The nurse is Juliet’s chaperone; she is the protector of Juliet’s virginity. She does not do a very good job of this, considering that she acts as messenger and witness in Juliet’s wedding, to a bridegroom not permitted by Juliet’s father, to marry her. The Nurses’ role to Juliet goes much further than just a chaperone. She is Juliet’s closest or maybe even only friend. Juliet confides in the Nurse and their relationship is more like mother and daughter then Lady and servant. Their mother and daughter like relationship may be cause of the nurse being Juliet’s wet nurse (a woman paid to breastfeed another woman’s child). There is said to be a strong bond between a child and its’ breast feeder.
We first meet the Nurse in Act 1 Scene 3. In this scene we realize that The Nurse is no ordinary servant, she is more like a family member. At the beginning of the Scene Lady Capulet dismisses the nurse:
‘Nurse, give us leave awhile. We must talk in Secret.’
But immediately the nurse is recalled:
‘Nurse come back again. I have remember’d me, thou’s hear our counsel.’
This shows that Lady Capulet feels awkward around her daughter alone, where as the Nurse does not, showing that there is a closer relationship between the nurse and Juliet than Juliet and her mother.
We are told of the Nurse’s own personal sorrow, the loss of her daughter Susan. But she is philosophical about this:
‘Well, Susan is with God, She was too good for me.’
Showing that she thinks in a rational manner and does not dwell on the past perhaps this is why The Nurse can not carry a line of thought for very long without thinking of another subject and she repeats a lot of what she has said. Although she does remember random details of past events.
The next time we meet the nurse is in Act 2 Scene 4. In this scene The Nurse’s love for Juliet is personified. This is where she is used as messenger between the lovers and is informed of the wedding plans. Being messenger between Juliet and her future husband, who has not been chosen by Capulet himself, is disobeying her duties as chaperone of Juliet. The Nurse would be punished for this, if Capulet found out. This shows that she cares for Juliet more than her jobs worth. This love is further backed up when she speaks to Romeo in private, before asks of the wedding plans.
‘But first let me tell ye, if ye should lead her into a fools paradise, as they say, it were a very gross kind of behaviour, as they say; for the gentlewoman is young; and therefore, if ye should deal double with her, truly it were an ill thing to be offered to any gentlewoman, and very weak dealing.’
This shows that the nurse is very concerned for Juliet welfare and that she does not want her lady to be led on. After Romeo confirms that he is in no way interested to lead Juliet into a ‘fool’s paradise’, the nurse is very happy for Juliet and seems to be only interested in Juliet’s happiness.
