Compare the way Shakespeare presents the love between Romeo and Rosaline with that of Romeo and Juliet

Romeo uses negative words to express his feeling of depression and sadness he senses inside him. In the following line Romeo implies that Rosaline is some sort of incurable cancer which is eating away at him.

"Sick health."

Rosaline does not make Romeo feel good about himself, her effect on him is morbid and hostile.

In the following line Romeo compares himself to Cupid and Rosaline to Dian the Greek goddess. This is because Romeo thinks that Cupid was unsuccessful in capturing Dian and making her fall madly in love, hence Rosaline did not fall in love with Romeo.

"Well in that, hit you miss. She'll not be hit, with Cupid's arrow; she hath Dian's wit."

Now I am going to analyse the language Shakespeare allows Romeo to use, in order to convey his feelings for Juliet. Furthermore I will contrast the way in which Romeos feelings for Juliet and Rosaline differ. I am going to distinguish the different facets of love which Romeo emits to both girls.

Romeos use of language and reaction towards Juliet is the antithesis of how he behaved towards Rosaline. Juliet's effect on Romeo is very positive and happy whereas Rosaline's effect on Romeo was very sceptical and depressing. In the following line Romeo depicts Juliet to be a precious jewel.

"Like a rich jewel in an Ethiopes ear,"

Romeo describes Juliet to be a very precious jewel on a poor person's ear. To a poor person in poverty a rich jewel would be very valuable to them, not because it is dear but because it would be the only thing in their life with a great sentimental value. Romeo speaks sincerely and does not really think about what he is saying, this implies that his words are flowing straight from the heart whereas when he spoke about Rosaline he thought a lot about what he was going to say before he said it.

In the next line Romeo describes Juliet to be beautiful and angelic.

"Beauty to rich for use, for earths so dear!"

Romeo thinks Juliet is too beautiful to be on earth, he thinks Juliet is an angel in disguise because she is conspicuous in line to all the other girls. Romeo also thinks that Juliet's beauty is pure and sacred and should not be spoiled. Romeo believes that nothing can be perfect because the world itself will contaminate it. Juliet may be symbolic of all the things the world is not, for example; Juliet is pure, innocent and angelic almost like a new born baby which has no sins and troubles, whereas in comparison the world is full of evil and plight.

In the following line Romeo states Juliet's inadequacy in comparison to other girls.

"So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows,"

Romeo believes that Juliet is far too beautiful in line with every other girl and that she makes them look like crows.

The next line indicates that Romeo feels that a slight touch of Juliet's hand can purify all the sins a person has committed.

"And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand."

In the next line Romeo realises that he never genuinely loved Rosaline until he came to face with Juliet.

"Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!"

In the following line Romeo contradicts himself about the beauty of the two girls Juliet and Rosaline.

"For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."

In this line Romeo clearly states that he had not witnessed true beauty till this day, which in turn indicates that Rosaline did not mean a great deal to him whereas Romeo has not even spoken to Juliet but has already fallen deeply in love with her. The audience realise this because Romeo speaks sincerely of Juliet and her beauty is visible whereas Rosaline's beauty is never mentioned and she is only described in words.

The fact that Romeo and Juliet speak in sonnet form implies that there is no male domination and that both Romeo and Juliet have mutual respect for each other. Whereas with Juliet and Paris, Juliet does not have the privilege to speak as equally as Paris does. This suggests that the love between Paris and Juliet is forced love whereas with Romeo and Juliet it is true love because Romeo appreciates Juliet not only as a woman but also as a person. Romeo thinks that Juliet is too good for him or is out of his league. This is a contrast to Rosaline because Romeo speaks of Rosaline but not of her beauty whereas Romeo constantly speaks of Juliet's beauty. In the following line Romeo implies that he feels that he does not deserve the honour of touching Juliet with his hand because she is far better than him.

"If I profane with my unworthiest hand."

Romeo conjures up religious imagery in the minds of the audience in the next line.

"This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:"

Furthermore Romeo feels the need to praise Juliet because of her beauty and innocence.

In this next line Romeo implies that Paris's touch on Juliet is rough so as some sort of compensation Romeo wants to remove it with a tender kiss.

"To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."

At the start of the balcony scene Romeo asks himself if the light at the window is the light of a candle or that of Juliet. In the following line Romeo is certain that the bright light that shines down from the window is Juliet because in his eyes she is a bright light which lights up anything in her path.

"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks?"

In this next line Romeo speaks of Juliet to be good and fair which is a contrast to Rosaline who is bad and envious.

"Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon."

Romeo feels that Juliet is good and full of life and will take the darkness and depression away with Rosaline.

In the following line Romeo believes that Juliet is so beautiful she makes the stars in the sky look out of place.

"Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven."

In the next line Romeo expresses the confusion the birds feel.

"That birds would sing and think it were not night."

In this line Romeo feels that Juliet's eyes are so bright they light up the world and the birds think it is the day and sing when actually it is night.

This next line clearly states that Romeo's love for Juliet is genuine.

"If they do see thee they will murder thee."

The fact that Romeo risked his life just to see Juliet is a clear statement of their love and the audience know that Romeo's words are sincere because he fully understands the consequences of being caught but still went a head to see her.

In the following line Juliet ask Romeo not to swear by the moon, this is because the moon only appears at night therefore the moon is not always constant.

"O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon."

The fact that the moon is inconstant suggests that by Romeo swearing by the moon their relationship will not stay constant and will not last very long.

In the next line Juliet tells Romeo to not swear his love for her by anything, this is because promises are made by cheap words and do not mean a thing, Juliet feels that insincerity is nothing and if Romeo wants a opportunity to show his love to her he will have to prove it.

"Do not swear at all:"

In conclusion it has become clear to me that the love between Romeo and Juliet is real love, I know this because throughout the text I have compared and contrasted the difference in language and behaviour Romeo conveys to both girls. However I have realised that the love Romeo felt for Rosaline was not love at all but was lust, Romeo misconstrued this to be love because at the time he had not felt the real love as he did when he came to face with Juliet. The love between Romeo and Rosaline was clearly an infatuation because as soon as Romeo met Juliet he completely forgot about Rosaline and became obsessed with Juliet's beauty.