Romeo and Juliet - The dramatic importance of the nurse

Shakespeare wrote ‘Romeo and Juliet’ between 1594 and 1956. It’s set 16th century Verona and is concerned with the ill-fated love affair between the star-crossed lovers. They are the children of two feuding families, the Montagues and the Capulets, but neither of the families can remember why their rivalry began

Shakespeare’s aim was to make the play as entertaining as possible. With the main themes, which are: love, conflict, violence and revenge he has kept his audiences spellbound many. Its not only themes of the play that are critical to the success but also the creation of drama, that builds tension through out the play until the climax at the end. The character of the Nurse in this play is fundamental to the drama. She has many functions. As part of the Capulets household; She is also Juliet’s friend and confidante and throughout her interactions with the main characters, Romeo and Juliet, we gain an insight into their perceptions and feelings. Another purpose for her is to provide humour to balance out the tragic events of the play and she also moves the plot forward.

We first meet the Nurse in Act 1 Scene 3 where her roles are to provide a context to the play, reveal her close bond with Juliet and create humour and comic relief. The Nurse’s job is to care for Juliet and act as a substitute mother for her. She is a wet nurse (she breast fed Juliet.) This is seen as strange now days because of many diseases can be caught but back in the 16th Century it was seen as normal. She is a servant for the Capulet family, who are an exceedingly rich and powerful family in their home city of fair Verona. She has been employed by them for 10 years and has a strong relationship with Juliet. She is also a confidante to Juliet, this means that Juliet discloses her deepest secrets to her . She does this several times in the play one example of this is when she tells the nurse about her feelings for Romeo even though previously the nurse told her that Romeo is a Montague. Shakespeare has made it so the Nurse is more of a mother to Juliet than her real mother. This can been seen when lady Capulet calls her, Juliet is unsure of her mothers voice but immediately responds to the nurse. I bid her come… Juliet’, Juliet then asks ‘How now! Who calls’ the Nurse reply’s ‘your mother’. The main reason for this is because the Nurse has spent much more time with Juliet while she was growing up rather then her mother; therefore she has built stronger bond with her then her mother will ever have.

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From the very first time we meet the Nurse, she is vulgar and extremely loud. Her bawdiness is shown in by the way she calls Juliet. ‘Now my maidenhead at twelve years old.’ This illustrates her calling Juliet a virgin, which is quite rude, particularly when, said in a high status and sophisticated household. She often does not think before speaking and is frequently indiscreet. She also often talks about sex to Juliet and says that marriage is not about love, but it is about sex. She remembers once when Juliet fell over and her husband said ‘Yea’, quoth he, ‘fallst upon thy face? Thou wilt fall backwards when thou comest to age wilt thou Jule? It stinted and said; ‘Ay’ this means that when she is old enough to make love will fall backwards in making love. What the nurse’s husband meant by this was Juliet would have sex when she was the right age.

The Nurse repeatedly tells stories and is reminiscent about her past. She repeatedly talks about her daughter Susan, who became deceased when she was only a few months old.

‘Susan and she- God rest all Christian souls- were of an age.’

Her husband is also dead. This is one of the reasons why she has devoted most of her life to the Capulet household. Also this could be the reason she has such a strong bond with Juliet, as she sees some of her daughter in Juliet. Her repetition, rambling and crudity add to the humour in the play and the audience would have warmed to her character. Shakespeare has made her ramble a lot and seem she has lost her marbles as an effect on her losing her family

In act 1 scene 5 Shakespeare establishes the Nurse as a close friend and confidante to Juliet. As message bearer and meeting arranger Shakespeare cleverly utilises her as medium through which we see Romeo and Juliet’s feelings and emotions. In this scene the Nurse the nurse moves the plot forward by telling each of the lovers about their identities how they are from two rival families, but this doesn’t turn the lovers off of each other so The Nurse instantly knew that this was true love.

It says a lot about her relationship with Juliet when Juliet confides to her, her love for Romeo. ‘only love sprang from my only hat.’ The nurse could get into a great deal of trouble for being involved in their meetings. Juliet trusts her not to say anything to her parents.

Occasionally she acts as a go between for the two star crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet, as it is difficult for them to meet due to their families being at war with each other, other something nether can remember why. The nurse does this in Act 2 Scene 4. The Nurse is essential to the drama in Act 2 Scene 4 and is a vehicle for the creation of drama in a multitude of ways. She also generates humour with her misuse of the English language (malapropisms). In this act she meets Romeo and he is with some of his family and friends. While speaking to him she makes a malapropism and then is mocked by Benvolio after she has done it the malapropism she makes is ‘If you be he, sir, I desire some confidence with you.’ She really means she would like some conference. After this Benvolio immediately mocks her by making his own deliberate malapropism, which is ‘she will indite him to some supper’ meaning she will invite him to some supper. This would have been highly entertaining to an Elizabethan audience who loved jokes centred around the clever use of language. As she walks away Mercutio calls her an ‘ancient lady’ this is scene as a put down in Elizabethan times. The reason that the Nurse came to see Romeo was to ask her if he would meet Juliet so they could set up there marriage.

Another thing that the Nurse does to build up tension and this shows her dramatic importance. In Act 2 Scene 5 Juliet moans about the Nurse not returning quickly. When the Nurse she finally gets back she moans and keep repeating herself about her age and her aches and pains and does not reveal Romeo’s answer until the end of the scene and through out she builds up tension by doing this almost reviling the answer several times, but then changes the subject just as she reveals the answer.

In Act 3 Scene 5 we seen the role of the Nurse change dramatically in terms of her relationship with Juliet and this could be seen to have an effect on the tragic outcome of the play. Juliet responds to her saying this by not confiding in her any more. In the beginning of the scene Juliet’s father is arguing with Juliet and telling her she will marry Paris. She does not want to and the Nurse says she should marry Paris. The nurse only says this because she is told to shut up by Juliet’s father and if she did not she is likely to lose her job.

In conclusion she is an extremely important character to building up tension and moving the plot forward. The play would be less entertaining as she adds humour to the play, but also makes the sad moment even more depressing as for example when Juliet dies, we feel sorry the Nurse the most as she has brought her up from when she was born and she has to witness her tragic death, which she may feel partly responsible for, as she advised Juliet to forget about Romeo and wed Paris. The plot could not have been developed and the story could not have been facilitated if it was not for the essential character of the Nurse.

Peter Passam 10 Blue