finishing line fourteen, the reader isn't required to continue reading because he/she knows the outcome. Shakespeare has given the reader the end. There really is no reason to read on. And yet they do.
             The reader continues because Shakespeare was a genius at creating dramatic tension. In Romeo and Juliet, he uses two main vehicles to do so. One is the theme of love (Romeo and Juliet) versus hate (The Montagues and the Capulets). The other is the theme of darkness and light.
             For purposes of this paper, I will look briefly at the use of light and dark imagery as it is associated with the two main characters, Romeo and Juliet.
             When we first meet Romeo he is a stereotypical lover: cherishing solitude and night, pensive, pale and sad. He is rejected. And he assumes the attitude of a rejected suitor. He writes poetry, his speech is a series of contradictory exclamations. As is evident in Act I at the end of Scene II, Romeo is in a very, very dark mood. At this point, Romeo's character, symbolizes darkness. He is dismal, gloomy, and lacking color.
             Juliet is introduced in Act I, Scene III. Shakespeare initially presents what appears to be a somewhat docile young girl. It isn't until later in the scene that we see Juliet take on a bit of life. When Lady Capulet asks her daughter how she feels about marrying, Juliet replies, "It is an honor that I not dream of." Later upon Lady Capulet's urging Juliet to consider marrying Paris, Juliet answers, "I'll look to like, if looking like move."
             We see by her comments that Juliet is certainly not docile, nowhere near a pushover. By the end of the scene Shakespeare introduces a spice to Juliet's character. We begin to see her as "lively," "independent," and "cocksure," it is obvious that she inhabits a much "lighter" emotional world than does Romeo.
             By introducing Romeo in &qu...