The Nurse in Romeo and Juliet

The Nurse is a very important character in the play of Romeo and Juliet. 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.

The Nurse's job is to care for Juliet and to act like a surrogate mother for Juliet. She is a wet nurse, which means she breast fed Juliet when she was young. She is a servant for the Capulet family, who are a very rich and powerful family in the city of fair Verona. She has been working there for ten years and has a relationship of both a mother and a sister to Juliet, as she is a confidante to Juliet, which means Juliet confides in her and tells her personal secrets. I feel Juliet's relationship towards the Nurse, as a mother is stronger than her relationship with her mother. This is because when Lady Capulet calls Juliet (Act 1 S3), Juliet does not recognise her voice quickly while when the Nurse calls her, she immediately responds by replying to the Nurse. This may be because the Nurse spends more time with Juliet than Lady Capulet, and she has built a greater bond with the Nurse. Occasionally, the Nurse acts as a go between for Romeo and Juliet as it is difficult for the two lovers to meet due to their families being at war with each other. She also conveys information. E.g. She informed Juliet of the death of Tybalt, her cousin.

From the very first time the Nurse appears, she is bawdy and very loud. Her bawdyness is shown in "Now my maidenhead at twelve years old."

This illustrates her calling Juliet by calling her a virgin, which is quite rude, especially when, said in a house high status and sophisticated people.

The Nurse frequently tells stories and is reminiscent about her past. E.g. She often talks about her daughter Susan, who became deceased when she was only months old.

"Susan and she- God rest all Christian souls- were of an age."

The Nurse likes to play games and tease Juliet. This is shown when the Nurse brings the news of what Romeo has said to Juliet, and as Juliet anxiously asks the Nurse about the information, the Nurse teases her and keeps her in suspense by changing the subject and says that her back is paining.

She often repeats herself hence ...

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The Nurse frequently tells stories and is reminiscent about her past. E.g. She often talks about her daughter Susan, who became deceased when she was only months old.

"Susan and she- God rest all Christian souls- were of an age."

She often repeats herself hence loses the point. She normally does this when she receives bad news and is shocked.

She is a source of mockery for Benvolio and his friends when she goes to talk to Romeo in the town centre.

She often does not think before speaking and is frequently tactless. She frequently talks about sex to Juliet and says that marriage is not about love, but it is about sex.

"Yea', quoth he, ' fallst upon thy face? Thou wilt fall backward when thou comest to age wilt thou not, Jule? It stinted and said, 'Ay'."

She talks about sex in the presence of Lady Capulet, which is not very appropriate as she is a high status women and she is married, so when the Nurse talks about marriage being just about sex, Lady Capulet may feel uncomfortable. These types of characteristics irritate characters such as Lady Capulet but keep the audience humoured and entertained.

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. E.g. when she was married, her marriage may have mainly been based on sex, which maybe the reason the Nurse tries to warn Juliet, but she doesn't understand times and people have changed. This shows the Nurse's ignorance, as she is not well educated and not very intelligent.

She is very protective of Juliet and cares considerably about her.

"But first let me tell ye, if ye should lead her in a fool's paradise as they say it were a very gloss kind of behaviour."

Here, she is telling Romeo to not use Juliet and treat her badly.

"…for the gentlewoman is young and therefore, if you should deal double with her, truly it were and ill thing… and very weak dealing."

The Nurse tells Romeo not to cheat on Juliet and double-cross her, as that would be a weak thing for a man to do.

Her love for Juliet often clouds her judgement and she does things that she should not really do. E.g. She sets up a meeting between Romeo and Juliet as they are in love, but their families are fighting against each other and if her employers, the Capulet family found out that she had been setting up these meetings, then they may feel she was being disloyal towards them and she may lose her job. This clearly shows her loyalty lies with Juliet more than the Capulet household.

She is also a confidante towards Juliet, which means Juliet can tell her secrets and personal things. This is a relationship like the relationship between two sisters and also a relationship between a mother and her daughter. This bond has been developed because the Nurse has looked after Juliet ever since she was a child and has treated as a daughter, maybe as a replacement for her deceased child Susan. As they spend so much time together, they feel they can trust each other and confide in one another.

The Nurse is a go between for Romeo and Juliet but she does not think of the consequences of her actions. Her role as a go between is essential in the play, as without her, the story would not move on and there would be no meetings between Romeo and Juliet, thus ending the drama.

She is very defensive of Juliet and speaks her mind, no matter what the consequences.

"God in heaven bless her. You are to blame, my lord, to rate her so."

This clearly shows her loyalty lies with Juliet but after hearing Capulet's threats, she seems to change her mind.

"I think it is best you married the County. O, he's a lovely gentleman. Romeo's a dishclout to him."

This shows the Nurse telling Juliet to marry Paris instead of Romeo. She now calls Romeo a dishcloth and praises Paris, where as before, the Nurse could not stop praising Romeo.

"I think you are happy in this second match, for it excels your first; or if it did not, your first is dead, or 'there as good as he were as living here and you no use of him.

Juliet feels the Nurse has betrayed her and her loyalty now lies toward the Capulet household, where as before her loyalty lied with Juliet. I think the Nurse still has Juliet's best interest at heart and has not betrayed in any way. I feel the only reason the Nurse is telling Juliet to wed Paris as opposed to Romeo is because then she will still keep a good relationship with the Capulet family and so she doesn't end up on the streets, with no money and not a healthy life. As Romeo is banished, he cannot provide a good home and family for Juliet while Paris can and Juliet does not break her bonds with her family. I still believe the Nurse has changed her mind and not her heart, as I believe the Nurse still thinks Romeo is a better gentleman and Juliet will love him more than any other man.

The Nurse's importance is portrayed once again, as her 'betrayal' and change of advice led Juliet to her plan of drinking poison, which had a devastating affect on all of the members in the play and the drama itself.

Although the Nurse is 'larger than life' she also makes the audience appreciate the sadder more emotional moments. She showed her pathos and sadness when Tybalt died.

"Ah well-a-day, he's dead, he's dead, he's dead! We are undone. Alack the day, he's gone, he's killed, he's dead!"

She often repeats herself and sometimes loses the point, but we still feel her pathos and are aware that she is in pain, and she has lost someone that is close to her.

"O Tybalt, Tybalt, the best friend I had. O courteous Tybalt, honest gentleman that ever I should live to see thee dead."

When she realises Juliet is dead, the Nurse is devastated. She cannot express the pain she is feeling but we still sympathise for her, as her repeating shows she is in pain and suffering.

"Alas, alas! Help, Help! My Lady's dead! O well-a-day that ever I was born"

She says similar things she said when Tybalt died, but this time she felt more as Juliet was her 'daughter'.

"O woe! O woeful, woeful, woeful day. Most lamentable day! Most woeful day. That ever, ever I did yet behold. "

She feels her life is not worth living for as the one thing she loved the most has now been taken away from her.

"O me, O me! My child, my only life. Revive, look up, or I will die with thee!

All of this portrays the Nurse's importance in the play. Without her, the play would be less entertaining as she adds humour to the play, but also makes the sad moment even more depressing as when Juliet dies, we feel sorry for the Nurse the most as she has brought her up from when she was born and she has to witness her tragic death, which she may feel partly responsible for, as she advised Juliet to forget about Romeo and wed Paris. The plot could not have been developed and the story could not have been facilitated if it was not for the essential character of the Nurse!