The Nurse was a key character in the play. She had a very close and open relationship with Juliet because she brought her up, since she was a child. This was because in the Sixteenth Century, noble women often were busy with other obligations, for example: Juliet’s mother. It could be argued that the Nurse was caring, sensitive towards Juliet, and very loyal to her. When the Nurse said “2.5.76 I am the drudge and toil in your delight” This shows lots of care and affection for Juliet, proves that the Nurse was a trusted confidante and was willing to sacrifice her own safety for Juliet. The words ‘drudge and toil in your delight’ meant the servant and labour for your pleasure. As being a Nurse, she fulfilled her duties well; she protects Juliet from Romeo as well. Nevertheless, the Nurse was a complicit in Juliet’s plans by agreeing to help the lovers to meet because she was being a lenient. ‘3.2.138 Hie to your chamber. I’ll find Romeo’ This conveys that the Nurse supported the Lover’s actions throughout the play, be it right or wrong. In Act 3.5 when Lord Capulet tried to force Juliet to marry Paris. When he became violent, the Nurse was kind, protective towards Juliet by going against the Lord, risking her job. However, later in the scene the Nurse betrayed her by advising her to marry Paris. The most callous and heartless line she said was ‘3.5.219 Romeo’s a dishclout to him’ This illustrates how the Nurse played around with Juliet’s emotions, knowing the fact that Juliet only loved Romeo. She changed her motive because she knew if Juliet married Paris, she could meet her often. On the contrary if Juliet married Romeo she would have to go far away and then she would have been held responsible for their actions. Juliet’s most trusted lady became selfish. Juliet’s confidante could be said to have contributed to the tragedy because she betrayed her trust, underestimated their love, did not talk about this matter with their parents and constantly kept helping her in her plans to deceive their parents and get them married. However, she might not be culpable because she acted what was best for Juliet and she had an inferior position in the household.
On the other hand, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother had a very distant, uncomfortable relationship with her daughter. She was keen to get Juliet married to Paris. Naturally, because it was the Sixteenth Century and girls married at a very young age. Oddly, we can see that she felt uncomfortable around her child when she said, “What say you? Can you love the gentleman?” Her tone was proud and formal we can tell that she was out of touch with Juliet’s emotions. She also assumed that the marriage would make her daughter happy; this proves that she did not know her daughter well and did not understand Juliet’s true feelings. When Juliet refused to marry, she drew attention to the fact that the marriage was very imminent. We know that Lady Capulet was disgusted and frustrated with Juliet when she said, “3.5.203 Talk not to me, for I’ll not speak a word” This implies how cruel she was. Unfortunately, she even goes as far as disowning Juliet. It must have been very disturbing for Juliet that her own mother was not supporting her, when she needed her the most. Lady Capulet’s reaction to Juliet’s death was she seemed dismayed, but thought more of herself and her language was oddly formal. ‘5.3.207 That warns my old age to a sepulchre’ This language sounded rehearsed and explains that she was being selfish because it reminds her that she is going to die. Furthermore, she repeated the initial reactions of the Nurse said. This Illustrates that Lady Capulet was uncomfortable in expressing feelings. She might have been culpable to some extent because maybe if she had supported her daughter during various stages of the play, this tragedy might have been preventable.
Lord Capulet is an assertive and authoritative man. We can tell that he cared for his daughter and was protective of her since he says in Act 1 Scene 2, “my child is yet a stranger in the world” This proves that he cared about her happiness and loved her dearly. However, after Tybalt’s (Juliet’s cousin) death he seemed desperate to marry Juliet off in order to have gained an heir, someone to protect her. He seemed extremely cruel to his daughter when he said “….she will be ruled” Juliet’s father called their decision, “our decree” which suggested that Lady Capulet did not have much say. His tone was very effective and powerful and the word “ruled” was extremely harsh. When she continued to defy him, Capulet threatened to disown her. ‘3.5.165 But now I see this one is one too much’ This demonstrates that Lord Capulet was being very rude to his own daughter, by wishing that they never had Juliet. Later, Capulet forced Juliet to carry out her rash plan to be reunited with Romeo because he does not ask the Nurse fro advise. It seemed that he was to blame for her eventual death because he forced her to marry Paris, black-mailed her, threatened to disown her and finally pressurized Juliet in taking the decision of marrying Romeo. In spite of this, he was not entirely to blame because he did not know she was married to Romeo, she loved Romeo and he was only behaving in a manner, any father would.
To sum up, this play had many factors regarding Juliet’s death. The main elements were their destined fate and the actions of different characters. It seems to me that the Nurse was most culpable because at the beginning of the play she gave her support to Juliet and helped the lovers meet many times. However later in the play she altered her view about Romeo, and advised Juliet to marry Paris. At that point, Juliet must have felt much betrayed because the Nurse brought her so far, assisted in all their actions and then she just left Juliet in the confusion alone. Moreover, in the confusion, I feel that Juliet must have taken the wrong decision, which brought her to her death. Nevertheless, Shakespeare also suggests that Lord Capulet and Lady Capulet were culpable partially because they never asked what Juliet wanted, they did everything they thought was correct as a result Juliet had committed unnecessary actions, for example: Marrying Romeo, without telling her parents.
