Quote 1

• "What lamb! What ladybird!" (Act 1, Scene 3)
• Syntactic Repetition:

  • The syntactic repetition of "what..." introduces a rhythmic, musical tone that mirrors the cadence of a nursery rhyme. This rhythm immediately casts the Nurse as a benevolent figure whose speech functions as a maternal figure in Juliet's life.
  • The tone is warm and playful, capturing a fleeting moment of emotional calm before Juliet's world becomes increasingly tumultuous. It is, however, the Nurse's affection for Juliet that drives her to encourage Juliet's secret union with Romeo, an action that unintentionally contributes to the lovers' tragic downfall.
  • The Nurse serves as an epitome of maternal benevolence through her relationship with Juliet, where she provides Juliet with the paternal care that is absent from her relationship with her parents.
• Diminutives:

  • The Nurse's affectionate terms are diminutives that convey Juliet;s fragility and youthful innocence. These terms evoke the image of Juliet as callow and not yet tarnished by the world's harsh realities.
  • However, this animal imagery foreshadows Juliet's fate as a sacrificial figure. The Nurse's affectionate language, though comforting, illustrates her inability to comprehend the deeper spiritual transcend nature of Juliet's love, restricting her from grasping the tragic magnitude of the play's trajectory.
• Key contect it relates to:

  • Italy: The Nurse's line exists in tension with this stereotype as her endearment to Juliet suggests a world of affection and comfort, standing in stark contrast to the belligerence and violence that will later dominate Juliet's life. The Nurse briefly upholds a domestic equilibrium, offering a glimpse of maternal stability before she is swept aside by events beyond her comprehension.
  • Great Chain of Being: By calling Juliet "lamb" and "ladybird" with such affectionate authority the Nurse momentarily transgresses her position in the great chain of being as her emotional intimacy with Juliet elevates her beyond the role of servant. Yet this transgression is ultimately diminished when she advises Juliet to marry Paris, she falls back into a state of subservience and Juliet, betrayed, abandons her.
• WOW Knowledge:

  Freytag's Pyramid:

  • Divides the five acts of a tragedy into exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement.