Quote 2

• "If you should deal double with her, truly it were an ill thing" (Act 2)
• Plosive Alliteration:

  • The plosive alliteration in "deal double", the repeated "d" sound, injects a belligerent sense of urgency into the Nurse's speech, which establishes a tumultuous energy surrounding Romeo and Juliet's secret union. It creates a sense of verbal confrontation, despite the Nurse's lower-class status, and serves as a momentary equilibrium between impassioned love and rational caution.
  • This phrase presents the Nurse as a benevolent protector of Juliet, despite her informal register, where the alliteration compels Romeo, and the audience, to recognise the stakes of duplicity, especially when directed towards someone as callow as Juliet.
  • The Nurse serves as an epitome of maternal benevolence through her relationship with Juliet, striving to protect her from any potential pain Romeo may cause her.
• Modal Verb:

  • The modal verb "should" infuses the Nurse's warning with uncertainty and trepidation as she cannot predict Romeo's behaviour. The speculative nature of "should" reveals her disillusionment as she hopes for the best, yet senses the tragic trajectory beneath the surface.
  • The Nurse is not merely a comic servant but a subservient figure burdened with insight. Her use of tentative language exposes the imbalance of power: she has no authority over Romeo, yet her affection for Juliet compels her to voice concern, embodying the tension between affection and social standing that exists in the play.
• Key Context it relates to:

  • Italy: The Nurse's suspicion that Romeo might "deal double" with Juliet speaks to this setting's transgressive ethos as her scepticism reflects an awareness of the Italian backdrop where Shakespeare has set the play, stereotypically considered a place of passion but also betrayal.
  • Ovid's Metamorphoses: Like juliet, Thisbe is a callow girl whos pursuit of romance ends in tragedy. The Nurse's warning that Romeo must not "deal double" evokes this archetypical tragic heroine as she anticipates the inexorable pull of tragedu, which situates the Nurse as a reluctant seer, aware of the doomed romance and desperate to forestall it.
• WOW Knowledge:

  Proleptic Prologue:

  • The Chorus in the Prologue acts as a structural device that breaks the conventional suspense of tragedy by revealing the ending. This. intensified the dramatic irony and encourages the audience to focus not on what happens, but how and why it unfolds.