The Nurse in Romeo and Juliet

The Nurse acts as both a mother and a friend to Juliet in the tragic play Romeo and Juliet.  She is the one that Juliet trusts, and she is always trying to please Juliet.  Juliet comes from a wealthy family, and in those days(hundreds of years ago), it was usual for wealthy families to have a nurse who looked after the children instead of the mother doing it.  This was the case for Juliet, so her relationship with the Nurse was similar to a mother-daughter one.  The Nurse is also a friend to Juliet, and jokes around with her and listens to her.  The main character traits I see in the Nurse are motherly, loyal, and talkative.  Shakespeare conveys these characteristics through monologues the Nurse says, the conversations she has with Juliet, and the actions she takes to please Juliet.

To start, the Nurse is very motherly to Juliet.  In Act I, Scene III, Shakespeare has the Nurse say a monologue to quickly get across the fact that in this play, the Nurse is the one that probably knows Juliet the best.  In this scene, Lady Capulet is talking to Juliet about her marrying Paris.  Before she does this, she tells the Nurse to leave.  She then remembers that the Nurse knows Juliet well, and allows her to stay in the room.  The Nurse tells Lady Capulet that she does know Juliet well, and then goes into this story about Juliet as a little girl.  She explains how she used to have a daughter named Susan, but after Susan died she started taking care of Juliet.  She says that she breast-fed Juliet, which shows how she’s been acting like a mother to her since Juliet was a baby.  The Nurse then tells a funny story about Juliet.  It makes her sound like a loving mother recalling back to when her child was young.  Next, when she meets Romeo in the street to ask him about the wedding plans between Romeo and Juliet, she says, “if ye should lead her into a fool’s paradise, as they say, it were a very gross kind of behavior, as they say: for the gentlewoman is young; and, therefore, if you should deal double with her, truly it were an ill thing to be offered to any gentlewoman, and very weak dealing.”  Here we can tell that the nurse is very protective of Juliet, and wants to make sure that Romeo is going to treat her right.  Finally, the way the Nurse continues to repeat that it is a “lamentable day” when she thinks Juliet is dead shows just how much she cares for her.

Another way to describe the Nurse in this story is loyal.  She is always doing things for Juliet and keeping secrets.  In fact, she is one of the two people besides Romeo and Juliet themselves who know about their doomed love.  One thing she did for Juliet was go to Romeo to get details about the wedding of the two lovers.  Also, the Nurse tells Juliet as soon as she can about Romeo’s banishment for killing Tybalt.  She then says, "I'll find Romeo To comfort you,” showing just how much she wants to please Juliet and make her happy.  One other way that the Nurse seems loyal to Juliet is how even though she doesn’t exactly think that Romeo is the best man for Juliet to marry, and doesn’t quite seem to understand their love for one another, she still stands by Juliet’s side and helps her and Romeo marry.

Also, the Nurse is a very talkative person.  She loves to chat and joke with Juliet, which makes them seem also like friends of one another.  When the Nurse comes back from getting news of the wedding from Romeo, she teases Juliet, and complains about her aching back rather than telling Juliet the news she wants to hear.  Next, when the Nurse is talking with Lady Capulet and Juliet about when Juliet was a little girl, she rambles on and on and even when Lady Capulet begs her to be quiet so she can talk to Juliet, the Nurse won’t stop talking.  Finally, when Capulet is yelling angrily at Juliet when she says she won’t marry Paris, the Nurse defends her.  At this, Capulet says, “Utter your gravity o’er a gossip’s bowl.”  This is implying that the Nurse likes to gossip with others, which makes her seem like a chatty person.

Throughout the story, the Nurse is a character who acts as a mother to Juliet, who is loyal to her, and who loves to talk.  She obviously cares deeply about Juliet, and even though she doesn’t fully understand her, she is the one that knows her the best.  The Nurse may have different ideas about who Juliet should marry, but she still supports Juliet’s decisions, and when Juliet appears dead, the Nurse is very sad.  She also enjoys talking to Juliet and almost anyone else she meets.  The Nurse is a static character who doesn’t change too much throughout the play, but is also a very important one.