'Tonight there will be no morning Star' What does that phrase mean?
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JujusFlix — 9 years ago(April 09, 2016 08:44 PM)
Long time in answering here but imho, this phrase hearkens to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, in the scene after the couple spend their first night together. They go back and forth play-arguing whether or not morning has come (to paraphrase: "It is the Nightingale not the Lark that sings!"). This is because the night has been their moment - their safe haven. The day brings only troubles they must face (specifically, arrest and death for Romeo). The same I think is being hinted at for Maria and Tony, though they haven't arrived at that point of Tony being a target yet, the song is foreshadowing what is come. They will have to face troubles in the light of day and "no morning star" means they will linger in the night - or thier
moment
forever.
"Good times, noodle salad" -
jabell — 9 years ago(April 16, 2016 02:54 AM)
You have to remember that West Side Story is based on Romeo & Juliet, and that scene is based on the scene in the play in which Romeo (Tony), having killed Tybalt (Bernardo), who had killed Mercutio (Riff) when Romeo was trying to end the fight, is banished to Verona. He & his wife Juliet (Maria) have spent the night together, and she wants him to stay longer. She tells him it is still night. He says that they can hear the lark singing, and she says that it is not the lark, it is the nightingale. This is what Maria means. She does not want morning to come and Tony to have to leave to turn himself in for killing Bernardo. So she sings that there will be no morning star and their night together will never end.
Incidentally the scene in the bridal shop in which they sing One Hand, One Heart is based on the scene in R&J in which Friar Lawrence unites them in marriage. In some cultures, the fact that they took vows to each other makes them married.
Boo Hoo! Let me wipe away the tears with my PLASTIC hand!Lindsey McDonald (Angel) -
friendoffilm — 9 years ago(April 16, 2016 04:57 AM)
I've never read
Romeo and Juliet
in depth, but I do see the comparison, now that you've mentioned it, jabell.
Now that I've read other posters' opinions of the meaning of the phrase "Tonight there will be no morning star.", I realize that it can mean either or, if one gets the drift. One can compare it with that particular part of
Romeo and Juliet
, in that Maria, like Juliette, doesn't want the morning to come, and that their night together will never end.
I
do
stand by my position, however, that the difference is that the love between Maria and Tony, while it still stands strong, will never see the light of day, if one gets the drift. -
elena-28 — 9 years ago(April 29, 2016 11:00 AM)
Incidentally the scene in the bridal shop in which they sing One Hand, One Heart is based on the scene in R&J in which Friar Lawrence unites them in marriage. In some cultures, the fact that they took vows to each other makes them married.
The first time our family watched this on tv, my Spanish father commented: "They are married now." He was extremely solemn about it, which indicates not only that he understood that to be the case but that the story and scene had affected him. -
dmnemaine — 9 years ago(April 26, 2016 11:31 PM)
You have to take the lyric in context.
"Tonight, tonight, won't be just any night.
Tonight there will be no morning star.
Tonight, tonight, I'll see my love tonight,
And for us, stars will stop where they are.
Today, the minutes seem like hours,
The hours go so slowly, and still the sky is light.
Oh, Moon, grow bright, and make this endless day endless night
Tonight".
Tony and Maria are anticipating the evening to come. Tony is supposed to go and stop the rumble and then they'll be free to have their magical night of love together. The "morning star" is the last star in the night sky before dawn. They young people want their night of love to go on forever and are wishing for the next day never to come. In a tragic irony, the couple does get their wish. Their love never sees the light of the next day. -
ancamg — 9 years ago(November 19, 2016 11:57 AM)
If we link WSS to Romeo and Juliet, the absence on of morning star could mean, the subjects won't be able to meet the morning star as they end their lives before that.
Out of this context, I may say that black cloud may cover the morning star. The link between dark clouds and a troubled outcome is well established in literature, only there is more mystery since clouds are not mentioned.
In the end, as the story mirrors the old tragic play, it is more probable, it means some people won't catch the next morning. -
friendoffilm — 9 years ago(November 26, 2016 11:53 AM)
This:
In the end, as the story mirrors the old tragic play, it is more probable, it means some people won't catch the next morning.
was part of what Tony was predicting in the song "
Something's Coming
", and what both Tony
and
Maria were predicting in the song
"Tonight"
.
