Why does Romeo compare Juliet to the sun?

Answer 1

He says it is the east and Juliet is the rising sun because her beauty lights up everything else.

Answer 2

"But soft! What light from yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief that thou her maid art far more fair than she." When Romeo says, "Arise, fair sun" right after saying "Juliet is the sun" you can tell that he is not talking about Juliet so much as talking to her, even though she cannot hear. Thus the "thou" in "thou her maid art far more fair than she." is Juliet; it is Juliet who is far more fair than "she", that is to say, the moon. So the reason that the moon is envious, sick and pale with grief is that Juliet is prettier than the moon. Makes sense, right?

Answer 3

He wants the sun to kill the envious moon (Rosaline), because he compares Rosaline to the moon goddess,Diana, and then says that the Sun (Juliet) must destroy the moon (Rosaline).

Actually, seeing Juliet in the window in her nightie with the light streaming through it, I'm pretty sure that Romeo had totally forgotten that there ever was such a person as Rosaline. The moon is "envious" which Rosaline never was or would be; she couldn't care less who Romeo liked. No, the moon is the real moon, which is envious of Juliet because she is more brilliant and more sexy than the moon. She is more sexy than the moon because it is associated with the virgin goddess Diana and the Vestal virgins. Romeo wants Juliet to triumph over and kill virginity by losing hers to him.

Answer 4

This is in his monologue just after saying "But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?" Primarily, the moon is associated with the goddess Artemis or Diana who was the goddess of virgins. Romeo refers to this when he talks about 'her vestal livery"--the "vestal virgins" were a set of virgin priestesses. Romeo is not interested in women who are into virginity in a big way--he already had to deal with that with Rosaline--and describes this virgin goddess as "envious" (wishing she had a love life), "pale" (moonlight is paler than sunlight and pale people were thought of as being dominated by phlegm, the humour which made you dull and listless), "sick" (not having a healthy appetite), and "green" (see envious above).