Explore the character of the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet

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Explore the character of the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet

The Nurse has a very important role in the play, being Juliet’s closest friend and helping her in her illicit relationship with Romeo. Her position in the Capulet household is superior to that of a normal servant. She is very familiar when she talks to Lady Capulet, and at times oversteps the mark. She talks about the daughter she once had and lost, and it is evident that Juliet is like a replacement and the Nurse lavishes all her motherly love and protectiveness on Juliet. She is bossy to the other servants, we see this in the beginning when she gives orders to Peter and bosses him around. She is not very intelligent, and is a fairly simple person, which makes her an easy target for Mercutio’s sarcastic comments. She is very long-winded when she talks, and is very rude, however she is extremely honest, and makes the audience laugh. This is one of her main functions in the play; Shakespeare put her there to provide humour in dark, sad times. As the play goes on, we see that however much she tries to help the two lovers with their relationship, she is too shallow to understand the pure, true love that they share. This, ultimately distances her from Juliet to the point where Juliet feels that she can no longer trust her lifetime friend, and carries her burden on her own.

 

It is normally the Nurse who talks rubbish that doesn’t make sense, but in Act 3 Scene 2, it is the other way round. It’s Juliet who is talking nonsense, beginning the scene with a long speech, with lots of metaphors, and long-winded language, asking the gods to make the night come quicker so that she can be with Romeo. Meanwhile the Nurse is making all the plans for the lover’s first night as a married couple, such as throwing rope ladder for Romeo.

 The night before her wedding day, Juliet waits for Romeo with excitement. The Nurse enters the room with the rope ladder that Romeo is to use to climb into Juliet’s room, but throws it down tiredly and sighs “ Ah well a day! He’s dead, he’s dead…we are undone lady”.  The Nurse goes on and on, until Juliet thinks that she is talking about Romeo. After she has calmed down, she tells Juliet that Romeo killed Tybalt in a street fight, and tells that Juliet that no man can be trusted. The Nurse begins to feels sorry for herself, saying, “give me some aqua vitae...these grief’s…woes…make me old.” Juliet curses Romeo using insults such as, “bright smoke” and “cold fire”,

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Juliet’s anger at the Nurse’s criticism of Romeo shows her loyalty to Romeo, and she quickly overcomes her initial reaction to Tybalt’s death, showing that true love conquers all. Juliet exclaims, “blistered be thy tongue” to the Nurse. With these words, she effectively forgives Romeo, and the strong language she uses are in stark contrast with sweet-tongued Juliet that we have come to know. 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 ...

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