William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is about two teenagers who fall in love. The Montagues (Romeo’s family) and Capulets (Juliet’s family) are two feuding families. Romeo, a Montague, and Juliet, a Capulet, hide their love because they know that their parents will not allow them to be together. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare reveals that when teenagers feel pushed away from their parents, they have to turn to others for support and when they do, this could be dangerous. The mentoring relationship between a teenager and an adult, other than their parent, is seen in the relationships between Romeo and Friar Lawrence, Juliet and her Nurse, and Romeo and Juliet. At the time of Romeo and Juliet, during the 1300s, wealthy parents did not take care of their children themselves. Instead, they hired workers to take care of them. In the play Romeo and Juliet, their parents barely show up and if they do they make their children do something they do not want to do. The servants in the play act like quasi-parents. They nurse them and care for them like their own children. This is the case with Juliet. Juliet’s mother does not even know how old Juliet is which shows their distant relationship. In a conversation between Lady Capulet and the Nurse, they discuss Juliet’s age: Lady Capulet. She’s not yet fourteen Nurse. I’ll lay fourteen of my teeth and yet to my teen be it spoken, I have but four. (1.3.13-14) This illustrates the lack of knowledge Lady Capulet has about Juliet. The Nurse seems upset that Juliet’s own mother does not even know Juliet’s age. Juliet has one person who she can turn to for help. Juliet seeks help from her mentor, the Nurse. The Nurse will do anything Juliet asks for. When Juliet Inquires about the man she met at the party, she asks the Nurse. Juliet orders the Nurse to: Juliet. Go ask his name- If he be married, my grave is like to be my wedding bed. Nurse. His name is Romeo, and a Montague (1.5.133-135) The Nurse will do anything for Juliet to make her happy, like a mother would. If Juliet’s mother knew Juliet’s love interest, she would be mad because Romeo is a Montague. When the Nurse goes to visit Romeo at Friar Lawrence's cell about the marriage, Friar tells her the plan about
The nurse is very loyal to Juliet as shown in the past quote. The nurse is taking a chance at talking to Romeo for she knows that he is of the house of Montague and god knows the penalty for the interaction between.
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.
Supporting the Friar’s dismal assessment of Romeo is the Nurse. I will direct her to be the funny character in the scene, her face underlining how ridiculous Romeo appears, bawling like a woman on the floor. She even looks appalled as she asks Rome to stand up and be a man, instead of blubbering on the floor. Still, as the Nurse describes Juliet's misery, she would exude deep concern like a mother would. Her face depicts that if there is anyone who loves Juliet as much as Romeo, it is her for she is similar to a mother who cares only for her child's happiness and nothing
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.
This is not a sign of bad parenting but merely the fact that lady Capulet has not been there whereas the nurse has. So the nurse may feel more responsibility towards Juliet as she has brought her up. Lady Capulet seems not to be able to be around her daughter without
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, a woman who is supposed to help guide Juliet on the right path, yet mistakenly confuses Juliet’s needs with her father’s wants. Although the Nurse does not realize it, the attempt at provoking Juliet to marry Paris could have further convinced Juliet that she did not want to live with her family any longer, and ask Friar Lawrence for help, which is important because this resulted in her death (Act
The Role of the Nurse in Her Relationship with Juliet in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
The Nurse acting like a messenger, contributed to Romeo and Juliet’s death. Another reason the Nurse contributes to Romeo and Juliet’s suffering is by keeping Romeo and Juliet ’s marriage a secret from Juliet’s parents. During Act 2, in a conversation with Romeo in Friar’s cell she tells Romeo, “Is your man secret?
The Nurse, Juliet’s loving caregiver, too, has a role in the death of the couple. The nurse was supportive of the two being together at first. However, her feelings for Romeo changes because according to the Nurse:
Her erotic nature and suggestive jokes and puns are understood by them. Furthermore, Nurse wants to help Juliet marry Romeo, even though it is not approved for Capulets to marry Montague. “The hie you hence to Friar Laurence’ cell; There stays a husband to make you a wife” (Act 2,
The nurse supports Juliet in her decision to be with Romeo. She is only one of a few people that knows about Romeo and Juliet and is willing to help them. Juliet was raised by the nurse who was her wet nurse when she was growing up. Their relationship is playful and caring throughout the beginning of the play.
Juliet is the daughter of Lord and Lady Capulet. When the play begins, we learn from the nurse that Juliet is soon turning fourteen (“Even or odd, of all the days in the year come Lammas-Eve at night shall she be fourteen”). In Juliet's first meeting with her mother and the nurse, she seems to be an obedient and responsible child. She comes immediately when they call her and answers always respectfully to her mother: "Madam, I am here, / What is your will?" (“Act 1, Scene 3). She is also clever as when her mother asks her what she thinks about marriage, she gives an ambiguous answer by saying what her mother wanted to hear really: “it is an honour I dream not of” (“Act 1, Scene 3). We learn that she is
At the ball, after Romeo and Juliet first meet, Juliet asks the Nurse to find out the identity of her new love. The Nurse informs Juliet, “His name is Romeo, and a Montague, / The only son of your great enemy.” (Shakespeare 1.5.150-151) When Juliet asks the Nurse to find out what her new love's name is, Juliet grows her reliance on the Nurse. The
"... I can tell her age unto an hour." (p.25) showing she is close to