Review: Romeo's Ex - Rosaline's Story by Lisa Fiedler
Romeo's Ex: Rosaline's Story
by Lisa Fiedler
In Lisa Fiedler's retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, Rosaline gets a chance to tell her side of the story. "Rosa-who?" you're thinking. Rosaline never actually appears in R&J, but without her the play could not exist. Romeo pines for his great love Rosaline so much that he sneaks into the Capulet ball in order to see her. Instead of Rosaline he finds Juliet, falls instantly in love (again) and away the play goes. Rosaline is never given a second glance.
And, according to Fiedler, Rosaline would happily keep it that way. Pretty Rosaline Capulet, sweet sixteen, is studying to be a healer, and the last thing she needs is a boy to distract her. She meets Romeo when he brings an injured friend named Petruchio (yes, that Petruchio, the one that goes on to tame a certain Kate...) to the Healer's cottage, where Rosaline practices her medical training. Romeo is instantly smitten with her face and her smarts, but he is constantly rebuffed by lovely Rosaline, who will love no man. Or so she claims, but one day as Verona is enveloped in a scuffle between the Montagues and Capulets, she is rescued in the midst of the fighting by handsome Benvolio. Unfortunately, she was hit in the head and knocked out, and when she revives she mistakes Mercutio, the town rake, for her rescuer and falls instantly in love. Meanwhile Benvolio has fallen in love with the amazing girl he rescued. Luckily, Romeo is soon swayed by Juliet's innocent charms, so the situation is simplified to a simple love triangle:
Benvolio ♥'s Rosaline ♥'s Mercutio
Romeo and Juliet are reduced to mere side-plot as Rosaline seeks to sort out her heart's affairs. Unfortunately, romantic young people in Verona are apparently quite lacking in imagination, because Rosaline also gets her balcony scene and secret marriage schemes. Rosaline's spunky attitude and spirited defiance of society's norms for young ladies puts her in stark contrast to cousin Juliet, her polar opposite in all ways. In fact, Rosaline is decidedly modern, an anachronism in the story. She doesn't fit into the rest of the story, not in the way she behaves or the choices she makes - and certainly, not in the way she speaks. Fiedler attempts to mimic the poetic speeches of Shakespeare in her dialogue, mixing actual conversation from the Bard and her own pseudo-Elizabeathean language, and it rarely works. The words come across stilted and unnatural, and this is only highlighted further when Juliet and Rosaline refer to each other as "Roz" and "Jules." The blurb on the back cover claims that "Where Romeo's words had been hollow and fickle, Bevolio's are filled with sincerity and true love." Not so much. Benvolio, frankly, sounds JUST AS FALSE as Romeo.
The plot, naturally, is quite predictable. Romeo & Juliet is so deeply ingrained into our popular culture that how could it fail to be? The story's entertaining (although quite fluffy) and pretty tame, as the novel's written for young adult readers. Fiedler changes a few of the deaths around, which drags the story out without really adding to it. It is an interesting take on Shakespeare, but not a particularly good or necessary one.
To read more about Romeo's Ex: Rosaline's Story, buy it or add it to your wishlist, click here.
by Lisa Fiedler
In Lisa Fiedler's retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, Rosaline gets a chance to tell her side of the story. "Rosa-who?" you're thinking. Rosaline never actually appears in R&J, but without her the play could not exist. Romeo pines for his great love Rosaline so much that he sneaks into the Capulet ball in order to see her. Instead of Rosaline he finds Juliet, falls instantly in love (again) and away the play goes. Rosaline is never given a second glance.
And, according to Fiedler, Rosaline would happily keep it that way. Pretty Rosaline Capulet, sweet sixteen, is studying to be a healer, and the last thing she needs is a boy to distract her. She meets Romeo when he brings an injured friend named Petruchio (yes, that Petruchio, the one that goes on to tame a certain Kate...) to the Healer's cottage, where Rosaline practices her medical training. Romeo is instantly smitten with her face and her smarts, but he is constantly rebuffed by lovely Rosaline, who will love no man. Or so she claims, but one day as Verona is enveloped in a scuffle between the Montagues and Capulets, she is rescued in the midst of the fighting by handsome Benvolio. Unfortunately, she was hit in the head and knocked out, and when she revives she mistakes Mercutio, the town rake, for her rescuer and falls instantly in love. Meanwhile Benvolio has fallen in love with the amazing girl he rescued. Luckily, Romeo is soon swayed by Juliet's innocent charms, so the situation is simplified to a simple love triangle:
Benvolio ♥'s Rosaline ♥'s Mercutio
Romeo and Juliet are reduced to mere side-plot as Rosaline seeks to sort out her heart's affairs. Unfortunately, romantic young people in Verona are apparently quite lacking in imagination, because Rosaline also gets her balcony scene and secret marriage schemes. Rosaline's spunky attitude and spirited defiance of society's norms for young ladies puts her in stark contrast to cousin Juliet, her polar opposite in all ways. In fact, Rosaline is decidedly modern, an anachronism in the story. She doesn't fit into the rest of the story, not in the way she behaves or the choices she makes - and certainly, not in the way she speaks. Fiedler attempts to mimic the poetic speeches of Shakespeare in her dialogue, mixing actual conversation from the Bard and her own pseudo-Elizabeathean language, and it rarely works. The words come across stilted and unnatural, and this is only highlighted further when Juliet and Rosaline refer to each other as "Roz" and "Jules." The blurb on the back cover claims that "Where Romeo's words had been hollow and fickle, Bevolio's are filled with sincerity and true love." Not so much. Benvolio, frankly, sounds JUST AS FALSE as Romeo.
The plot, naturally, is quite predictable. Romeo & Juliet is so deeply ingrained into our popular culture that how could it fail to be? The story's entertaining (although quite fluffy) and pretty tame, as the novel's written for young adult readers. Fiedler changes a few of the deaths around, which drags the story out without really adding to it. It is an interesting take on Shakespeare, but not a particularly good or necessary one.
To read more about Romeo's Ex: Rosaline's Story, buy it or add it to your wishlist, click here.