Lady Capulet seems almost incapable of relating to her daughter at all. This is shown when she endeavours to ask Juliet whether she would consider marrying Paris. She asks the Nurse to “give leave awhile” to allow her to talk to Juliet in private, although seconds later, she calls for the Nurse to “come back again”. This shows that Lady Capulet finds it difficult to talk to her daughter without the presence of the Nurse.
In Act One, Scene Three the Nurse reveals that her own daughter Susan had died at an early age. “Susan and she… were of an age” is what the Nurse says when the subject of Juliet’s age is raised. The way the Nurse groups Juliet and Susan together shows that she regards both of them with the same attachment and thinks of Juliet as her own daughter. Perhaps the loss of Susan accounts for the intensity of the relationship between the Nurse and Juliet.
The Nurse is Juliet’s confidante at the outset of the play. Juliet feels that she can unburden her heart to the Nurse and confess her love for Romeo. The fact that she is not by blood a Capulet may add to the trust that Juliet has in the Nurse not to reveal her secret to her family. However, I suspect that even if the Nurse had been a Capulet, Juliet would have trusted her as she had substantial faith in her.
Not only is she affectionate towards Juliet, but the Nurse is kind-hearted to everyone she comes into contact with in the first two acts of the play
Shakespeare uses the Nurse as a contributable a source of humour, perhaps to lift the ominous atmosphere of the play. Her loquacious nature means that it can often be difficult for others to stop her incessant talking. When Lady Capulet is attempting to broach the delicate issue of marriage with Juliet in Act One Scene Three, The Nurse seems incapable of allowing her to make her point. She begins by interrupting frequently before launching into an unprompted, lengthy and somewhat irrelevant speech. It is obvious that this does not impress Lady Capulet as she tries to stop the Nurse by saying “Enough of this; I pray thee, hold thy peace.” However, this is not successful in deferring the Nurse from continuing her chatter. One can imagine that on stage, this whole scenario would be rather amusing as Lady Capulet would be becoming increasingly more exasperated the more the Nurse interrupted her and rambled on.
The Nurse is a very down to earth woman who uses basic language to get straight to the point and speak directly.
It is the nurse who identifies Romeo at the banquet and it is she who acts as the messenger between the two, helping with the secret arrangement of their marriage.
The nurse plays an important role in the first two acts of Romeo and Juliet as even though she is not one of the main characters, she contributes to the play by acting as a link between the two core characters and also a vehicle for the plot. The Nurse and Friar Lawrence are actively responsible for bringing the lovers together and helping their relationship progress. She introduces humour into the play as well as an authentic sense of reality that uplifts slightly from the tragic tale of events.
