Wednesday, September 25, 2013

What advice does the Nurse give to Juliet?

The
Nurse has looked afterfrom her babyhood, and she is extremely supportive of Juliet throughout,
to the extent that Juliet seems to trust her more than she does her own mother. Throughout the
early part of the play, the Nurse is supportive of Juliet's love for , which she has been told
about in confidence; she even knows that Juliet and Romeo have been married in secret. This
makes the advice she gives to Juliet in Act 3, scene 5 particularly difficult for Juliet to
accept.

Juliet asks for some "comfort" from her Nurse because of
the fact that Romeo, now her husband, has been banished. Instead of offering any real comfort,
the Nurse tells her that she should be "married with the county." She is suggesting
that Juliet commit bigamy, for purely practical reasons which do not take into account Juliet's
feelings. The Nurse says that because Romeo is banished and is therefore "nothing" to
Juliet, it is the best thing she could do to marry , by comparison with whom Romeo is a mere
"dishclout." She is trying to comfort Juliet as best she knows how: by saying that
Romeo isn't particularly great anyway and that Paris is "lovely" and will be a good
match for her. However, Juliet clearly feels rather betrayed by this
advice.

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