Rosaline is genuinely one of my favourite characters in Romeo and Juliet for what she represents.
Once again people have probably talked about this. But I wish to also talk about it so enjoy my massive word vomit ig.
She exists to show that when Romeo loves, he loves hard. He is besotted with her, he loves the idea of loving someone. Very good. Very nice.
Few issues with this, however. Firstly, Rosaline has sworn chastity. Maybe a reason I enjoy her so much is because of the asexuality of it all. But I digress.
I find it interesting how Romeo... just seems to accept it? But also doesn't. Like, he's mourning the relationship. He doesn't understand why this wonderful person wouldn't want to have children, and spread wonderfulness throughout their broken world. But he accepts it. He respects that it's a decision she made, so he won't try and pursue her any further in risk of breaking that. He'll watch from a distance.
Another issue with his feelings. Rosaline is a Capulet. In act one scene 2 it states "my fair nieces Rosaline and Livia" on the guest list, so she's Julie's cousin.
She's invited to the great feast, which is kinda the whole point of Romeo even risking going. So it shows immediately that Romeo doesn't actually care about the feud at all. He still loves a Capulet. While Rosaline isn't exactly the only child to the head of the house, she is still a beloved child of the family. Romeo has always been without bias or hatred towards this family, he thinks the conflict is ridiculous, he doesn't generalise all of them into a mass of hatred. Very nice :)
This is a side tangent, but when I performed in a rendition of this play, Rosaline actually did appear on stage. It was an 80s pop band style thing, and she was a part of a Capulet girl group while also being a soloist in her own right. During the Capulet feast, she sings I wanna dance with somebody. She wasn't actually named as such, but when the guests cheer for her some of them shouted out her name in excitement.
More notably, that was a musical number. A number where Romeo goes to the front of the stage, risking being seen because he wants to get a better look at the masked singer who sounds so very familiar. And in that musical number, guess who else he sees at the front of the stage? A certain young dancer, shining under the lights in white, under the watchful gaze of her parents and suitor.
I love the idea of Rosaline, because she leads Romeo to Juliet. She scatters out the crumbs, even if it's subconscious.
So, once again, I would like to see/do an adaptation exploring an idea. I would like to see it when Rosalind more present. Maybe have her flee the scene during the first battle, protecting her peace. Show her on stage when Romeo tells Benvolio of his love, so the audience can put a face to the name. Wandering across the back of the stage, carrying a bouquet of flowers Romeo left for her. Look over at him sadly as he stands with his back to her, shaking her head softly as she edits.
Have her at the party, rejecting the hands of suitors. Have her dance with Livia and the other Capulet daughters, hair flying, masks tight, keeping each other safe against the crush of bodies. Spilling wine all over the floor and laughing.
Maybe she sees Romeo. Maybe she nudges Juliet, nods to the small group of boisterous masked boys that shouldn't be there at all. Maybe she put some of the flowers from her bouquets in Juliet's hair, so Romeo can see that she knows. So he can see that she's giving her blessing, thanking him for the attention, but look. This is the true one for you, this is the one that deserves your flowers.
I like hearing about aus where she's close with Juliet, but I do think her isolation is so important to her character. So just have her be present, but distant, like the rest of Juliet's family. Have them be the cousins at the bi-annual family gathering that hang out because they're the same age and all the adults are drinking and being stupid. Peak dynamic right there.
And then, right at the end, have her there at the crypt. Following her aunt and uncle, parents keeping her close to their side. Just to make sure their daughter is still safe from it all. Linking arms with Livia, trying to brush back her hair, distracted and sleepy and confused.
Imagine her eyes landing in these people. People her age. Juliet, her sweet and strange cousin, blood pooling on the stone slab. Romeo, the boy that loved Rosaline purely and honourably enough to let her go, lips damp and skin leached of colour, bottle of poison rolling away and shattering on the ground.
I want it to hit her. I want Rosaline to meet Benvolio's eyes, and have them both realise they've each lost two people in the span of a week. First Tybalt and Mercutio. And now the people that had a chance at fixing it all.
I want them have a silent, understanding of grief. They didn't know each other. Benvolio heard his cousin, his best friend, wax lyrical about this girl for hours, but they've never actually spoken. All he knows is this warped version of her, a moon maiden, a muse.
But she's human. Her hair is messy, eyeliner smudging as she rubs her skin, her eyes bruised from lack of sleep. She's probably been grieving Tybalt. Maybe they were close enough for her to inherit his black leather jacket that hangs heavy over her shoulders (yh it's modern now whoopsie I'll always spread the biker vibes).
I'm going back to the sleep thing that I talked about last time as wll. If Rosaline is here she ain't sleeping either. The teens of this town have three wolves in them; partying through night, staying up late crying, and having deep conversations until dawn. None of them get sleep.
In this moment, these two children lock eyes as their uncles suddenly shake hands over cooling corpses. They listen to them discuss monuments and ending feuds in respect of their children's love. And their eyes say it all.
Are you hearing this?
It was never about love, this feud. Rosaline knre that she was right all along. Love hurts. Romance gets you killed. In this city, at least.
The feud ends because the adults fucked up. And now their heirs can't continue the fight for them. They can't just dump it onto the next generation. They have to fix it themselves, so why not still point it on their children?
The adults are idiots. Fools. And I want Rosaline and Benvolio to clock it all in a single side eye.
Sorry this took a turn I originally just wanted to talk about Rosaline cause yay ace lifestyle happy pride y'all. But now I want to propose my sequel to Romeo and Juliet: Rosaline and Benvolio. Okay thanks for coming to my ted talk let's make this sequel happen where they just talk shit about their relatives and it should be similar to And Juliet costume wise :3
Highkey as I write this au and expand (because this is still linked to the sleep adaptation it is every evolving) I just want to perform Rosaline atp dream role frfr.
