Many of Shakespeare’s tragedies incorporate characters that are amusing, delightful, and

downright humorous, making even the most serious scenes full of levity. In Romeo and Juliet,
this is the character of Juliet’s nurse. We do not have a name for her, and yet we know much
about her. Talkative, simple, and common, she is none-the-less charming because of her good
heart and her deep love for Juliet. After Romeo’s banishment the nurse advises and encourages
Juliet to abide by her father’s instruction on the marriage to Paris because she only wants the best
for Juliet and wants her to have a long married life. The nurse however is unintelligent and does
not really understand the true meaning of romantic love.

Throughout the play the nurse is a comedian, and in some parts, such as Tybalt's death, is
a serious character. The nurse is a motherly character, as she treats Juliet as if she was her own
daughter, and knows her a lot better than Juliet's mother. The nurse knew “…Come Lammas Eve
at night shall she be fourteen.” (Romeo and Juliet I:iii: 19) while Juliet’s mother did not know
Juliet’s age. The nurse breast-fed Juliet when she was a baby and has cared for Juliet her entire
life and Juliet is comfortable speaking with the nurse. Person(s) speak freely with other person(s)
when they have built a level of trust between each other and Juliet trust the nurse significantly.

The nurse is concerned about Juliet safety. She warns Romeo not to “…lead her into /a
fool's paradise…” (Romeo and Juliet II: iv: 165,166) and not “...deal double...” (Romeo and
Juliet II: iv: 168) or double talk Juliet because she's young and inexperienced with boys. The
Nurse doesn't want Juliet's feelings played with by Romeo. The nurse is concerned for Juliet as a
mother would be for her child.

The nurse is an unintelligent character because she will usually do what she believes is
right or what Juliet wants. She continued to help Juliet despite being ridiculed and harassed
terribly by Romeo’s best friend, Mercutio. She was called terrible things such as, “…to hide her
face; for her fan's the/ fairer face.” (Romeo and Juliet II: iv: 107, 108) by Mercutio. This
portrayed that the nurse is willing to be insulted and harassed for Juliet’s sake but that is really
stupid. The nurse also stands up for Juliet and says, "God in heaven bless her!/ You are to blame,
my lord, to rate her so,” when Capulet is forcing Juliet to marry Paris (Romeo and Juliet III: v:
168, 169). It was very daft talking back to your master because she could have been kicked out
of her job.

The nurse told Juliet to wed Paris because the nurse is misguided. The nurse does not
understand Juliet's emotional love for and believes it is some childish infatuation because the
nurse only thinks love is physical. This is seen when she tells Juliet to look for love, "Go girl,
seek happy nights to happy days." (Rome and Juliet I: iii: 105) This displays a realistic attitude to
love not an emotional one. The nurse was left by her husband and has always been looked down
upon and called malicious words by men, she has never received romantic love and has never
understood true romantic love between two lovers.
 The nurse didn't want to do any harm to Romeo and Juliet. More like a friend than a
nurse to Juliet, as she risked her job to help Juliet. She went as far as being insulted for Juliet’s
sake but she knew it was not possible for Juliet to be Romeo. She told Juliet to marry Paris
because she just wanted Juliet to have the best life that she could. She is ‘dim-witted’ in many
ways as she could not make up her mind and could not understand the true meaning of romantic
love. In many ways a surrogate mother to Juliet, she cares deeply for Juliet's best interests.