Lady Capulet quickly changes her mind and asks the nurse to come back in even though they want to talk in secret, this shows that Juliet’s own mother is uncomfortable and nervous speaking to her own daughter and that the nurse is part of the family and that she is trusted with the families secrets. This also includes the nurse in the conversation. The conversation ends up being about Juliet’s father wanting her to marry Paris.
In Shakespearian times, it was usually the father that decided who to ‘give’ his daughter to; this was usually done at a young age.
When Juliet talks to her mother she speaks very formally, addressing her as ‘Madam’, this is totally opposite from when she speaks to the nurse; the language she uses around the nurse is very relaxed and informal.
When we see the nurse next, she is interrupting Juliet’s first kiss with Romeo.
“Madam, your mother craves a word with you”
When Juliet goes off to find her mother, the nurse explains to Romeo, who she is and who Juliet is. This shows that the nurse is trying to get what is best for Juliet because if she gets involved with Romeo, she will only get in trouble.
The nurse is a source of information for Juliet, she passes messages from Romeo to Juliet and vice versa, she also gives Juliet information on who Romeo is.
She says: “His name is Romeo, he is a Montague”
Juliet is comfortable talking about Romeo with the nurse; this again shows how close they are. She decided to defy her family and marry Romeo secretly.
In act 2 scene 2, the nurse interrupts the young couple again. She interrupts just as the couple are talking about marriage. Juliet is the one that proposes marriage, which is unexpected as the couple have only known each other for at most a week. It is unexpected in 2 ways because of the couple barley knowing each other and the woman proposing marriage, in modern society the men usually propose and it is normally after the couple have known each other for at least a few months. The nurse does not object to the proposal, this may be because of their strong bond, or maybe because she is paid to do what she is told.
In act 2 scene 4 the nurse goes looking for Romeo, who is with his friends. He acts differently with his friends, as most characters do in this play. He mocks the nurse until she tells him that Juliet has sent her with a message
‘To meet and marry at Friar Laurence’s’ Cell
In doing this Juliet has gone against her parents and the nurse has gone against her employers, this shows how much Juliet loves Romeo and how much the Nurse loves Juliet.
In act 5 the nurse comes back to see Juliet to give her the good news, but the Nurse being a comical character winds Juliet up and won’t tell her the answer straight away.
When Juliet goes to marry the nurse stays at home and goes to dinner.
When they have married, they return to Juliet’s house, in the morning Romeo must leave as he has been banished. Juliet finds this deeply saddening and cries as Romeo leaves. Lady Capulet comes in just after Romeo has left to find Juliet crying on the bed. Lady Capulet straight away assumes that she is crying because of Tybalt, this is more proof that Lady Capulet has no idea about Juliet as she just assumes what she is crying about.
Lady Capulet tells Juliet that her father has arranged for her to marry Paris, in a week’s time. Juliet tells her mother that she will not marry Paris and to tell her father she will not marry. Lady Capulet goes to get her father, who tells her she will marry Paris.
The Nurse tries to stand up for Juliet who hides behind the nurse, hoping that the nurse will make it so she will not have to marry. Juliet’s father swears and the nurse and tells her to shut up, the nurse does this, because if not she may be fired and not allowed to see Juliet again. Lord Capulet then calls Juliet a ‘disobedient wretch‘ then says if you do not marry Paris I will disown you. It is questionable whether or not he would disown his only child.
After the two parents have left, Juliet turns to the Nurse for comfort. The nurse, the only person Juliet feels she can turn to, tells her to forget Romeo ‘he is a dishcloth compared to Paris’. The nurse looses Juliet’s trust and their friendship has gone. This is the last scene when the nurse is in the play.
Juliet’s other relationships are with her parents. She doesn’t have a friendly relationship with her parents. She will love her parents, because they are her parents, but she probably doesn’t like them very much.
Juliet’s parents show no sign of affection towards each other, maybe Lady Capulet’s father made her do the same as they are making Juliet do. Which brings up the point that if Lady Capulet doesn’t love her husband, why is she behind him in making Juliet marry Paris? It is likely to be because she is afraid of Lord Capulet; he is a powerful person in the city, or maybe she is just in the relationship for the money.
Many questions are brought to mind, none of these Shakespeare gives us the answer to, so we can only guess.