An Exploration of Parental Failure Within Romeo & Juliet Derived from the potent lessons that one should learn throughout their childhood and adolescence from parental figures is the concept of a moral compass; when one lacks this sense of guidance it can dramatically affect their ability to form a sound sense of judgment which could expose them to unfavourable consequences. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the theme that when young people face a lack of parental guidance the effects can be detrimental to their futures is demonstrated comprehensively. The first reason for the tragic outcome of the play can be traced back to the selfishness of several supporting characters that bear significant roles in the coming of age of both Romeo …show more content…
. . The sweetest honey is loathsome in its own deliciousness,/ And in the taste confounds the appetite” (Shakespeare, II, vi, 9-13). Friar Laurence’s expression of insight for the pair’s relationship confirms that he is aware of the potentially fatal consequences that Romeo and Juliet would face once wedded, as he expresses that relationships that develop as impulsively as theirs will inevitably lead to a tragic demise. Furthermore, he overlooks the loss of life and remains confident in his decision to marry the two. Also displaying The Friar’s selfishness as he omits the teenagers’ death is his use of a metaphor when he compares Romeo and Juliet's love to the “sweetest honey”, which even in all of it’s goodness still bears many negative elements which will eventually destroy the love that they each possess. Nonetheless, Friar Laurence continues to encourage their eventually fatal decision to wed. Additionally, The Nurse fails Juliet as she behaves in a selfish manner when she values the respect of her superiors more than Juliet’s safety. The Nurse encourages Romeo and Juliet’s relationship, but a conflict between …show more content…
First of all, The Nurse supports Juliet throughout the majority of the play, but her unsound advice is a notable reason for the young lovers’ downfall. For instance, Juliet appreciates The Nurse’s help during the beginning of her and Romeo’s relationship, but what Juliet is blind to is the damage that The Nurse does as she unintentionally leads Juliet to her death when she says “Then hie you hence to Friar Laurence’ cell;/ There stays a husband to make you a wife” (Shakespeare, II, v, 68-69). In essence, the wedding that The Nurse encourages Romeo and Juliet to have reflects her negative influence on their relationship as Juliet is left increasingly vulnerable to Romeo’s impulsivity, which is an extremely relevant cause of Juliet’s eventual demise. Additionally, both Romeo and Juliet are significantly affected by the immature behavior of their kin. Specifically, Juliet displays her eradicated ability to form rational decisions when she speaks of the pressure her family puts on her as she says “My only love sprung from my only hate!/ Too early seen unknown, and known too late!/ Prodigious birth of love it is to me/ That I must love a loathed enemy” (Shakespeare, I, v, 138-141). This internal conflict that arises when Juliet discovers that Romeo is a Montague is of significance
The nurse's key capacity inside the play is to go aboutas a go-between for Romeo and Juliet and is the maincharacter other than Minister Laurence to know about their wedding. The nurse, in spite of being a worker in the Capulet family unit, has a part comparable to that of Juliet's mom and views Juliet as her own particular girl. The nurse's association with Juliet centers consideration around Juliet's age. In Juliet's first scene, the nurse over and over affirms that Juliet has not yet had her fourteenth birthday celebration. As opposed to Juliet's childhood, the nurse is old and appreciates grumbling about her a throbbing painfulness. Juliet's dissatisfaction at relying upon the nurse as her courier is utilized to comic impact in Act II, Scene 5 when Juliet is compelled to tune in to the nurse's ailments while attempting to coax from her thenews of her wedding designs: The nurse, as Mercutio, loves to talk finally. She frequently rehashes herself, and her indelicate references to the sexual part of affection set the optimistic love of Romeo and Juliet separated from
The nurse is very loyal to Juliet as shown in the past quote. The nurse is taking a chance at talking to Romeo for she knows that he is of the house of Montague and god knows the penalty for the interaction between.
They tell eachother everything. Most importantly, they can trust one another. Juliet turns to the Nurse for every problem she has. She depends on the Nurse to be there for her, especially in times of struggles and her love life. Throughout her love story with Romeo, the Nurse plays a very active role in Juliet’s life. We see the Nurse helping her to sneak away with Romeo but on the other side, we see the Nurse telling Juliet to obey her family orders, which relates back to the conflict between a parent figure and child.
Without the help of the Nurse, Romeo and Juliet would not have married or had a way to interact with each other. This is clearly shown in Act II Scene V where the Nurse talks to Romeo about the marriage plans. “I will tell her, sir that up do protests, which, as I take it is a gentlemanlike offer.”(836) If the Nurse had not been present as a messenger, communication between Romeo and Juliet would have been difficult and extremely risky. The Nurse is a mother figure to Juliet because, she takes care of Juliet and gives her advice. There are many situations where Juliet relies on the Nurse. For instance on her wedding night, the nurse helps Romeo by getting him a ladder to Juliet’s room. Thus, the Nurse influences the story by bringing the two young lovers together and helping them marry.
It was a shock to Juliet that she didn’t support as before. The nurse played as an important role to her, however it wasn’t how Juliet was expected it was going to happen. Juliet was left on her own to make some very important decisions at the age of 15. I believe that if the Nurse had been around to help Juliet things may have turned out differently. Strangely, she advised Juliet to forget about Romeo and marry Paris, betraying Juliet’s trust by advocating a false marriage: “I think it best you married with the County. O, he’s a lovely gentleman. Romeo’s a dish clout to him”(3.5.218). Juliet can’t believe that the Nurse offers such a course of action after the Nurse praised Romeo and helped bring the couple together. She could not have gone to Lady Capulet or Lord Capulet, because they would not have understood.
“An honour! Were not I thine only nurse, I would say thou hadst suck’d wisdom from thy teat” (1.3. 452). Her relationship with the Nurse was the opposite of the one she shared with her true parents and this lead Juliet to going to her Nurse whenever she had a predicament. This was counter-productive because these predicaments that she went to her Nurse for help lead to her dying because it was the Nurse’s obligation to side with Juliet and do what she was asked, even if it opposed what her parents would have approved. These jobs that Juliet set her Nurse out to complete were rebellious of what her parents would have wanted her to be doing. It was still a healthier relationship than the one that Juliet shared with her mother and father, which was significant considering the fact that she was a teenager when she faced all the issues that came with her forbidden love.
The Character of the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet The Nurse has a very important role in the play, being Juliet’s closest friend and helping her in her illicit relationship with Romeo. Her position in the Capulet household is superior to that of a normal servant. She is very familiar when she talks to Lady Capulet, and at times oversteps the mark. She talks about the daughter she once had and lost, and it is evident that Juliet is like a replacement and the Nurse lavishes all her motherly love and protectiveness on Juliet.
One of the most important relationships in Romeo and Juliet is the relationship between the Nurse and Juliet. In Act 1, Scene 3 we are introduced to the most vivid character of the play, the Nurse. With her speech that begins "Even or odd, of all days in the year, Come Lammas Eve at night shall she be fourteen." (1.3.16-48), we learn that she nursed
The Nurse is a good friend of Juliet´s and also played a big role in raising her. The nurse wanted the best for juliet and for her to be happy therefore, she encouraged her to get married. ¨Is your man secret? Did you ne'er hear say, Two may keep counsel, putting one away..¨(2.4, 185) This showed how the nurse knew how dangerous it was for the people to find out they were married yet, she still allowed the marriage and told them to betray their parents and keep it secret. The nurse also sent Romeo letters for Juliet to keep them in contact. ¨There stays a husband to make you a wife. Now comes the wanton blood up in your cheeks.¨(2.5). This shows that the nurse had talked to romeo. Although, Friar is the one who brought the idea of
This proves that The Nurse does not have any pre judgmental thoughts about Romeo, that she believes in him, and is substantial because it solidifies that she is kind not only just to Juliet (Act 3, Scene 3, line 85-173). The Friar actually accompanies her in this scene, acting out the same behavior, attempting to keep Romeo from slipping into a deep depression at the thought of never seeing Juliet again. And When The Nurse is commanded by Lord Capulet to bring forth the news to Juliet that she must marry Paris, though reluctant as she is, she agrees that marrying Paris would be in her best interests, and The Nurse tells Juliet what she must do which is critical because it validates that The Nurse will do anything to keep Juliet from harm even if she does not like it. Although marrying Paris is not something Juliet wants to do, The Nurse knows that that is what is best for her, and Juliet lies and tells her that she will marry him (Act 3, Scene 5, Lines 176-246).
The Role of the Nurse in Her Relationship with Juliet in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Being in two families that have two totally opposite views can cause a chaos especially, when a love story happens between the rivals. Verona, where the play takes place, introduces two main characters; Romeo and Juliet that are two star crossed lovers that are restricted from loving each other. In the play, Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet fall in love at first sight at the Capulet’s party, however after learning that their families are enemies, they compromised to keep their love a secret. In the midst of secretly loving each other, Juliet’s nurse was their main helper of their love story. I believe that the nurse was the most memorable character portrayed because the nurse was their communication key, the one who supported their love, and the person who opened up a way for Romeo and Juliet to meet up without using death as an option.
The Nurse concedes this proposal because of her motherly affection towards Juliet, as it is in her best interest and desires to witness Juliet wed with a genuine love rather than an arranged agreement. Although this can be seen as an congenial gesture, it completely rescinds the social discourses of the time, consequently justifying that the Nurse is not a great advisor unlike the Friar. The first exposure to the Friar shows his careful, wise manner and his obvious care for Romeo’s best interests rather than his own satisfactions. This characterization of Friar Laurence is greatly flawed due to his impetuous thinking when put under the pressure of having two teens approach him with the intention of killing themselves, as he attempts to guide Romeo and Juliet during their struggles. Shakespeare laminates the Friar with fault as he is arguably the incentive, along with the nurse for Romeo and Juliet's cessation, hence becoming the rationale of their declivity.
William Shakespeare once said, “The course of true love never did run smooth.” In the drama Romeo and Juliet they were star crossed lovers which means that they are destined to never be together. Throughout the drama you can see that their love didn’t run smooth. In the matter of four days, Romeo and Juliet were married, Romeo was banished, and they both killed themselves. Throughout the whole drama, the Nurse was always there for Juliet. Juliet and the Nurse have two kinds of love. They have storge and philia love. Philia is friend love and storge is family love. The Nurse raised Juliet from a baby. In that time the richer women would do nothing and they would have servants and nurses to do everything for them.
The Nurse is the only other person that knew about the secret relationship between Romeo and Juliet. She was sort of Juliet’s messenger in the story, she told Romeo about the marriage and when he was going to see Juliet again. Then towards the ending of the story she started realizing that Juliet’s parents were not going to let her marry anyone but Paris. So Nurse tried to help Juliet realize that, and it only made Juliet more upset and run off to Friar. When Juliet was upset she told Nurse that she was going to pay respects, nurse knew that wasn’t true and did nothing about it, if Nurse would have stopped Juliet from going to Friar she could have prevented the whole plan and stopped the events leading to Romeo and Juliet’s death. But Romeo and Juliet made it very difficult for the Nurse and Friar help them because they wanted nothing but to be together and they wouldn’t wait for anything.