The Chorus in the Prologue of Act II offers us a summary
of what has happened in Act I and where things lie concerning the two lovers of the
title of this excellent tragedy. The first four lines indicate what has happened to
Romeo and his love for the "fair Rosaline":
readability="14">Now old desire doth in his deathbed
lie,And young affection gapes to be his
heir;That fair for which love groaned for and would
die,With tender Juliet matched, is now not
fair.Note the way in which a
metaphor is used to compare Romeo's former love for Rosaline to an old man on his
deathbed, with his new love for Juliet being compared to the old man's heir, waiting
eagerly for his relative to die so that he can inherit all. Romeo's love for Rosaline,
which caused him to "groan" and say that he would die for her, is now surpassed by his
new love for Juliet. Comparing Juliet and Rosaline, Rosaline "is now not fair" as Romeo
forgets Rosaline and moves away towards his new love with
Juliet.
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