The final scene of the play brings both the transcendent reunion of Romeo and Juliet and the reconciliation of the feuding families. The family tomb becomes a symbol of both birth and death. It is, on the one hand, the womb from which Juliet should emerge alive — and hope be born anew. However, the tomb is also a dark and fateful vortex that consumes life, light, and hope. Romeo pledges in Act V, Scene 1, that he will defy fate and lie with Juliet that night. In his final act, he falls by her side and lies with her in perpetuity.
As Romeo charges into the tomb, a "detestable maw," he sheds much societal pretense that previously influenced his behavior. His plans are "savage-wild," "[m]ore fierce than empty tigers or the roaring sea," and he vows to tear anyone who attempts to detract him "joint by joint" and to "strew this hungry churchyard with thy limbs." Romeo has separated himself from his family, from the feud, from Verona, and now from his humanity.
This last scene, appropriately, takes place in the dark of night. Heretofore, Romeo and Juliet's relationship flourished at night, and each provided the other with light. In his final speech, Romeo once again uses light and dark imagery to describe Juliet as she acts as a source of light in the darkness of the tomb. "her beauty makes / This vault a feasting presence full of light." Such images simultaneously make the audience all the more aware of how close the lovers come to finding joy — making their end in darkness all the more tragic. However, these images also suggest a spiritual light that may surround a wedding feast for the couple beyond death.
