What matters to Romeo is the emotion that he calls Love, which makes him glad and depressed at the same time, as he tries to express his feelings by using two conflicting states in a chain of humours ironies. However, when Romeo falls in love with Juliet, he speaks only of her, glorifying her and not moaning of his love ‘sickness’ as he had been when he claimed to love Roseline.
He speaks about Rosaline as being:
“One fairer than my love? The all-seeing sun Ne’er saw her match since first the world begun.”
But when he meets Juliet he describes her as the sun itself.
“It is the east, and Juliet is the sun, arise fair sun and kill the envious moon.”
This shows that he loves Juliet more than Rosaline as Romeo mentions it himself, contradicting himself in Act 1 scene 5 when he first catches a glimpse of Juliet, he says “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” And in Act 1 scene 1 he says “In sadness, cousin, I do love a woman.” Talking about Rosaline, before he sees Juliet.
Another point to support this idea is that when in love with Rosaline, he goes around moping over his misery, and keeps on talking about himself, “She hath foresworn to love, and in that vow I do live dead”, and he only talks about how “rich in beauty…” she is.
As for Juliet, he totally for gets about his own sufferings, and every word he says is describing and complimenting her and calling her “a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear-“
And does not utter a word of suffering besides when he finds out that she is a Capulet. As he knew Rosaline was also a Capulet but due to Romeo’s love for Juliet and Juliet having a direct link Sir Capulet, he worries. “Is she a Capulet? O dear account! My life is my foe’s debt.”
Another last point is that, while talking about Rosaline in Act 1 up to scene 5, he always talks about love “Alas that love, whose view is muffled still” and “Is love a tender thing? It is too rough.”
As when he talks about Juliet, he does not talk about love at all but just complements her, with things like “So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows.” This maybe because this time, he is in love and not in love with the fact of being in love.
