 Scholars have long noted Shakespeare 's widespread use of light and dark imagery throughout the play . Caroline Spurgeon considers the theme of light as " symbolic of the natural beauty of young love " and later critics have expanded on this interpretation . For example , both Romeo and Juliet see the other as light in a surrounding darkness . Romeo describes Juliet as being like the sun , brighter than a torch , a jewel sparkling in the night , and a bright angel among dark clouds . Even when she lies apparently dead in the tomb , he says her " beauty makes This vault a feasting presence full of light . " Juliet describes Romeo as " day in night " and " Whiter than snow upon a raven 's back . " This contrast of light and dark can be expanded as symbols — contrasting love and hate , youth and age in a metaphoric way . Sometimes these intertwining metaphors create dramatic irony . For example , Romeo and Juliet 's love is a light in the midst of the darkness of the hate around them , but all of their activity together is done in night and darkness , while all of the feuding is done in broad daylight . This paradox of imagery adds atmosphere to the moral dilemma facing the two lovers : loyalty to family or loyalty to love . At the end of the story , when the morning is gloomy and the sun hiding its face for sorrow , light and dark have returned to their proper places , the outward darkness reflecting the true , inner darkness of the family feud out of sorrow for the lovers . All characters now recognise their folly in light of recent events , and things return to the natural order , thanks to the love and death of Romeo and Juliet . The " light " theme in the play is also heavily connected to the theme of time , since light was a convenient way for Shakespeare to express the passage of time through descriptions of the sun , moon , and stars . 
