Romeo And Juliet Nurse Quotes

The Nurse in Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, really intrigued me almost from the start. She stood out to me, in part, because of how motherly she seemed towards Juliet while her own biological mother seemed so ironically distant and didn’t seem to care for Juliet’s own love for her future husband. However, the Nurse seemed to also simultaneously fill the role of Juliet’s friend and sharer of secrets, escapades, and feelings, sometimes seeming and acting like a girl with Juliet. Despite all these unique traits and actions of the Nurse, her utter devotion and love towards Juliet is prevalent through the entire play, no matter how she shows it, but how she shows this devotion also stood out to me.

The Nurse goes through some changes as the

play progresses, most clearly as Juliet begins to encounter more danger and turmoil, but also several times before and after. In the beginning, the Nurse is already very close to both Juliet and her mother, exemplified when Juliet’s mother brings up Juliet’s possible engagement to Paris, and Juliet’s mother allows the Nurse to be a part of the discussion because of how close she is with Juliet, “This is the matter.--Nurse give leave awhile. / We must talk in secret.--Nurse, come back again. / I have remembered me, thou’s hear our counsel./ Thou knowest my daughter’s of a pretty age.” However, the Nurse is very playful, shown when she can’t stop laughing about something Juliet did as a babe until Lady Capulet tells her to be quiet. Later, her playfulness as Juliet’s friend comes in again when the Nurse has come back from talking with Romeo. Juliet is eager to hear the news, “What says he of our marriage? What of that” (50)? But the Nurse pretends she is hurting just to see Juliet become annoyed and impatient, “Lord, how my head aches! What a head have I! / It beats as it would fall in twenty pieces. / My back o’ t’ other side! Ah, my back, my back! / Beshrew your heart for sending me about / To catch my death with jaunting up and down” (51-55).
The Nurse changes from more of a friend to again more of a guardian when Romeo and Juliet’s marriage and relationship begins to become dangerous.

When Romeo is exiled, and Juliet’s father is in a rage for her not wanting to marry Paris straightaway, the Nurse begins to realize the implications of Juliet’s marriage to Romeo. Not only may Juliet be cast on the streets to die by her father, or be found with Romeo and have severer punishments, but Juliet could run away to be with Romeo and never see the Nurse ever again. Juliet is like the Nurse’s own child, for hers died long ago, and the Nurse loves Juliet and is utterly devoted to her and wishes the best for her. Not only does the Nurse not want Juliet to be harmed, but she also does not want to be separated from Juliet, because it would tear her apart, I think, to be separated from a “daughter” a second time. The Nurse then, in response to this probable internal turmoil, tells Juliet to forget Romeo and to just marry Paris. “I think it best you married with the County. / O, he’s a lovely gentleman! / Romeo's a dishclout to him” (III.v. 230-232). I noticed this change almost immediately because of how abrupt it was from when the Nurse praised Romeo earlier in the

play.
This action of the Nurse signified to me an interesting part of human nature: selfishness. Although the Nurse is trying to protect Juliet, to some degree she is also being selfish because she doesn’t want to lose Juliet and wants to keep her at the Capulet Manor. I don’t necessarily dislike the Nurse for acting this way, because I think we are all selfish to some degree and are not all facing the tribulations the Nurse is. I think a good analogy to the Nurse being selfish to not lose Juliet in modern day would be when fathers cry and are very upset when their daughter’s get married, because of the fact that they are “giving their daughters away to another man”. Though this may not at all be rational, most dads are feeling and regretting that their daughters are getting married because they want her to stay “daddy’s little girl” forever. This also shows a theme throughout the play, specifically through Romeo, that love and passion for those close to you can make you act irrationally.
I also think that Shakespeare may also be trying to teach us about the result of this loving selfishness. Despite the Nurse trying to protect Juliet on some level, Juliet is enraged and doesn’t think that maybe the Nurse is trying to do what is best for Juliet. Juliet then curses the Nurse, “Ancient damnation, O most wicked fiend” (III.v.248)! This corresponds to real life when a lot of parents do things to protect their children, but the children never realize and instead become angry at their parents.
I think the Nurse is very important to the play because she ultimately provides the “mother” or main parent role for Juliet. Juliet needs this guidance and love from someone, but also the Nurse is not the perfect impartial guardian that lets Juliet do whatever she wants or thinks Juliet knows what’s best; she is a realistic guardian who wants to protect Juliet and does not always agree with Juliet’s actions. She also has flaws, just like any other character should. Her utter devotion to Juliet, no matter how she expresses it, makes her an important character to help Juliet make decisions and discover more about herself through the entire play.