Romeo And Juliet Nurse's Character Essay

Throughout Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, many characters with a variety of personalities are introduced. In the play qualities such as being hypocritical, inconsistent and annoying can be seen. Also qualities like loyalty and being a caring person are also displayed. The nurse is a character that possesses all of these qualities. She is a much more complexed character than what most people take her to be. The nurse is Juliet’s caretaker. She has been employed by Lady Capulet to take care of Juliet since she was a baby. Her actions towards Juliet shows she is a loving and caring person. While talking to Lady Capulet the nurse says, “Faith, I can tell her age unto an hour.” (I iii 11) Would she remember Juliet’s age so precisely if she didn’t care about her? The fact that the nurse bothers to remember small details about Juliet shows that she cares about her. Another time it is evident that the nurse is a caring person is

The nurse is constantly making vulgar comments. “Hie you to church. I must another way, to fetch a ladder, by which your love must climb a bird’s nest soon when it’s dark. I am the drudge and toil in your delight, but you shall bear the burden soon at night.” (II v 77-81) The nurse manages to turn her statement about fetching a ladder to a comment about sex. This is only one of the many times the nurse makes a sexual comment throughout the play, but she has the audacity to chastise Mercutio for doing the same thing. This isn’t the only time the nurse scolds someone for doing the same thing she does. “For Juliet’s sake, for her sake, rise and stand.” (III iii 89) The nurse is yelling at Romeo because instead of comforting Juliet he’s crying and whining. This wouldn’t seem weird if she wasn’t doing the same thing just a while earlier. The nurse knows Juliet better than anyone, but at a time when Juliet needs comforting she is crying and complaining about