Rosaline

• Rosaline


  A character who appears in Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet, merely as a reference at the beginning of the play
• Rosaline's appearance in Romeo and Juliet


  • She is not a character in the play - we never meet her, see her or hear her voice
  • She has very little influence on the drama as it unfolds, but as a reference point she does have some function in the play
• When we first see Romeo Montague

  1. He is wandering about on the outskirts of Verona

  2. There has just been a brawl in the middle of town among the servants of the two feuding households, the Montagues and the Capulets

  3. The Prince has addressed them and warned them that if it happens again the perpetrators will be severely punished

  4. Romeo is surprisingly not present, as he is usually at the forefront of the things that are happening in town

  5. His mother has sent his cousin, Benvolio, to find him
• Why Romeo is acting strangely


  He is lovesick and has fallen in love with a girl, Rosaline, who doesn't even know he exists
• Romeo gets over Rosaline


  When he sees Juliet at the Capulet party and falls madly in love with her instead
• Dramatic device


  Something that serves to drive the plot, creating new plot momentum or a plot twist
• Functions of Rosaline


  • A minor dramatic device, as Romeo's going to the party is influenced by the argument that Rosaline will be there
  • A marker of Romeo's emotional development, showing his transition from a lovesick teenage boy to a mature young adult dealing with grave misfortune
• Benvolio: '"At this same ancient feast of Capulet's Sups the fair Rosaline whom thou so lovest, With all the admired beauties of Verona"'
• Friar Laurence and Romeo: '"God pardon sin! wast thou with Rosaline?"<|>"With Rosaline, my ghostly father? no; I have forgot that name, and that name's woe."<|>"Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here! Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear, So soon forsaken?"'