<P> Petruchio is a guest at the Capulet feast . He is notable only in that he is the only ghost character confirmed by Shakespeare to be present . When the party ends and Juliet inquires towards Romeo's identity, the Nurse attempts to avoid the subject by answering that Juliet is pointing at "the young Petruchio". Later, he is with Tybalt when he fatally wounds Mercutio, and a few scripts identify a Capulet with one line by that name . Petruchio is also the name of a major character in Shakespeare's earlier work, The Taming of the Shrew . </P> <P> Rosaline is an unseen character and niece of Capulet . Although silent, her role is important: her lover, Romeo, first spots her cousin Juliet while trying to catch a glimpse of Rosaline at a Capulet gathering . </P> <P> Before Juliet, Romeo was deeply intrigued with another woman that didn't return his feelings . Scholars generally compare Romeo's short - lived love of Rosaline with his later love of Juliet . Rosaline means "fair rose". 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, with filmmakers experimenting by making Rosaline a more visible character . </P> <P> Valentine is Mercutio's brother, briefly mentioned as a guest at the Capulet feast where Romeo and Juliet meet . He is a ghost character with no speaking parts, and his only possible appearance is at the Capulet feast among the guests . "Valentine" has been taken to mean "lover" or "brother", and is associated with these attributes in several stories and histories . Scholars have pointed out that Valentine is more strongly connected to a major character than other ghosts, as he is given a direct connection to his brother . Although he has a very small role in Shakespeare's play, earlier versions of the story gave him no role or mention at all . In fact, they gave even Mercutio a very minor role . Shakespeare was the first English dramatist to use the name "Valentine" on stage, in his earlier plays, Titus Andronicus and Two Gentlemen of Verona . In Titus, Valentine plays a minor role, but in Two Gentlemen, he is one of the title characters . Incidentally, the Valentine of Two Gentlemen borrows heavily from Arthur Brooke's Romeus in The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet, which Shakespeare later used to create Romeo and Juliet . Brooke's version made Mercutio a rival for Juliet's love . Shakespeare's addition of Valentine as Mercutio's brother diffuses this rivalry . Thus, because the first time we hear of Mercutio he is associated with Valentine, rather than Juliet, he is changed from a rival to a friend and brotherly figure of Romeo . </P>

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