Rosaline

Rosaline (pronEng|ˈrɒzəlɪn or IPA|/ˈrɒzəliːn/) is an unseen character and niece of Lord Capulet in William Shakespeare's tragedy "Romeo and Juliet" (1597). Although silent, her role is important: her lover, Romeo, first spots Juliet while trying to catch a glimpse of Rosaline at a Capulet gathering.

Scholars generally compare Romeo's short-lived love of Rosaline with his later love of Juliet. The poetry he writes for Rosaline is much weaker than that for Juliet. Scholars believe his 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.

Role in the play

Before Romeo meets Juliet, he loves Rosaline, Lord Capulet's niece. He describes her as exceptionally beautiful: "The all-seeing sun / ne'er saw her match since first the world begun." ["Romeo and Juliet", I.3.99-100.] Rosaline, however, chooses to remain celibate; Romeo says: "She hath forsworn to love, and in that vow / Do I live dead that live to tell it now." ["Romeo and Juliet", I.1.231-232.] 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." ["Romeo and Juliet", II.4.4-5.] Benvolio urges Romeo to sneak into a Capulet gathering where, he claims, Rosaline will look like "a crow" alongside the other beautiful women. ["Romeo and Juliet", I.2.365.] Romeo agrees, but doubts Benvolio's assessment. After Romeo sees Juliet his feelings suddenly change: "Did my heart love 'til now? Forswear it, sight / For I ne'er saw true beauty 'til this night." ["Romeo and Juliet", I.5.59-60.] 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.

Analysis

What's in a name?

Rosaline is a variant of Rosalind, ["Rosaline". "A Dictionary of First Names". Eds. Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, and Flavia Hodges. Oxford: Oxford University Press (2006). Oxford Reference Online. Retrieved on 25 June 2007. [http://www.oxfordreference.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t41.e2755 Oxford Reference] ] a name of Old French origin: ("hros" = "horse", "lind" = "soft, tender"). When it was imported into English it was thought to be from the Latin "rosa linda" ("lovely rose"). ["Rosalind". "A Dictionary of First Names". Eds. Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, and Flavia Hodges. Oxford: Oxford University Press (2006). Oxford Reference Online. Retrieved on 25 June 2007. [http://www.oxfordreference.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t41.e2754 Oxford Reference] ] Romeo sees Rosaline as the embodiment of the rose because of her name and her apparent perfections.Whittier, Gayle. "The Sonnet's Body and the Body Sonnetized in 'Romeo and Juliet'." "Shakespeare Quarterly" 40.1 (Apr 1989): 27-41.] [Lewis, Alan. "Reading Shakespeare's Cupid." "Criticism" 47.2 (Apr 2005): 177-213.] The name Rosaline commonly appears in Petrarchan sonnets, a form of poetry Romeo uses to woo Juliet and to describe both Rosaline and Juliet. Since Rosaline is unattainable, she is a perfect subject for this style; but Romeo's attempt at it is forced and weak. By the time he meets Juliet his poetic ability has improved considerably.

Gender studies critics have argued that Rosaline's name suggests that Romeo never really forgets her but rather replaces her with Juliet. Thus, when Juliet cries "What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet," she is ironically expressing Romeo's own view of her as a replacement for Rosaline. That is to say, Rosaline, replaced in name only by Juliet, is just as sweet to Romeo. Gender critics also note that the arguments used to dissuade Romeo from pursuing Rosaline are similar to the themes of Shakespeare's procreation sonnets. The young man to whom these poems are addressed is thought by many to be homosexual, and so makes the problem of procreation a special one. In these sonnets Shakespeare urges the man (who can be equated with Romeo) to find a woman with whom to procreate—a duty he owes to society. Rosaline, it seems, is distant and unavailable except in the mind, similarly bringing no hope of offspring. As Benvolio argues, she is best replaced by someone who will reciprocate. Rosaline reveals similarities to the subject of the sonnets when she refuses to break her vow of chastity. Her name may be referred to in the first sonnet when the young man is described as "beauties Rose." This line ties the young man to both Rosaline and Romeo in Juliet's "What's in a name?" soliloquy. When Juliet says "...that which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet", [Act 2 Scene 2] she may be raising the question of whether there is any difference between the beauty of a man and the beauty of a woman.

Rosaline is used as a name for only one other Shakespearean character—the main female figure in "Love's Labours Lost" (1598). Scholars have found similarities between them: both are described as beautiful, with fair, white skin, and both have a way of avoiding men's romantic advances. Rosaline in "Love's Labours Lost" constantly rebuffs her suitor's advances and Romeo's Rosaline remains distant and chaste in his brief descriptions of her. These similarities have led some to wonder whether they are based on a woman Shakespeare actually knew, possibly the Dark Lady described in his sonnets. But there is no strong evidence of this connection. [Clarke, Charles and Mary Clarke. "The Shakespeare Key." City: Kessinger Publishing, LLC (2007), 651-652. ISBN 1-430-46745-2]

Rosaline as plot device

Analysts note that Rosaline acts as a plot device, by motivating Romeo to sneak into the Capulet party where he will meet Juliet. Without her, their meeting would be unlikely.Gray, Henry David. "Romeo Rosaline, and Juliet". "Modern Language Notes" 29.7 (Nov 1914): 209-212.] Rosaline thus acts as the impetus to bring the "star-cross'd lovers" to their deaths—she is crucial in shaping their fate (a common theme of the play). Ironically, she remains ignorant of her role. [Evans, Bertrand. "The Brevity of Friar Laurence." "PMLA" 65.5 (September 1950): 841-865.]

Rosaline and Juliet

Literary critics often compare Romeo's love for Rosaline with his feelings for Juliet. Some see Romeo's love for Rosaline as childish as compared with his true love for Juliet. Others argue that the apparent difference in Romeo's feelings shows Shakespeare's improving skill. Since Shakespeare is thought to have written early drafts of the play in 1591, and then picked them up again in 1597 to create the final copy, the change in Romeo's language for Rosaline and Juliet may mirror Shakespeare's increased skill as a playwright: the younger Shakespeare describing Rosaline, and the more experienced describing Juliet. In this view, a careful look at the play reveals that Romeo's love for Rosaline is not as petty as usually imagined.

Critics also note the ways in which Romeo's relationship with Rosaline prepares him for meeting Juliet. Before meeting Rosaline, Romeo despises all Capulets, but afterwards looks upon them more favorably. He experiences the dual feelings of hate and love in the one relationship. This prepares him for the more mature relationship with Juliet—one fraught by the feud between Montagues and Capulets. Romeo expresses the conflict of love and hate in Act 1, Scene 1, comparing his love for Rosaline with the feud between the two houses: [Bowling, Lawrence Edward. "The Thematic Framework of Romeo and Juliet." "PMLA" 64.1 (Mar 1949): 208-220.]

quote|Here's much to do with hate, but more with love.
Why, then, O brawling love! O loving hate!
O any thing, of nothing first create!
O heavy lightness! serious vanity!
Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms!
Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health!
Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is!
This love feel I, that feel no love in this.
Dost thou not laugh?

Psychoanalytic critics see signs of repressed childhood trauma in Romeo's love for Rosaline. She is of a rival house and is sworn to chastity. Thus he is in an impossible situation, one which will continue his trauma if he remains in it. Although he acknowledges its ridiculous nature, he refuses to stop loving her. Psychoanalysts view this as a re-enactment of his failed relationship with his mother. Rosaline's absence is symbolic of his mother's absence and lack of affection for him. Romeo's love for Juliet is similarly hopeless, for she is a Capulet and Romeo pursues his relationship with her; the difference being that Juliet reciprocates. [Krims, Marvin, "Romeo's Childhood Trauma?--'What Fray Was Here?'." "PSYART: A Hyperlink Journal for Psychological Study of the Arts". (November 1999) 3 article no. 991022. Reprinted in Shakespearean Criticism, Vol. 76.]

Performances

Rosaline has been portrayed in various ways over the centuries. Theophilus Cibber's 1748 version of "Romeo and Juliet" replaced references to Rosaline with references to Juliet. This, according to critics, took out the "love at first sight" moment at the Capulet feast. [Marsden, Jean. "The Re-Imagined Text". Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, (1995), 87-88. ISBN 0-813-11901-4] In the 1750s, actor and theatre director David Garrick also eliminated references to Rosaline from his performances, as many saw Romeo's quick replacement of her as immoral. [Branam, George C. "The Genesis of David Garrick's Romeo and Juliet." "Shakespeare Quarterly" 35.2 (July 1984): 170-179.] [Stone, George Winchester, Jr. "Romeo and Juliet: The Source of its Modern Stage Career." "Shakespeare Quarterly" 15.2 (April 1964): 191-206.] However, in Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 film version of "Romeo and Juliet", Romeo sees Rosaline (played by Paolo Tedesco) [cite web| title =Romeo & Juliet (1968)| work =Yahoo! Movies| publisher =Yahoo!| date =2007| url =http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1800341348/cast| accessdate =2007-06-28 ] first at the Capulet feast and then Juliet, of whom he becomes immediately enamored. This scene suggests that love is short and superficial. Other filmmakers keep Rosaline off camera in stricter accordance with Shakespeare's script. [Martin, Jennifer L. "Tights vs. Tattoos: Filmic Interpretations of 'Romeo and Juliet'." "The English Journal" 92.1 (Sep 2002): 41-46.] Another play, "After Juliet", written by Scottish playwright Sharman Macdonald, tells the story of Rosaline after Romeo dies. A main character in this play, she struggles with her loss and turns away the advances of Benvolio, who has fallen in love with her. Keira Knightley played her role in the play's 1999 premiere. [cite web| last =Maxwell| first =Tom| title =Keira's helpful prompt| publisher =Scotsman.com| date =July 20, 2007| url =http://living.scotsman.com/performing.cfm?id=1135292007| accessdate = 2007-08-25 ] [cite web| title =After Juliet by Sharman McDonald| work =Plays| publisher =Acquis| url =http://www.acquis.org.uk/play_uk/macdonald_uk.html| accessdate = 2007-08-25 ]

ee also

*Complete list of Shakespearean characters

References