he seems to be talking from his head not his heart and is feigning his feelings for Rosaline, he greatly exaggerates his feelings for her, he shows how clever he is with words and he is whining because she won’t sleep with him, not even for gifts
“Nor ope her lap to saint-seducing gold.”
Other examples point to him not being genuine about his love for Rosaline, he just whinges and moans about Rosaline but doesn’t do anything about it, later when he cannot be with Juliet he attempts to commit suicide. As soon as he sees another woman i.e. Juliet, he falls in love with her and Rosaline is forgotten. He has got upset and is trying to get attention from everyone he can.
Some members of the audience may see through Romeo’s charade at this point but most would realise when Romeo speaks to the Friar, if they saw through it, they would feel less sympathy, but more if they didn’t. I don’t think Romeo expected Benvolio to believe him,
“Does thou not laugh?”
Also this shows that he may be used to being made fun of by Mercutio and others, this may evoke pity in members of the audience who spot it, but as it has been shown, the audience did not have to understand the subtle meanings of Shakespeare’s language to feel pity or sympathy for Romeo.
The language in the first scene is in great contrast to Act 5 Scene 3. Romeo’s changing sincerity of feelings is reflected by the differing style of his imagery and in turn his language shows how he feels. In Act 1 Scene 1 he is insincere about his feelings for Rosaline and this is shown in his imagery, which seems confused and contradictory and he seems sorry for himself.
“O brawling love! O loving hate!
O anything of nothing first create”
The last scene shows he is very definite and focused about what he is going to do, he isn’t confused anymore
“I still will stay with thee,
And never from this palace of dim night
Depart again.”
Here he is sincere, not so selfish and is unhappy about Juliet. This drastic alteration in his feelings creates sympathy for Romeo because as his language changes the audience know he is sincere and are sympathetic because of what happens to him.
At the party it is shown that Romeo is respected in Verona, by what Capulet says of Romeo,
“A bears him like a portly gentleman
And, to say truth, Verona brags of him
To be a virtuous and well governed youth”
Praise indeed, when coming from his greatest enemy, and because it comes from his greatest enemy it is all the more powerful in persuading the audience that Romeo isn’t a reckless person and wouldn’t go looking for a fight which produces sympathy later on when he seems to be forced to fight.
Romeo again shows how clever he is with words and imagery at the party
“My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.”
Although here it is not clear whether he is being serious at this point. He seems very fickle to forget his ‘grief’ and fall in love the first time he sees Juliet.
“Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!
For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night”
This is different to the style of speech he uses in Act 1 Scene 1 but it doesn’t seem like true love.
Later on the audience is reminded of this when Friar Laurence says:
“Young men’s love then lies
Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes”
What Friar Laurence says actually decreases sympathy for Romeo because he shows the audience that he is fickle audience that he is fickle, or faked his grief for Rosaline. He says that Romeo shouldn’t chase after other women until he is over the last,
“Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here!
Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear,
So soon forsaken?”
In Act 3 Scene 1 a climax of sympathy that Shakespeare built up to previously is reached. Romeo is nice to Tybalt even when he is insulted, because he is married to Juliet,
“Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee
Doth much excuse the appertaining rage
To such a greeting.”
There is dramatic irony here as Tybalt doesn’t know that Romeo married Juliet and nor do Romeo’s friends. The audience know that Romeo isn’t looking for a fight but the others think he is trying to wind Tybalt up. Romeo feels compelled to fight because Tybalt killed Mercutio and it was Romeo’s fault,
“Why the devil came you between us?
I was hurt under your arm”
A lot of sympathy for Romeo is in this scene, because Romeo was nice to Tybalt. As shown by Capulet, Romeo wasn’t looking for a fight. Tybalt killed Mercutio and Romeo felt guilty about that. It may have been a lot worse for Romeo though if Tybalt had known about his marriage, as he may have been angry enough to kill Romeo.
In this scene I think it would be impossible for the audience not to feel sympathy for Romeo.
Here he again mentions fate or fortune to sum up his bad luck
“O, I am Fortunes fool”
Here he refers to Fortune as a person, perhaps a mention to God, this may suggest that Romeo feels betrayed by God and may produce sympathy from the audience.
On top of that, Romeo hears from the Friar that his punishment is banishment, when he would rather die for his crime. He laments about this a lot,
“There is no world without Verona walls,
But purgatory, torture, hell itself.”
“’Tis torture, and not mercy. Heaven is here,
Where Juliet lives;”
He attempts to commit suicide (he didn’t for Rosaline when he couldn’t be with her) but is prevented by the Friar, I think this shows that Romeo is serious about his love for Juliet and because of this and the banishment the audience feel pity for Romeo. The Friar decreases sympathy by what saying Romeo is a fool and is overreacting,
“Thy Juliet is alive”
“Tybalt would kill thee,
But thou slew’st Tybalt; there art thou happy.”
In the penultimate scene he again mentions fate,
“Then I defy you, stars”
This shows his frustration at fate controlling him and his wish to control his own fate, though by doing what he does he plays into fates hands, by fulfilling the prophecy from the chorus.
In the final scene Romeo kills himself because he thinks Juliet is dead, the audience knows she isn’t and the irony produces pity.
By killing himself, Romeo completes fates goal in bringing the two families together with death.
In all Shakespeare evokes a lot of sympathy in different ways and different interpretations of his words create different emotions from the audience, he introduces different techniques to emphasise the main theme of fate.
