A modern audience would react to the Nurses history in an emotional and sorry way compared to a Shakespeare audience which would think it is unfortunate for the Nurse to lose her daughter and husband but they wouldn’t be that surprised and shocked as in those days it was quite common for people not to live as long as people nowadays. A typical modern teenage girl and mother relationship would be more separated and not as close because nowadays teenage girls go out more whereas teenage girls in Shakespeare’s day would stay in more and wouldn’t socialise with people outside.
Shakespeare uses language to create the Nurses character to have an amusing effect on the audience by making the Nurse a comedy character as she uses a lot of repetition when she speaks in a room at the Capulet mansion as Shakespeare writes in line 18, page 25, act 1 scene 3, “Come Lammas-eve at night shall be fourteen” and also in line 22, “On Lammas-eve at night shall she be fourteen,” this clarifies to the audience that the Nurse has a repetition problem and also the that she refers back to a long winded tale which has a special remembrance day called Lammas-eve. She the Nurse uses this day to remember the date of Juliet’s birthday. The audience find the Nurse funny as she repeats herself at her own embarrassment, she reminisces, she relates back to long winding tales and her speech uses malapropisms which makes the audience laugh the most. All these make a perfect ingredient to create humour in the audience. Both modern and the audiences in Shakespeare’s time would find the nurse very amusing as Shakespeare creates the Nurse to be the comedy character in the play by having four or more important characteristics in needed to make the important comedy character needed in a play.
Shakespeare makes the Nurse an object of fun for other character when Mercutio pokes fun at the nurse at the Nurse on a street in Verona as William Shakespeare writes in line 119, page 77, act 2 scene 4 “Farewell, ancient lady, farewell lady, ‘lady, lady.” This makes it clear that the Nurse is picked on and made a joke out of by people like Mercutio as he calls her an old lady which an audience in Shakespeare’s time would of found very rude and offensive compared to a modern audience which would find Mercutio’s humour towards the Nurse very funny. The Nurse would feel extremely offended by Mercutio’s remarks.
The audience’s reaction to the Nurses predicament when she is being made fun of by Mercutio’s humour and sexual puns on a street in Verona would be a mixed one, as Shakespeare writes in line 88, page 75, act 2 scene 4 “A bawd, a bawd, a bawd! So ho!” This quotation points out that Mercutio refers to terms like “bawd” which means someone who profits from prostitution and aims them at the Nurse to embarrass her and he himself Mercutio appreciates the Nurses embarrassment and again when Shakesperae writes in line 88, page 75, act 2 scene 4 “Good Peter, to hide her face, for her fan’s the fairer face.” Here Shakespeare’s language displays a good use of alliteration and also the use of a metaphor when Mercutio compares the Nurses face to her fan. A modern audience would find Mercutio’s humour and sexual puns humorous but as for the audience in Shakespeare’s time which would find these puns quite rude and feel sympathy for the Nurse. The Nurse herself would fell embarrassed and insulted by Mercutio’s humour.
The Nurse is protective of Juliet when she visits Romeo in a street in Verona where he is with his friends Mercutio and Benvolio. Here she threatens Romeo about his intentions towards Juliet as when Shakespeare writes “If you be he, sir, I desire some confidence with you.” Here the Nurse questions Romeo’s true intentions towards Juliet and tells him that she wants confidence in him so that he wont break Juliets heart or lead her the wrong way. This again demonstrates the Nurse’s love for Juliet and also there close relationship as the Nurse wants to make sure that Romeo is the right and sensible man for Juliet and she wants to be confident about this. A modern audience would find the Nurse’s actions quite sensible and loving, as she wants to protect Juliet likewise would an audience In Shakespeare’s time.
The dramatic irony behind Shakespeare’s language when the Nurse withholds information from Juliet about her visit to Romeo while at the Capulet Mansion is that Juliet is so eager and impatient to find out if Romeo will marry her that the Nurse withholds the information from Juliet by making it out to Juliet that she is aching, out of breath and tired and so hold backs the information as William Shakespeare writes in line 30. page 81, act 3 scene 5 “Do you not see that I am out of breath?” This explains that the Nurse withholds the information about Romeo to Juliet as the Nurse surprisingly wants Juliet’s full attention and wants to be the most important person in Juliet’s life at that time as she knows that when Juliet finds out the information she will lose her attention as Juliet will be so happy that Romeo wants to marry her. So the Nurses reasons for holding back the information are that she wants to be noticed and feel important. Both modern and audiences in Shakespeare’s time enjoy this moment of dramatic suspense and so does the Nurse. The audience want Juliet to find out Romeo’s message from the Nurse and want to see the happiness on her face when she finds out. Shakespeare’s language makes this moment more dramatic as he builds up the suspense by making the Nurse withhold the information for such a long time from the pleading Juliet as the Nurse keeps making more excuses about the way she feels. As a result of this, it makes this scene so much more exciting for the audience.
The main dramatic irony scene in the play Romeo and Juliet is when Romeo had just killed Tybalt at a public place in Verona and Juliet doest know who is dead furthermore the Nurse comes back to Juliets room in the Capulet mansion and tells Juliet the news as William Shakespeare between line 35 and 40, page 105, act 3 scene 2 “Alack the day, he’s gone, he’s killed, he’s dead!” This Brilliant peace of Shakespeare writing leaves Juliet in absolute agony as she doesn’t know if Romeo or Tybalt is dead as the quotation is ambiguous as the Nurse says “he’s gone, he’s killed, he’s dead!” the audience knows it Tybalt who is dead but Juliet doesn’t and it is immense moment of suspense as we are talking about someone’s husband and she doesn’t know who’s dead her husband or her cousin. Shakespeare also uses repetition and alliteration to make this quotation even more dramatic.
When Juliet is told to marry Paris, the Nurse seems to betray Juliet as the Nurse would be chucked out of the Capulet household and blamed for Juliet’s actions if she encouraged Juliet to stay with Romeo as Shakespeare writes in line 222, page 137, act 3 scene 5 while they talk in Juliet’s bedroom “I think you are happy in this second match,” this expresses the Nurse’s view that Juliet should marry Paris the second match after Romeo. This makes it clear that the Nurse betrays Juliet for the reason that she would be chucked out of the Capulet household and also she would think it would be wrong as Romeo killed Tybalt, the cousin of Juliet. The Nurse betrays Juliet, as she would put herself on the line and also due to past history like Tybalt’s death. Both modern and the audience in Shakespeare’s time would be left dazed since the Nurse who loves Juliet has betrayed Juliet when there was such strong trust between the two and the once close relationship is starting to break down.
The dramatic irony when the Nurse asks “what?” in act 3 scene 5 is that she thinks that Juliet has just cursed her heart and soul by saying “Amen” after the Nurse had been telling Juliet to marry Paris and then Juliet asks if what the Nurse had said was from her heart and the Nurse says in line 227 “ And from my soul too, else beshrew them both.” The Nurse says she speaking from her heart and soul about Paris and then says curse them both as its phrase. Then Juliet replies by saying “Amen.” This is ambiguous as Juliet could be cursing both Romeo and Paris or cursing the Nurses heart and soul. Subsequently the Nurse asks Juliet “what?” The Nurse asks Juliet if she is cursing her heart and soul, but Juliet avoids answering this question and starts to talk about herself leaving. We later find out that Juliet cursed Romeo and Paris as they both die later in the play. Both modern and the audience in Shakespeare’s time would be left in suspense and shock at Juliet’s remark.
The differences in the way the characters mourn Juliet’s death is that there are different stages in the in the mourning of Juliet’s death. Firstly as The Nurse finds out Juliet’s dead she suddenly shouts “Alas, alas! Help, help! My lady’s dead! The Nurse is so shocked and devastated that the only person she had left to love has again perished. Then the Lady Capulet enters Juliet’s bedroom and grief’s her death shortly followed by her husband Capulet. Lady Capulet is saddened and cries out “Alack the day, she’d dead, alack the day!” Capulet is calmer than the other two characters at this time. But the most noticeable distraught character is the Nurse who feels grief as she says “o woe, o woeful, woeful, o woeful day,” she keeps on expressing her sorrow at the death of the only person she loved Juliet. She may also feel this way as she acted as a mother figure towards Juliet all her life and it is like losing her own daughter all over again for the Nurse. But the Nurse may also fell guilty for Juliet’s death as some of the last words they spoke together the Nurse went against Juliet’s dreams of being with Romeo and said she was speaking from her heart and soul about Juliet marrying Paris and she said the phrase “else beshrew them both,” so the Nurse betrays Juliet and so Juliet hints she would kill herself by saying “If all else fail, myself have power to die.” These were the last words of Juliet, which will haunt the Nurse all her life. Shakespeare uses emotive language when he highlights the Nurses strong feeling towards Juliet who dies by writing “ o day, o day, o day, o hateful day!” This just demonstrates how close there relationship was and how much the Nurse feels pain. Both modern and audiences in Shakespeare’s time would feel sorry for the Nurse and how she has to live all her life remembering there last conversation as it is the last time they meet even though Juliet dies later after discovering Romeo’s dead.
In summary the role of the Nurse in this play is that she adds to the audiences enjoyment by the way she uses repetition, malapropisms and furthermore she is old fashioned as she relates back to old tales. All of these are the right ingredients needed to create the comedy character needed in a play. These successful ingredients used by Shakespeare make the audience laugh. She adds that extra spice needed to create the enjoyment factor in the atmosphere. Shakespeare’s audience might have identified her with the original nice guy role in the play and also the comedy role and they wait and expect her to say something amusing once they discover this. Shakespeare’s language also creates the Nurse to be a realistic person as she so involved in the play and in the minds of the audience as she’s made into a realistic character, which the audience enjoy and find her more interesting. The Nurse plays the most important role in this play and at the same time makes the audience enjoy the play more.
