Controlled Assessment
We see many themes presented in the literatures I will be writing about in this essay. However, the themes we see in 'Romeo and Juliet', 'The Sun Rising' and 'To His Coy Mistress' are mainly similar. The main themes in these three pieces of literature that are similar are the way women are treated by men, marriage and love. These three pieces of literature all explore love or falling in love. However, in all three of these literatures, there is something that obstructs either the couple's love to work out, or to expand. Overall, we see that women are treated by men as prized possessions, but this can change according to what kind of relationship the man has with the woman. In 'Romeo and Juliet', Shakespeare
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This also shows that not all men treat women as possessions, although most do. The Nurse treats Juliet in a very similar way to the Friar, but with a few notable differences. The Nurse believes that marriage is only for a sexual relationship, which means that she does not fully understand Juliet's love for Romeo. This explains why she thinks that 'Romeo is a dishclout to him'. The word 'dishclout' suggests that it's only Romeo's physical appearance that may be like this compared to Paris, but not how he is emotionally. This shows that the Nurse does treat Juliet as a human, although she does not understand Juliet fully. Lady Capulet, however, does not treat Juliet as a human individual. Although she is Juliet's mother, she treats Juliet more as a possession which can be given away. She persuades Juliet to marry Paris and tells her that she herself 'was your mother much upon these years that you are now a maid'. Lady Capulet, as seen in this quote, believes that marriage is a duty that a woman must perform. This therefore shows that Lady Capulet treats her daughter as a possession. In 'The Sun Rising' and 'To His Coy Mistress' we see a different way that women are treated my men. These poems have many similarities and differences between them. 'The Sun Rising' is about a man who wants to be able to be with the woman all the time. However, since the sun rises everyday, it forces them
The nurse's key capacity inside the play is to go aboutas a go-between for Romeo and Juliet and is the maincharacter other than Minister Laurence to know about their wedding. The nurse, in spite of being a worker in the Capulet family unit, has a part comparable to that of Juliet's mom and views Juliet as her own particular girl. The nurse's association with Juliet centers consideration around Juliet's age. In Juliet's first scene, the nurse over and over affirms that Juliet has not yet had her fourteenth birthday celebration. As opposed to Juliet's childhood, the nurse is old and appreciates grumbling about her a throbbing painfulness. Juliet's dissatisfaction at relying upon the nurse as her courier is utilized to comic impact in Act II, Scene 5 when Juliet is compelled to tune in to the nurse's ailments while attempting to coax from her thenews of her wedding designs: The nurse, as Mercutio, loves to talk finally. She frequently rehashes herself, and her indelicate references to the sexual part of affection set the optimistic love of Romeo and Juliet separated from
This proves that The Nurse does not have any pre judgmental thoughts about Romeo, that she believes in him, and is substantial because it solidifies that she is kind not only just to Juliet (Act 3, Scene 3, line 85-173). The Friar actually accompanies her in this scene, acting out the same behavior, attempting to keep Romeo from slipping into a deep depression at the thought of never seeing Juliet again. And When The Nurse is commanded by Lord Capulet to bring forth the news to Juliet that she must marry Paris, though reluctant as she is, she agrees that marrying Paris would be in her best interests, and The Nurse tells Juliet what she must do which is critical because it validates that The Nurse will do anything to keep Juliet from harm even if she does not like it. Although marrying Paris is not something Juliet wants to do, The Nurse knows that that is what is best for her, and Juliet lies and tells her that she will marry him (Act 3, Scene 5, Lines 176-246).
Lady Capulet's inattentiveness and neglect for Juliet is why she is viewed as a poor mother figure. We can see from the story that she does
“An honour! Were not I thine only nurse, I would say thou hadst suck’d wisdom from thy teat” (1.3. 452). Her relationship with the Nurse was the opposite of the one she shared with her true parents and this lead Juliet to going to her Nurse whenever she had a predicament. This was counter-productive because these predicaments that she went to her Nurse for help lead to her dying because it was the Nurse’s obligation to side with Juliet and do what she was asked, even if it opposed what her parents would have approved. These jobs that Juliet set her Nurse out to complete were rebellious of what her parents would have wanted her to be doing. It was still a healthier relationship than the one that Juliet shared with her mother and father, which was significant considering the fact that she was a teenager when she faced all the issues that came with her forbidden love.
As a woman, Lady Capulet can relate to how Juliet feels when she is told she is to marry Paris. However, as a wife, she cannot voice an opinion of who or when Juliet is to marry. She is experienced, and asks Juliet, "Speak briefly: can you like of Paris’ love" (1.3.98). Because she is the caretaker, she respects Juliet’s feelings, but she can do nothing, even if Juliet does not learn to love Paris. Perhaps she asks this question because her own mother never asked it. She may want to know her daughter’s opinion, because until a woman is married, she has all the rights of a man according to Pitt. However, the father ruled over his daughter, and it was virtually impossible to remain unmarried while the father held all the decision making (14).
The Nurse is a good friend of Juliet´s and also played a big role in raising her. The nurse wanted the best for juliet and for her to be happy therefore, she encouraged her to get married. ¨Is your man secret? Did you ne'er hear say, Two may keep counsel, putting one away..¨(2.4, 185) This showed how the nurse knew how dangerous it was for the people to find out they were married yet, she still allowed the marriage and told them to betray their parents and keep it secret. The nurse also sent Romeo letters for Juliet to keep them in contact. ¨There stays a husband to make you a wife. Now comes the wanton blood up in your cheeks.¨(2.5). This shows that the nurse had talked to romeo. Although, Friar is the one who brought the idea of
The Nurse meant no harm to Juliet when she found out about her and Romeo, the Nurse always cared for Juliet like she was her own. She was kind to Romeo even though he was her enemy. In Act 2 Scene 4, the Nurse went to find Romeo for Juliet and said, “ Now God in heaven bless thee! Hark you sir,” (Shakespeare II. iv. 174). The Nurse says this to Romeo because he defended her when Romeo’s friends were making fun of her. Another scene proving her innocence, is Act 1 Scene 2. The nurse is expressing how much she loves Juliet and describing what it was like raising her. The Nurse tells Lady Capulet, “Now by my maidenhead at twelve year old,/ I bade her come. What, lamb! What, ladybird!” (Shakespeare I.ii 3-4). This quote conveys the love that the Nurse has for Juliet. The nurse should not be punished for the deaths of Juliet and Romeo because she has a kind
The Nurse kept all of Juliet’s secrets, and helped do many things for the love of Romeo and Juliet throughout the play, An example of this is when the nurse says, “Your love says, like an honest gentleman, and a courteous, and a kind, danand, I warrant,a virtuous,-Where is your mother?” (2.5.?)This quote is when the nurse was helping them to keep their love a secret and pass on messages from one to another when they were not able to see each other.Without the nurse passing on these messages Romeo and Juliet's love would have never been possible and neither would their tragic deaths. The nurse would sometimes question Juliet’s judgement but, she always tried to look out for what was best for Juliet, which caused Juliet to hide Friar Lawrence and her plan from the nurse, if Juliet would have been able trust the nurse then Romeo would have got the message and neither of them would have had to end up dead. In the play she helps the two young lovers with their secret meetings,love affairs,and messages.In this quote you can feel the hate that Juliet feels towards the nurse, The nurse also helps Romeo and Juliet with their secret marriage and all of the plans that had to happen in order to make their marriage possible.After the nurse agrees with Lord Capulet that Juliet should marry Paris Juliet is very angry and begins to feel hatred towards the nurse, she
Juliet also has a very close relationship with her Nurse, since she has been a mother figure her entire life, although their friendship eventuates in destructive love. So when the Nurse tells Juliet to forget Romeo and marry Paris instead, as revealed in the quote: “I think it best you married with the County,” Here Shakespeare’s irregular iambic pentameter emphasises the impact of the Nurse’s disloyalty. Juliet is outraged by her betrayal and harshly calls her a “most wicked fiend!” Juliet feels that she can no longer confide in her and the impact of this sudden betrayal of trust, encourages Juliet to seek help from the Friar, which is a contributing factor to Juliet taking the potion. The Nurse’s actions were not malicious, she merely acted
First of all, The Nurse supports Juliet throughout the majority of the play, but her unsound advice is a notable reason for the young lovers’ downfall. For instance, Juliet appreciates The Nurse’s help during the beginning of her and Romeo’s relationship, but what Juliet is blind to is the damage that The Nurse does as she unintentionally leads Juliet to her death when she says “Then hie you hence to Friar Laurence’ cell;/ There stays a husband to make you a wife” (Shakespeare, II, v, 68-69). In essence, the wedding that The Nurse encourages Romeo and Juliet to have reflects her negative influence on their relationship as Juliet is left increasingly vulnerable to Romeo’s impulsivity, which is an extremely relevant cause of Juliet’s eventual demise. Additionally, both Romeo and Juliet are significantly affected by the immature behavior of their kin. Specifically, Juliet displays her eradicated ability to form rational decisions when she speaks of the pressure her family puts on her as she says “My only love sprung from my only hate!/ Too early seen unknown, and known too late!/ Prodigious birth of love it is to me/ That I must love a loathed enemy” (Shakespeare, I, v, 138-141). This internal conflict that arises when Juliet discovers that Romeo is a Montague is of significance
They tell eachother everything. Most importantly, they can trust one another. Juliet turns to the Nurse for every problem she has. She depends on the Nurse to be there for her, especially in times of struggles and her love life. Throughout her love story with Romeo, the Nurse plays a very active role in Juliet’s life. We see the Nurse helping her to sneak away with Romeo but on the other side, we see the Nurse telling Juliet to obey her family orders, which relates back to the conflict between a parent figure and child.
In this quote, The Nurse tells Juliet that she believes Juliet is in love with Romeo for his looks only, and also herself believes Romeo is handsome herself, though she does not disapprove of Juliet’s feelings towards him.
Again the Nurse’s fantastic ability to be incredibly insensitive shines through in this scene. Being close to Juliet, she should realise that Juliet’s feelings and emotions would be akin to a roller coaster ride at this point in time, and that Juliet needs support and stability. Instead, the Nurse
It was a shock to Juliet that she didn’t support as before. The nurse played as an important role to her, however it wasn’t how Juliet was expected it was going to happen. Juliet was left on her own to make some very important decisions at the age of 15. I believe that if the Nurse had been around to help Juliet things may have turned out differently. Strangely, she advised Juliet to forget about Romeo and marry Paris, betraying Juliet’s trust by advocating a false marriage: “I think it best you married with the County. O, he’s a lovely gentleman. Romeo’s a dish clout to him”(3.5.218). Juliet can’t believe that the Nurse offers such a course of action after the Nurse praised Romeo and helped bring the couple together. She could not have gone to Lady Capulet or Lord Capulet, because they would not have understood.
The Nurse concedes this proposal because of her motherly affection towards Juliet, as it is in her best interest and desires to witness Juliet wed with a genuine love rather than an arranged agreement. Although this can be seen as an congenial gesture, it completely rescinds the social discourses of the time, consequently justifying that the Nurse is not a great advisor unlike the Friar. The first exposure to the Friar shows his careful, wise manner and his obvious care for Romeo’s best interests rather than his own satisfactions. This characterization of Friar Laurence is greatly flawed due to his impetuous thinking when put under the pressure of having two teens approach him with the intention of killing themselves, as he attempts to guide Romeo and Juliet during their struggles. Shakespeare laminates the Friar with fault as he is arguably the incentive, along with the nurse for Romeo and Juliet's cessation, hence becoming the rationale of their declivity.