The first comparison between Mercutio & the Nurse is that neither a part of either family. Mercutio is not a Montague, the Nurse not a Capulet. They are just two characters whom are close to either Romeo or Juliet. When Romeo is down, Mercutio is there for him, much like the nurse is who Juliet turns to, when she needs to talk. She chooses to talk to the nurse rather than her own mother. Mercutio is the one who gets Romeo over Rosaline, and tells him that there is more to base his life round than just one woman. On the same night they go out Romeo first sets his eyes on Juliet and it is love at first sight. They are both they for Romeo or Juliet when they most need it. The Nurse is totally devoted to Juliet and is also loyal towards her. Although she is tactless at times, her intentions are always good. Even when talking about uncomfortable issues such as sex to Juliet, she is only trying to warn Juliet about life from her experience.
There are two main reasons Mercutio's character is important to the actual plot of Romeo & Juliet. First of all, Mercutio convinces Romeo to attend the party at the Capulet's house, where he met Juliet. Romeo was very reluctant to go to the party and even expressed a feeling of insecurity about what the night may bring. However, after Mercutio advises Romeo and teases him a little, Romeo decides to go. It is solely
because of Mercutio's persuasions that Romeo attends the gathering. The second way Mercutio's character is vital to the plot is it is Mercutio's death that sets off the chain of events that leads to Romeo's banishment.
My second point is that Mercutio & the nurse are both in the play as characters used to humour the audience. The play is so full of Tragedy right from the word go, that Shakespeare needed to add a couple of characters to lighten the play up from the sad setting it is in. They are both eccentric, lively characters which are quick witted
and use sex as comedy. “Nay, do I bear a brain – but as I said, when it did taste the wormwood on the nipple.” – Act 1, Scene 3, Lines 30 – 31.
We grow very fond of both Mercutio & the nurse. They seem very nice and funny characters, we grow to like they’re energy. This is why the play seems even more tragic towards the end. The Capulets are after Romeo, and Mercutio does all he can to help Romeo, and protect him. He gets killed whilst trying to help Romeo. This is extremely sad because the character we had grown to like had just died. This seems to knock a sense of reality into the play; everything will not be okay, with a happy ending, because Mercutio is already dead. “A plague a’ both your houses!” – Act 3, Scene 1, Line 102.
The nurse is the closest thing to a mother that Juliet has. She lives with her mother, but the nurse has the attitude a mother should have. She knows everything about her, cares for her like one of her own. She is the one that arranges the marriage between her & Romeo. She knows that it is not just a crush, but true love. This may be that she is trying to replace her own children with Juliet. The nurse had lost her children to death, and Juliet seems to be a daughter to her. Juliet seems to act the same; she is not pleased that her mother is arranging a marriage for her with Paris. She is not in love with Paris, and wants to spend the rest of her life with Romeo.
To conclude, both the nurse and Mercutio had been brought into the family feud through their care for both Romeo and Juliet. They are both affected but still but the two lover before themselves. They are both characters which we grow to adore, using comedy to ease the tension, and make us enjoy the scenes that they are in. In the
end Mercutio dies and makes the play far more tragic for us because we like Mercutio and we know that he died whilst protecting Romeo. They are both the closest person to either Romeo or Juliet. They may have family but they don’t seem as close to them as either Mercutio or the nurse.