Act 3 Scene 5 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Act 3 Scene 5 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

There are several strong cases for Act 3 scene 5 being the pivotal,

most important and significant scene in the play. To begin with, it is

the last time that Romeo and Juliet are together, alive and well,

after this scene Romeo goes to Manchua, and returns only to be near

Juliet to die.

Until this scene the audience will be convinced that Juliet has a very

strong relationship with Nurse, they are obviously a lot closer than

Juliet and her mother are, and Juliet relies on Nurse for advice and

support. During Art three scene five, the audience's perception of

Nurse changes, and Juliet no longer looks to her for support. Nurse

has betrayed Juliet, she and Friar Lawrence were the two who knew and

believed in Romeo and Juliet's love, and Nurse abandons Juliet in a

way in this scene, telling her to marry Paris, and forget Romeo. I

think that when she is saying this that she is thinking of herself,

and of what she could lose if they were discovered, but at the same

time she was thinking of Juliet's well-being, and that she would be

safe in Verona, with Paris:

"I think that you are happy in this second match,

For it excels your first; or, if it did not,

Your first is dead, or 'twere as good he were

As living here and you no use of him."

Lady Capulet shows a very different love for her daughter to the love

which Nurse shows her, she has hardly looked after Juliet for much of

her life, and is distanced from her. Around the period of time when

the play was set there was a social tradition for the upper classes to

have a 'wet nurse'. It would not have been accepted in soc...

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... guidance her whole live realy believes. Juliet should say this

with emotion, trying to show Nurse how deeply she cares, she could

grip Nurse's hand look her in the eyes, to convey her emotions to the

audience, show them how she is feeling, as she cannot tell them here.

Nurse replies: "And from my soul too, else beshrew them both" Juliet

goes on to tell her "Thou hast comforted my marvellous much."

she means this to be sarcastic, knowing that Nurse is illiterate, and

will miss the sarcasm, taking the words for what they literally,

without thinking about the tone of voice Juliet uses. Juliet turns

away from Nurse, showing that she has chosen to walk away from Nurse,

Nurse does not walk away from Juiet here, as she is not disowning

Juliet, Juliet leaves her, as Nurse has disowned Romeo, something

which she will not do.