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The role of the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and juliet act 3 scene 5 importance
The importance of act 3 scene 1 in Romeo and Juliet
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Recommended: The role of the Nurse in 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.
This shows that the nurse is really more like a maternal figure in Juliet’s life. Juliet trusts the Nurse and turns to her for support in times of need, especially after the dispute with her father about marriage. Juliet was upset about the arranged marriage, and she was already married to Romeo, so after her parents left she turned to the nurse for guidance. “O God!-O Nurse, how shall this be prevented?/ My husband is on earth, my faith in heaven…”(Ⅲ,ⅴ,205-206). Juliet asked the Nurse how she can prevent the arranged marriage from happening. She stated that her husband, Romeo, is on earth, but she loves her parents and doesn't want to disappoint them. Juliet had the opportunity to talk to her mother at this part, because her father left giving her the opportunity, however she waited for her mother to leave so
but then again she is like a surrogate mother. The nurse is still a servant and she is n no position to argue against him, because she is sticking up for Juliet would have made Lord Capulet more angry. Although Lord Capulet should not speak to the nurse like he does he should ask her to leave, but this shows how angry and violent Lord Capulet
the Nurse wants Juliet to be safe and happy and that she is not just
The Nurse was a go between the two lovers so therefore was helping and encouraging the relationship. The nurse however was very careful in her encouragement and made sure that it was as secretive as it could be ‘I am the drudge, and toil in your delight’ here the nurse feels that she is doing right by being Juliet’s messenger but as we learnt at the beginning of the play in the prologue the lovers will end in disaster. ‘a pair of star crossed lovers take their lives’ this provides dramatic irony as we are aware that once they in love it will end in disaster.
The nurse should be excused for her actions in the play. Although she made the decision to help Juliet without the consent of her parents, she was thinking of Juliet’s happiness.... ... middle of paper ... ...
The Nurse disregards Juliet’s feelings for Romeo and takes the easy option, telling her to marry Paris, “I think you are happy in this second match, for it excels your first”. Juliet despises the Nurse for saying this.
to a man of his choice and in doing so, risk everything she has. Up
First and foremost, following Juliet's refusal of the marriage with Paris, her father tells her that she is “one too much and that “ {he has} a curse in having her”(III. V. 166-167). Juliet considers her father's reaction as a form of abandonment. This strengthens her isolation from her parents. Juliet is also affected by the nurse's advice to marry Paris and thinks “it is more sin to wish {her} thus forsworn” (III. V. 237). Juliet is hurt by the unsettling advice the nurse gives her at difficult circumstances. This causes Juliet to isolate herself from the nurse and does not confide in her anymore. Besides the nurse, Friar Laurence also betrays Juliet at a critical moment by saying that “stay is not to question, for the watch is coming…{and he} dare{s} no longer stay”(V. III. 158-159) and leaves her. This abandonment influences Juliet's isolation from the friar. Since the Friar is one of her most trusted advisors, this heavily impacts Juliet. The betrayal of her trusted friends results in Juliet’s isolation from them.
The Nurse was also responsible for the tragic ending of the play. When Romeo and Juliet met, the Nurse became their messenger. She helped them be together even though she knew Romeo was a Montague and that Juliet's family would disapprove. The Nurse brought news to Juliet from Romeo telling her to sneak out so they could get married. She helped Juliet get out of her house by bringing her a rope ladder to climb off her balcony with and telling her parents that she went to shrift. The Nurse kept Romeo and Juliet's marriage a secret from the families. When Juliet's parents said she should marry Paris, the Nurse agreed and said that Juliet should forget about Romeo because he was in Mantua. With the Nurse no longer on her side she had no one to help her and back her up but the Friar. In this way she had a large impact on the terrible ending of Romeo and Juliet.
Her relationship with Juliet is very distant and weak. This is revealed by when she calls the nurse to ‘’come back again’’ when talking to Juliet. She becomes nervous and feels like she couldn’t talk to Juliet without the presence of the nurse.This suggests that she’s not used to being alone with Juliet and relies on the nurse to do the parenting. In
In spite of this, is certain that the Nurse played a serious role in encouraging the lovers? relationship to blossom. Instead of advising Juliet on the dangers of a love that is ?too rash, too unadvis?d, to sudden?, she continues to place Romeo upon a pedestal, proclaiming his ?face be better than any man?s, his leg excels all men?s, his [body parts] are past compare?. Her haste for Juliet to ?hie hence to Friar Lawrence? cell?, and preparations for ?cords? to be brought for Romeo to ?convoy [to Juliet] in the secret night?, are gestures that illustrate her desire for their relationship to progress quickly. Therefore by offering her approval of Romeo, the Nurse inadvertedly strengthens Juliet?s devo...
The Nurse possesses many qualities. For example, she is very hearty towards Juliet, kind, protective, compassionate and a loving lady. In some parts of the play The Nurse can be long-winded, insensitive, arrogant, insecure and stupid at times but she loves Juliet very much, partially as she imagines that Juliet is a substitute for her own daughter Susan. She has a bawdy sense of humor, which brings out the naturalness of sex and childbearing. This is seen when she tells Juliet to look for love, - “Go girl, seek happy nights to happy days';. This displays a realistic attitude to love. Such bawdy realism is, like the ribaldry of Mercutio and company, a contrast with the tender, romantic and passionate feelings of Romeo and Juliet. The Nurse is a practical but rather stupid woman at times. She loves Juliet like her own child. Throughout the play The Nurse is very talkative. She will usually do what she believes is right or what Juliet wants, like secretly meeting with Romeo and arranging the wedding of Romeo and Juliet.
This is before Romeo becomes broken-hearted by Rosaline, and is infatuated with Juliet. During the play itself, Act 3 Scene 3 is mostly typical of Romeo's behaviour throughout. Although for some parts Romeo conducts himself in a more mature manner, he mostly acts exactly what he is - a love struck teenager.
The Nurse’s job is take care of Juliet and raise her; however, upon learning that Juliet is romantically involved with their family’s enemy, she doesn’t provide any form of counsel to Juliet.” I must another way, To fetch a ladder by the which your love Must climb a bird 's nest soon when its dark.” (2.5.77-79). The Nurse aides Romeo by telling him a way to Juliet’s room showing her approval of the relationship. She did not provide any form of counsel to Juliet or inform Capulet or Lady Capulet about Juliet’s relationship. Due to the fact that the Nurse does not do her job and doesn’t tell Juliet to end her relationship with Romeo, it caused this ill-fated relationship to continue. To add to the issue, the Nurse later betrays Juliet when Juliet begs her for help. “I think 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.” (3.5.226-238). The Nurse goes against her previous actions and expects Juliet to forget about Romeo by dispraising him. Juliet wants to remain faithful to her husband and this betrayal along with Capulet’s ultimatum causes Juliet to act hastily and want to die if she wasn’t with
The Significance of Act 3 Scene 5 in Relation to the Mood of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Act 3 scene 5 is significant because its right in the middle and therefore it is very critical. The mood of the play up to this scene is very happy and romantic. After this scene the mood changes, this makes this scene a turning point. The main themes of this play are love and hate and light and dark, which I shall talk about later.