Love as Smoke
Early on in the play, before he meets Juliet, Romeo is suffering from unrequited love from Rosaline. In one of his complaints, he says, "Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs" (1.1). This metaphor is difficult to parse, given Romeo's enigmatic comparison of love to smoke that originates from lovers' sighs. In English Renaissance, "sighs" usually denoted the sounds of pain and suffering coming from a lover whose love was unrequited. Thus, Romeo suggests here that love is a paradox, an experience made of both pleasure and pain.
Mercutio's Warning
As Romeo drones on about his unrequited love for Rosaline, Mercutio launches into his famous "Queen Mab" speech. Just before the speech, he tells Romeo, "I talk of dreams, / Which are the children of an idle brain, / Begot of nothing but vain fantasy" (1.1) Here, Mercutio uses a metaphor to compare dreams to children whose parents are idle and lazy. The rest of the speech warns Romeo about the dangers of giving into daydreaming and fantasy.
The Sun
When Romeo sneaks off to Juliet's balcony in order to catch a glimpse of her, he is struck by her beauty. In what is now a famous quotation, he says, "But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? / It is the east, and Juliet is the sun" (2.2). In this metaphor, Romeo compares Juliet to the rising sun to emphasize the arresting power of her beauty. This quotation also repeats a major motif in the play by describing the interplay between light and dark.
Juliet's Death
When Lord Capulet (Juliet's father) sees his daughter, seemingly dead, he says, "Death lies on her like an untimely frost
/ Upon the sweetest flower of all the field" (4.5). Here, Lord Capulet uses a simile to describe the shock of his young daughter's death, comparing her to a flower, still in bloom, that is killed by an unexpected frost.
The Dagger
When Juliet awakes from her sleep, she finds Romeo dead beside her. She resolves to take her own life using Romeo's dagger, saying, "O happy dagger, / This is thy sheath. There rust and let me die" (5.3). In this metaphor, Juliet compares her body to the dagger's "sheath" or encasement, suggesting that the sword belongs inside her (and, by extension, that she belongs with Romeo). That she asks the dagger to "rust" implies that the dagger will not be removed.
