Romeo and Juliet • Act 2, Scene 2 • Juliet
“Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow,” — Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow Meaning
Juliet’s oxymoron names a mixed feeling: parting brings the pleasure of love and the pain of separation at once. The phrase shows her reluctance to leave Romeo and hints that their closeness has dangers; she prolongs the farewell by promising to keep saying good night until morning to delay the separation.
Plain-English meaning
Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow
Who says it, and what is happening?
Juliet speaks this line during the balcony exchange as she and Romeo reluctantly part. Earlier she jokes that excessive fondness could 'kill' him and she repeats 'good night' twice before calling their parting 'sweet sorrow.' After this exchange she plans to continue saying good night until morning. The moment matters because it crystallizes both lovers’ tenderness and their desire to stretch a brief intimacy, while doubling the farewell with a note of anxiety.
Language and literary analysis
Juliet’s oxymoron compresses emotional complexity into two opposite words: 'sweet' and 'sorrow.' The contradiction forces attention to the simultaneity of pleasure and pain in parting. Earlier hyperbole—'Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing'—frames affection as almost dangerous, so the oxymoron gains a sharper edge: tenderness risks harm. The repeated 'good night' and her promise to keep saying it 'till it be morrow' dramatize delay and resistance; the stage direction 'Exit above' physically separates them, so the verbal repetition substitutes for physical presence. Shakespeare uses paradox and repetition to make a brief farewell feel prolonged and fraught. The line's musical cadence also underlines the lovers’ intensity and the scene's dramatic tension.
How to use the quote in an essay
Use this line to show how Shakespeare compresses conflicting emotions: cite the oxymoron and the earlier hyperbole about 'much cherishing' to argue Juliet’s affection is both nurturing and dangerous. Pair that with the repeated 'good night' and the stage exit to discuss how language prolongs intimacy on stage.
Questions about this quote
What does the oxymoron 'sweet sorrow' mean in context?
The phrase pairs opposites to show mixed feeling: parting is pleasurable because the lovers share deep attachment, and sorrowful because separation hurts. The oxymoron compresses that emotional conflict into a single memorable line, signaling Juliet’s reluctance and the scene’s blend of tenderness with an undercurrent of risk.
Why does Juliet say she will keep saying 'good night' until morning?
Juliet’s promise to keep saying 'good night' is a way to delay leaving and to savor the moment. In context it dramatizes her unwillingness to separate and functions as a verbal stall that prolongs intimacy after the physical exit, converting parting into extended speech.
Read this line in the complete side-by-side scene. · Read the scene revision guide.
Original text source: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, MIT HTML edition. MIT states that its HTML versions of the plays are placed in the public domain.