Romeo agrees, but doubts Benvolio's assessment. 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 be perceived like 'a crow' alongside the other beautiful women. 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.īefore Romeo meets Juliet, he loves Rosaline, Capulet's niece and Juliet's cousin. Scholars believe Romeo's early experience with Rosaline prepares him for his relationship with Juliet. The poetry Shakespeare writes for Rosaline is much weaker than that for Juliet. Scholars generally compare Romeo's short-lived love of Rosaline with his later love of Juliet.

Although an unseen character, her role is important: Romeo's unrequited love for Rosaline leads him to try to catch a glimpse of her at a gathering hosted by the Capulet family, during which he first spots her cousin, Juliet. Rosaline ( / ˈ r ɒ z əl aɪ n/) is a fictional character mentioned in William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet.

Paola Tedesco as Rosaline in Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 film, one of the few films to give her a visible role

Shakespeare romeo and juliet book