace, glorious and majestic presence like the angel. This was one of the countless scenes in the play. According to Romeo, “Juliet is the Sun”(3). She brightens his day like the sun does to all life on earth. Without her he would be lost in the darkness and would be living in shadows. The metaphor also shows the importance of Juliet in Romeo’s life. If Juliet is gone, it would be like the sun missing. Romeo is weighing her as the same importance as the sun and if she were gone, Romeo would be lost in his life. Juliet is important to Romeo and therefore he describes her as his sun. Romeo and Juliet’s relationship was “Too like the lightning”(119). This metaphor describes the relationship between them. They met each other for a few hours and they decided to marry. Just like the lightning, that was too fast, too rash and ill advised. They do not even know themselves