Mercutio & the Nurse

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Matt Armstrong        Page         02/05/2007

Mercutio & the Nurse

        Through out the whole of Romeo & Juliet there is a strong comparison between Mercutio & the nurse. Neither are a part of either family, but they get drawn into this family brawl. They are two parallel characters.  The play has many characters, each with their own role in keeping the plot line. Some characters have very little to do with the plot but some have the plot revolving around them. Mercutio is one of the most unique characters in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. His language is always powerful and imaginative. The Nurse is a very important character in the play because as her title suggests, she is a Nurse for the Capulet family. She is also a surrogate mother to Juliet. She acts as a go between for Romeo and Juliet and facilitates the tragedy, which means she informs people of the news and keeps the story going. She provides entertainment by making jokes and bawdy comments. She also relieves the tragedy with her humour.

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        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. ...

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