Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet used the literary device of foreshadowing to advance the tragic story of two teenage lovers. Foreshadowing was a warning or indication of an event that occurred later in the story. Shakespeare used many examples of foreshadowing to show an indication of someone's death or grave future. Shakespeare uses certain motifs, or recurring events, to tell the future. In Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare references light and darkness to show the couple's love and the consequences. Romeo compares Juliet to the light a few times throughout the play. When Romeo first sees her he says "Oh, she teaches the torches to burn bright!" (IV43). He is saying that she is so beautiful that she surpasses all the other girls. Juliet compares Romeo to a light that illumines the darkness: JULIET: Take Romeo and carve him into little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fair that all the world will fall in love with the night, and pay no adoration to the dazzling sun. (3.2.23-6)Here Romeo, forever transformed into a twinkling star, becomes the very definition of light, surpassing even the sun. One of the most important examples of this motif is Romeo's long meditation on the sun and moon during the balcony scene, in which Juliet, metaphorically described as the sun, is seen as "driving away the envious moon" and turning the night into day (II.i.46). This symbolizes that Romeo and Juliet's love will banish all darkness and transform darkness into light. This is quite ironic because their love ultimately does exactly the opposite. Another motif used by Shakespeare is poison. One use of poison is to give the reader a clue about a future death. After Romeo is banished from Escalus, Friar Laurence tells...... middle of paper...... Romeo and Juliet. Motifs are necessary to understand the many themes of Romeo and Juliet. Furthermore, they can reveal the innermost characteristics and personalities of the characters, while enhancing the reader's knowledge of any inner meanings of the work's specific themes. Motifs are used to develop and clarify the main themes of a play and reveal their nature. Light and darkness are used to compare Romeo and Juliet to brightness and darkness, like the sun and moon. Poison indicates death. Power, Money and Gold is a motif that has the ability to tempt the hearts of characters into believing that wealth is everything, but for righteous characters, like Escalus, power and money can be used for good. Work cited Shakespeare, William. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Eds. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992.