Rosaline

Rosaline
Rosaline in Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet, one of the few films to give her a visible role.
Creator	William Shakespeare
Play	Romeo and Juliet

Rosaline (/ˈrɒzəlɪn/ or /ˈrɒzəliːn/) is an unseen character and niece of Capulet in William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet (1597). Although silent, her role is important. Romeo is at first deeply in love with Rosaline and expresses his dismay at her not loving him back. Romeo first spots Juliet while trying to catch a glimpse of Rosaline at a gathering hosted by the Capulet family.

Scholars generally compare Romeo's short-lived love of Rosaline with his later love of Juliet. The poetry Shakespeare writes for Rosaline is much weaker than that for Juliet. Scholars believe Romeo's early experience with Rosaline prepares him for his relationship with Juliet. Later performances of Romeo and Juliet have painted different pictures of Romeo and Rosaline's relationship, as filmmakers have experimented with making Rosaline a more visible character.

Before Romeo meets Juliet, he loves Rosaline, Capulet's niece and Juliet's cousin. He describes her as wonderfully beautiful: "The all-seeing sun / ne'er saw her match since first the world begun." Rosaline, however, chooses to remain chaste; Romeo says: "She hath forsworn to love, and in that vow / Do I live dead that live to tell it now." This is the source of his depression, and he makes his friends unhappy; Mercutio comments: "That same pale, hard-hearted wench, that Rosaline, torments him so that he will sure run mad."Benvolio urges Romeo to sneak into a Capulet gathering where, he claims, Rosaline will look like "a crow" alongside the other beautiful women. Romeo agrees, but doubts Benvolio's assessment. After Romeo sees Juliet his feelings suddenly change: "Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight / For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night." Because their relationship is sudden and secret, Romeo's friends and Friar Laurence continue to speak of his affection for Rosaline throughout much of the play.