| Rosaline | |
|---|---|
| Romeo and Juliet character | |
 Paola Tedesco as Rosaline in Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 film, one of the few films to give her a visible role | |
| Created by | William Shakespeare |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Family | Capulet |
Rosaline (/ˈrɒzəlaɪn/)[1][2] is a fictional character mentioned in William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet. A Capulet, she is the cousin of Juliet, niece of Lord Capulet, and Romeo's original romantic interest.
Although an unseen character, her role is important: at the beginning of the play, Romeo's unrequited love for Rosaline leads him to try to catch a glimpse of her at a gathering hosted by the Capulets, during which he spots Juliet and falls in love at first sight with her, leading to all subsequent events in the story. Scholars generally compare Romeo's short-lived love of Rosaline with his later love of Juliet. Scholars believe Romeo's early experience with Rosaline prepares him for his relationship with Juliet, noting that the poetry Shakespeare writes for Rosaline is much weaker than that for Juliet.
Later performances of Romeo and Juliet have painted different pictures of Romeo and Rosaline's relationship, from removing all mentions of her to physically featuring her. Subsequent works based on the play have experimented with making Rosaline a more prominent character; notably, the 1999 play After Juliet by Robert Nathan, the 2012 novel When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle, its 2022 film adaptation Rosaline, and the 2017 television series Still Star-Crossed all feature her as main character.
- ^ Crystal, David (2016). The Oxford Dictionary of Original Shakespearean Pronunciation. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 472. ISBN 978-0-19-966842-7.
- ^ Kokeritz, Helge (1953). Shakespear's Pronunciation. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 477.