Explore how Shakespeare presents Romeo's love in 'Romeo and Juliet.'

Shakespeare consistently presents Romeo's love as passionate throughout the play, however it varies between more destructive language when referring to Rosaline, to more heavenly language when describing Juliet; the role of religion during the Elizabethan and later Jacobean period emphasises the extent to which Romeo loves Juliet by using vocabulary more commonly associated with worship. In Act One, we witness Romeo lament over Rosaline not reciprocating his love: "O brawling love, O loving hate!" The repeated "O" sound creates a mourning, whining sound, illustrating Romeo's suffering and despair. The oxymorons juxtapose love with images of fighting and hatred, images not commonly associated with romantic love. Perhaps the oxymorons physically symbolise the internal struggle of Romeo's love as his heart is denied what it desires, eliciting sympathy from an audience who witness just how troubled and love-sick Romeo is. However, this would be apt analysis if the audience did not see how quickly Romeo moves on from Rosaline to Juliet, therefore perhaps the oxymorons repeated throughout Romeo's speech indicate how his love for Rosaline is not true but merely artificial and unnatural. The destructive language is perhaps used by Shakespeare to demonstrate how they are ill-matched.
On the other hand, the language used by Romeo to describe Juliet is littered with religious connotations, referring to her hand as a "holy shrine" and his own lips "two blushing pilgrims." This imagery of pilgrimage to a holy place of worship used to describe merely meeting and kissing Juliet perhaps emphasises the purity of Romeo's love for her. To him, Juliet is heavenly, almost God-like, and worthy of eternal praise. Moreover, perhaps Shakespeare uses the motif of pilgrimage to draw parallels with Romeo's own journey throughout the play to reach his love. An Elizabethan audience of would see the extent of Romeo's romantic love for Juliet, as the Christian faith was not just a religious choice, but a fundamental way of life inherent in their laws and practices. They would see how Romeo has placed Juliet on a pedestal equalled to the ultimate goal in life: going to heaven to be with God. Whilst an audience may see how Romeo's love for Juliet differs immensely to his love for Rosaline, they may perhaps also recognise the dangers in placing humanly love as equal to Godly love, as shown in the consequences both characters face.