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Romeo And Juliet Character Analysis

Decent Essays

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

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