Every Shakespearean tragedy needs an easy-hearted, effervescent character that will ease the ongoing tension over the course of the play. The Nurse fits this role perfectly in Romeo and Juliet, providing crucial comic relief throughout the darkest times. Some of the Nurse’s most redeeming qualities include her nurturing nature, kindness and most of all, humour. The Nurse acts as the glue that holds the characters together, tying up the entire play. One of her strongest characterizations is her close maternal relationship with Juliet.
For a woman who is not a mother, The Nurse portrays this role exceptionally well to Juliet. The Nurse raised Juliet her entire life and she knows her inside and out. This is most evident when she tells Lady Capulet “Faith, I can tell her age unto an hour.” (I/iii/12) The Nurse is displaying her astounding display of knowledge of the girl she nursed and raised in place of her mother since her birth (almost) fourteen years ago, and has kept track of her age up to the hour. Not only does the Nurse closely a mother in her way of knowing Juliet very well, she is also willing to help her marry Romeo and encourage her happiness. The Nurse passes on messages between Romeo and Juliet, for instance for instance when Juliet sent her to discover the identity of the anonymous man with whom she fell in love with at the party, The Nurse returned quickly and smoothly delivered “His name is Romeo, and a Montague, the only son of your great enemy.” (I/v/136-137) If it were not for the Nurse constantly acting as a courier between Romeo and Juliet, they would have never fulfilled their destiny as star-crossed lovers.
The Nurse is also exceptionally kind to others, despite the tragic events she experienced in ...
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...th- And yet, to my teen be it spoken, I have but four, - She is not fourteen.” (I/iii/13-15) The Nurse includes little jokes like her dwindling supply of teeth into daily debacles about age. She can always be relied on to strike playful banter, making her a very easy character to like and piecing together the rough edges of Romeo and Juliet.
The Nurse is a key character in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, playing the essential part of the messenger between lovers, proving her kindness as well as maternal love to Juliet and adding important comic relief to help cast a lighter shade over the dark themes of the tragedy. If it weren’t for the Nurse in the play, the threads holding the play together may likely come loose, leaving Juliet without a mother, the star-crossed lovers’ relationship to cease, no one to crack bawdy comments and the play in tatters.
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Show MoreThis 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
The nurse practically raised Juliet, she was like her mom. Nurse was responsible for many reasons, she did not counsel Juliet when she saw that she was in love with Romeo, a foe of her family; she was also disloyal to Juliet when Juliet had asked advice from her for her refusal to marry Paris. The Nurse was not only disloyal to Juliet, but to her own kind, the Capulets. Running around behind their backs trying to get Juliet
Nurse betrayed the trust of both Juliet and her parents. Firstly, as an authority figure in the family, Nurse should not have arranged the meetings regarding their marriage between Romeo and Juliet. By doing this, she is also allowing Romeo to see her as a friend, rather then one of Juliet’s guardians. In act 2, scene 4, Romeo says “And stay, good Nurse. Behind the abbey wall within this hour my man sh...
In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the Nurse, by her thoughtless support of the affair between the lovers and fickle counsel, is partly to blame for the tragedy. However, it is not one factor alone that brings about the death of Romeo and Juliet, but a combination of significant actions and underlying forces.
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.
The nurse has been taking care of Juliet since birth and always has the best intentions when it comes to Juliet. For example, the nurse one of the few people was aware of Juliet’s relationship with Romeo and she helped with arranging the marriage. In Act 2 Scene 6 the Nurse exchanges a message with Juliet saying, “NURSE: Then hie you hence to Friar Laurence’s cell./ There stays a husband to make you a wife./ Now comes the wanton blood up in your cheeks;/ They’ll be in scarlet straight at any news./ Hie you to church; I must another way,/ To fetch a ladder, by the which your love/ Must climb a bird’s nest soon when it is dark./ I am the drudge and toil in your delight,/ But you shall bear the burden soon at night./ Go; I’ll to dinner: hie you to the cell. JULIET: Hie to high fortune! Honest nurse, farewell.”(lines 73-83). This quote demonstrates the Nurse’s love for Juliet. In this scene, she comes back from talking to Romeo to tell the anxious Juliet the news on their marriage. This shows that, the Nurse will go out of her way to ensure that Juliet is happy. Furthermore, the Nurse is always there to protect Juliet even from her own father, Lord Capulet. In this scene, Lord Capulet has informed Juliet about her arranged marriage with Paris, knowing nothing about her relationship with Romeo. Lord Capulet and the Nurse have an argument: “CAPULET: Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!/ I tell thee what: get thee to church o’ Thursday,/ Or never after look me in the face./ Speak not, reply not, do not answer me./ My fingers itch. --Wife, we scarce thought us blessed/ That God had lent us but this only child,/ But now I see this one is one too much,/ And that we have a curse in having her./ Out on her, hilding!/ NURSE: God in heaven bless her!/ You are to blame, my lord, to rate her so./ CAPULET: And why, my Lady Wisdom? Hold your tongue,/ Good
When Romeo and Juliet first meet, Juliet orders Nurse to figure out who Romeo was. Nurse upsets Juliet when she says, “His name is Romeo, and a Montague;/The only son of your great enemy” (I.v.142-143). Once Juliet hears this, she realizes that her only love has sprung from her only hate. The Nurse however, doesn’t take this into consideration. She doesn’t see the trouble that this has started, and only cares about Juliet’s feelings. As a result, she delivers this message to Romeo which becomes the beginning of a dangerous relationship. Later in the play after Romeo is banned from Verona, Juliet desperately looks for advice from her Nurse. She is told that,“Romeo is banish'd; and all the world to nothing/That he dares ne'er come back to challenge you;/Or, if he do, it needs must be by stealth” (III.v.224-226). What the Nurse is saying to Juliet leads to danger because there is an imbalance between the irresponsibility and loyalty of Nurse’s advice. Nurse thinks she is being loyal to Juliet because she believes that marriage will cheer her up and Romeo will do her no good. She is making a practical decision here, since it is not the person, but the marriage that will make a difference. For Juliet, this is an act of betrayal and it ruins her relationship with the Nurse. This leads Juliet to Friar Lawrence’s plan, which becomes danger. The loyalty and irresponsibility in the Nurse led to more danger than happiness for Juliet. By not thinking twice about her actions, Nurse led Juliet in the wrong
The Nurse, actually turned against Juliet at a very important time. I am not saying that the nurse was bad, but she d...
She fired Juliet’s passion in her relationship with Romeo, then told Juliet it all meant nothing and to go marry Paris. This brought Juliet’s death. Even though the Nurse meant the best for Juliet, her actions still brought the demise of Juliet and Romeo (although her actions had a larger consequence on Juliet’s death rather than Romeo’s). Juliet was told by Nurse that “his name is Romeo… he’s the only son of your worst enemy” (a1, s5, l136). Unknowingly, the Nurse was hyping their relationship from the start onwards, setting Romeo and Juliet up to their unfortunate fates. The Nurse was Juliet’s advisor and she should’ve stayed loyal to Juliet’s decisions and remained her confidante. However, she suddenly switches over to Juliet marrying Paris. This changeover was rash, unexpected and too sudden for poor Juliet to cope, who was being forced to wed Paris, while wanting to be faithful to Romeo. Therefore, the Nurse brought Juliet and Romeo’s death upon
The nurse has raised Juliet since she was a baby. She plays more of a
The play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the nurse is Juliet’s lower-class nurse. She is a loquacious, insolent trusting but yet dishonest character in the play. The only character that Juliet trusts and usually is seen cracking dirty jokes
One reason why the nurse is responsible for this is because she enables Juliet to experience passionate feelings for Romeo. She complimented Romeo when she knew it was wrong. “Your love says, like an honest gentleman, and courteous, and a kind handsome, and I warrant, and a virtuous,” (2.5.40). Instead of saying negative things about Romeo, the nurse says compliments about him. She should be saying bad things to discourage Juliet from falling in love with him. One of the reasons that the nurse is responsible for the deaths is because of all the good things the nurse said about Romeo, therefore causing Juliet to fall in love with him. This causes them to have a relationship which later lead to their
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.
The Nurse is caring and loving to Juliet, like every mother should be to their daughter/son. However, in the film, the relationship between the Nurse and Juliet is not like it should have been like in the play. Their relationship, is not like an actual caring for each other, and they do not seem close to each other, like telling each other things and secrets, or helping out each other in their problems. The Nurse just seems like a normal nurse. This makes a huge effects on the audience because it shows the opposite of what the Nurse really is in the play. The people who have never read the play would just probably think that the Nurse is just a servant of the
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