At the start of the extract Act One, Scene Five, Romeo is presented as a heartbroken young man who sees this beautiful woman with “Beauty too rich for use” and “for earth too dear” – which means Romeo thinks Juliet is too good to be true. It would seem like the women that he loves are always out of his reach, and this would leave the audience feeling sorry for Romeo. However this all changes when Romeo uses the extended metaphor of the act of kissing relating to religion to persuade Juliet. Romeo implies love as holy and pure, and his lips as “two blushing pilgrims”. The audience would think that it’s devilish for Romeo to use religion to persuade Juliet to kiss. Romeo would also not gain any sympathy for his line: “Give me my sin again”, as sins were not well looked upon back then, even if it’s just a metaphor. A modern audience, on the other hand, would be unsympathetic towards Romeo for the quickness of his changing heart. The audience would think that this proves Romeo had never loved Rosaline and doubts whether Romeo loves Juliet now, after just a few minutes within seeing her. Again, Romeo only talks of physical appearances: “For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.” This supports the idea of Romeo being lust-driven, leaving a bad impression.
However in Act Two, Scene Two, Romeo gains much sympathy from both audiences. A few hours into meeting Juliet and already “Juliet is the Sun”, the source of Romeo’s life. The audience couldn’t help but be sympathetic towards Romeo who is now so passionately in love. Earlier on in Act One, Scene Five, the audience might question the validity of Romeo’s love for Juliet, but the doubt goes away as Romeo risks on seeing Juliet even if she is a Capulet. Romeo’s passion is shown through how Romeo doesn’t care even if he might get killed, “For strong limits cannot hold love out”. On the other hand, the audience may think Romeo is too reckless and irrational because he does not think of the consequences that his actions may lead to.
In Act Two, Scene Three, Friar Lawrence raises the question whether true love at first sight exists or not. Friar Lawrence thinks that “Young men’s love lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes”. We could even say that Shakespeare is questioning the validity of young love, not just Romeo’s. This would automatically raise the audience’s doubts of Romeo and because the Friar is a religious figure who gives out advice, the audience would take the Friar more seriously than Romeo. However young people from a modern audience may think that it’s unfair of the Friar to question young love, and the “young men” would apply to young people in general, not just men.
Honour played an important part back in Elizabethan times – it was more valuable to people than life itself. To decline a duel back then was considered to be dishonourable. A man would fight to death if that’s what it takes not to disgrace his family name. This is why an Elizabethan audience would be very unsympathetic towards Romeo in Act Three, Scene One. Tybalt could not have made his challenge clearer: “Turn and draw”. He is asking Romeo to fight him – and yet Romeo calls Tybalt a “good Capulet” and asks Tybalt to “be satisfied” with his words. An Elizabethan audience would be shocked and disgusted to see that Romeo decides to be submissive; they would think that Romeo is cowardly and does not deserve sympathy. From a modern audience’s view, however, they would not understand the importance of the Duello. Therefore the audience would see Romeo declining the fight as an act of trying to be mature, not cowardly. But when he kills Tybalt, the modern audience would be outraged to see that Romeo decides to let his anger take control: “fire-ey’d fury be my conduct now!” says Romeo. Again, Romeo shows his irrational side through this.
After the fight scene, Romeo gives the audiences many opportunities to dislike him. Firstly Romeo is ungrateful: “Ha, banishment! Be merciful, say ‘death’”. He does not appreciate the Prince’s kindness, and he is disrespectful towards the Friar: “Thou cutt’st my head off with a golden axe.” This means that Romeo thinks the Friar is trying to cover things up, when it is still just as bad. It’s also saying that Romeo thinks banishment is just a nice name for death. Romeo is feeling rather than thinking at this point, being pointlessly childish and sulky: “Every unworthy thing, live here in heaven and may look on her; but Romeo may not.” By this time, the audience would have figured out that Romeo is not rational for most of the time, and if he would just stop and think, things may have turned out better. Romeo’s fatal flaw makes him very undeserving of any sympathy. Later on in this scene, Romeo gains no further sympathy from an Elizabethan audience as he falls on the ground like a heap of emotion, “with his own tears made drunk”. This shows the unmasculine side of Romeo and unmasculinity was considered a disgrace back then. A modern audience is more open minded so they would not see a problem with Romeo crying – they might even sympathise at the sight of Romeo breaking down.
In the final scene of the play, Romeo gets a mixture of reactions from both audiences. The audience would sympathise and take Romeo more seriously when he has finally moved beyond young and immature, as shown by this quote: “How oft when men are at the point of death have they been merry!” This shows that Romeo is happy to die to join Juliet. It also shows the true love that they both share: Powerful, passionate and emotional. The audience can see that this love is much more than the courtly love that Romeo had felt for Rosaline. The mixture of reactions comes when Romeo mentions “crimson in thy lips”. This is a dramatic irony as the audience knows that Juliet is not dead by knowing of the plan between her and the Friar that did not reach Romeo; if Romeo had been more level-headed, a tragedy wouldn’t be on its way. An Elizabethan audience would also be unsympathetic for the idea of suicide. Most of the audience would come from a Catholic Society, and it was considered a mortal sin if you commit suicide. However the play would be watched soon after ‘The Reformation’, when having broken away from the Pope’s control. The society became less oppressed, but some would still be uncertain. On the other hand, a modern audience would think that Romeo’s last words “thus with a kiss I die” accompanied by a last kiss to Juliet is very romantic, and Romeo deserves some sympathy, no matter how irrational he had been.
In conclusion, I think different audiences from different eras or societies have different opinions on things that Romeo have said or did, not to mention the individuals in those different audiences. If the scale of sympathy of the play is plotted on a graph, it would end up looking like a wave; some things deserve sympathy, some don’t. I think no one can do or say something without getting a mixture of opinions, and that doesn’t exclude Romeo.
