Nurse quotes analysis and characterisation

• 'Nurse, come...

  These words inform the audience that Lady Capulet feels that she cannot have such an intimate conversation without the nurse being present, implying both that there is a distance between mother and child and a closeness between Juliet and her nurse
• 'I can tell her...

  This is an example of blank verse, which is usually the domain for upper class and noble characters signifying the importance of the nurse's character. It is a quotation that shows how intimately the nurse knows Juliet, having been with her since her birth
• 'An I might..

  The nurse's happiness revolves around Juliet. Shakespeare uses blank verse for the Nurse in this scene. Upper class characters and the nobility typically use blank verse. Shakespeare writes the Nurse in blank verse to increase her significance. Shakespeare is also showing how the nurse transcends her status as lower class due to the closeness of her relationship with Juliet. The nurse is essentially a surrogate parent to Juliet, just like the Friar with Romeo, the blank verse symbolises this. We can conclude from this use of blank verse that the nurse is an important character
• 'O most wicked fiend'

  Juliet, who doted on her nurse at the start of the play, is becoming a woman and moving beyond such childish things as needing what is essentially a full-time babysitter. As a result, she is starting to distance herself from the people she associates her childhood. And this distancing is seen literally when Juliet sends the nurse away from her chamber on the night she fakes her own death. Even though the relationship between Juliet and the nurse weakens as the play progresses, she is still a hugely significant character
• Nurses absence from the ending of the play

  Her absence at the end of the play is all the more notable because the Arthur Brooke poem 'Romeus and Juliet' written in 1562 does mention the nurse at the end whereas the stage directions of Shakespeare version she is absent. The ending of the play presents us with 'tragic' social order from which the nurse is significantly excluded because she represents attributes that also are absent from the social order we have ar the end of the play nurturing and comedy. The nurse and the nurturing and comedy she represents has disappeared forever
• 'a bawd...

  Mercutio's remark can be seen as a reflection of the patriarchal structures of the time. Women who defied societal expectations or exercised agency over their own desires were often vilified or marginalized. The Nurse's role as a mediator between Romeo and Juliet, facilitating their secret meetings and aiding in their romantic endeavors, challenges traditional gender roles and power dynamics. Mercutio's derogatory labeling of her as a "bawd" seeks to diminish her influence and authority, reinforcing the dominance of male characters in the play.