Exemplar Essay: Nurse

Romeo and Juliet

Read this extract from Act I Scene V of Romeo and Juliet. In this extract, Juliet has been impatiently waiting for news of her marriage to Romeo, which the nurse is helping to arrange. The nurse has just arrived back from speaking with Romeo and Juliet is desperate to hear what she has to say.

Nurse

Well, you have made a simple choice; you know not

how to choose a man: Romeo! no, not he; though his

face be better than any man's, yet his leg excels

all men's; and for a hand, and a foot, and a body,

though they be not to be talked on, yet they are

past compare: he is not the flower of courtesy,

but, I'll warrant him, as gentle as a lamb. Go thy

ways, wench; serve God. What, have you dined at home?

JULIET

No, no: but all this did I know before.

What says he of our marriage? what of that?

Nurse

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,--O, my back, my back!

Beshrew your heart for sending me about,

To catch my death with jaunting up and down!

JULIET

I' faith, I am sorry that thou art not well.

Sweet, sweet, sweet nurse, tell me, what says my love?

Nurse

Your love says, like an honest gentleman, and a

courteous, and a kind, and a handsome, and, I

warrant, a virtuous,--Where is your mother?

JULIET

Where is my mother! why, she is within;

Where should she be? How oddly thou repliest!

'Your love says, like an honest gentleman,

Where is your mother?'

Nurse

O God's lady dear!

Are you so hot? marry, come up, I trow;

Is this the poultice for my aching bones?

Henceforward do your messages yourself.

JULIET

Here's such a coil! come, what says Romeo?

Nurse

Have you got leave to go to shrift to-day?

JULIET

I have.

Nurse

Then hie you hence to Friar Laurence' cell;

There stays a husband to make you a wife:

Now comes the wanton blood up in your cheeks,

They'll be in scarlet straight at any news.

Hie you to church; I must another way,

To fetch a ladder, by the which your love

Must climb a bird's nest soon when it is dark:

I am the drudge and toil in your delight,

But you shall bear the burden soon at night.

Go; I'll to dinner: hie you to the cell.

JULIET

Hie to high fortune! Honest nurse, farewell!

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Starting with this extract, explore how Shakespeare presents the nurse.

Write about:

• how Shakespeare presents the nurse in this extract.

• how Shakespeare presents the nurse in the play as a whole.

[30 marks]

AO4 [4 marks]

Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a play about strong emotions. Shakespeare uses the character of the nurse, who acts as a mother figure to Juliet, to explore the tension between strong, natural feelings of love and societal expectations around marriage. Unlike Lord and Lady Capulet, the nurse supports Juliet in pursuing her own choice of husband. Due to the limitations of the nurse’s status, she is unable to assist Juliet any further after Lord Capulet demands that Juliet marry Paris, thus is unable to prevent the play’s tragic conclusion. Had Lord and Lady Capulet attempted to understand Juliet’s feelings in the way that the nurse did, then perhaps Juliet’s death could have been avoided. Shakespeare could therefore be suggesting that, if strong feelings of love are ignored by families who force their children into arranged marriages, there can be tragic consequences.

In the extract Shakespeare makes clear the nurse is happy to help Juliet marry Romeo. In lines 41 and 45, Shakespeare has the nurse order Juliet to get herself to the church, shouting ‘hie you hence to Friar Laurence’s cell’ and ‘hie you to the church’. It is clear that the nurse is very eager for Juliet to marry Romeo and is urging her to go to see Friar Laurence very quickly. In lines 45-48, Shakespeare demonstrates that the nurse is happy to assist Romeo in visiting Juliet’s bedroom later that night by having her say ‘I must another way, To fetch a ladder’. In other words, the nurse is stating that she will search for a ladder that Romeo may climb in order to reach Juliet. The nurse plays a very important role in helping Juliet to follow her heart; without the nurse, Juliet would be unable to get any messages to Romeo or arrange their upcoming marriage. The nurse takes huge risks in helping Juliet in this way; if the Capulets were to discover this, the nurse would lose her job and her reputation. Therefore Shakespeare emphasises how much the nurse loves Juliet through her willingness to take this risk.

In the extract Shakespeare also makes clear that there is a close, loving relationship between the nurse and Juliet. Shakespeare has Juliet refer to the nurse as ‘sweet nurse’ and ‘honest nurse’, which indicate that Juliet feels great affection for the nurse. Shakespeare also indicates their closeness by having the nurse deliberately delay telling Juliet any news about Romeo, instead complaining about her ailments, such as her ‘aching bones’ and ‘my back! My back!’. The nurse knows how desperate Juliet is to hear news about Romeo and, in a playful way, deliberately delays telling her anything. Through this playful relationship, Shakespeare clearly demonstrates how close the two characters are. Perhaps Shakespeare deliberately emphasises the closeness of the nurse and Juliet early in the play in order to demonstrate how powerful and overwhelming Juliet’s love for Romeo becomes, eventually causing her to lie to the person who has raised her since she was a baby.

In the play as a whole, Shakespeare contrasts the nurse and Lady Capulet in order to comment on parent-child relationships. Whereas Lady Capulet frequently refers to Juliet as ‘daughter’, the nurse has affectionate nicknames for Juliet, such as ‘lamb’ and ‘ladybird’. Shakespeare deliberately contrasts these terms of address in order to demonstrate the difference in their relationships. Although Lady Capulet is JUiet’s mother, she is very distant from Juliet and is unaware of how Juliet really feels, particularly given that she doesn’t ask. She is also uncomfortable speaking alone with Juliet. In contrast, the nurse breast-fed Juliet, feels very close with Juliet, and is the person that Juliet frequently confides in. Perhaps Shakespeare creates this contrast in order to comment on parent-child relationships in the Elizabethan era. It was normal for wealthy families such as the Capulets to hire a nurse to raise their daughter, but this decision results in them being unaware of their daughter’s true wants and desires. If the Capulets had been closer to Juliet and paid more attention to her wishes, perhaps the tragic end could have been avoided. Shakespeare could be suggesting that societal norms, not fate, were the cause of Juliet’s death.

Later in the play, Shakespeare uses the distance between Juliet and the nurse to convey the power of Juliet’s love for Romeo. After Lord Capulet demands that Juliet marry Paris, Shakespeare has the nurse try to persuade Juliet into this second marriage by comparing Paris to an ‘eagle’ and Romeo to a ‘dishclout’. It is clear that the nurse wants Juliet to believe that Paris is the far better match. In encouraging her into this second marriage, the nurse ignores the fact that marrying twice would have been seen as an act against God, and Juliet’s strong feelings of love for Romeo. It is difficult to judge the nurse too harshly for this decision, as she would have had very little power to stand up to Lord Capulet. As a result of this betrayal, Juliet turns to Friar Laurence for help and deceives the nurse. It is clear by this point that Juliet’s love for Romeo has overpowered all other loyalties, compelling her to lie to the one person who has always been her confidant. Perhaps if the nurse had felt able to stand up to Lord Capulet and go against expectations of her status in a patriarchal society, Juliet would not have felt the need to go to Friar Laurence for help, thus the tragic end of the play could have been avoided. Shakespeare could therefore be commenting on the limitations of arranged marriage for young women like Juliet.

Later in the play, Shakespeare uses the distance between Juliet and the nurse to convey the power of Juliet’s love for Romeo. After Lord Capulet demands that Juliet marry Paris, Shakespeare has the nurse try to persuade Juliet into this second marriage, ignoring the fact that marrying twice would have been seen as an act against God, and Juliet’s strong feelings of love for Romeo. As a result, Juliet turns to Friar Laurence for help and deceives the nurse. Shakespeare creates dramatic irony on the morning of Juliet’s wedding to Paris, when the nurse is the first to find the body and, unlike the audience, is unaware that Juliet has faked her death. This use of dramatic irony highlights the distance between Juliet and the nurse; it is the first time in the play that the nurse has not known Juliet’s secrets. It is clear by this point that Juliet’s love for Romeo has overpowered all other loyalties, compelling her to lie to the one person who has always been her confidant. Perhaps if the nurse had felt able to stand up to Lord Capulet and go against expectations of her status in a patriarchal society, Juliet would not have felt the need to go to Friar Laurence for help, thus the tragic end of the play could have been avoided. Shakespeare could therefore be commenting on the limitations of arranged marriage for young women like Juliet.

In conclusion, it is clear that the nurse cares deeply about Juliet and assists her in following her heart and her strong feelings of love for Romeo during most of the play. The turning point of their relationship is reached when the patriarch of the family asserts his status and demands that Juliet marry against her wishes. At this point, the nurse is no longer able to support Juliet and Juliet’s strong feelings of love for Romeo begin to lead her towards her tragic death. Shakespeare could therefore be warning against the strict restrictions imposed upon women such as Juliet in the Elizabethan era. Perhaps he aims to educate parents to try to better understand the feelings of their children, which could avoid such tragic consequences.