In her first appearance, Juliet says marriage is “an honor that [she] dream[s] not of.” At the beginning of the play, she is but a child. She is unfailingly loyal to her parents and promises that she will not “endart [her] eye” more than her parents’ “gives strength to make it fly.” Her mother’s concerns have less to do with the happiness of her daughter, but with ensuring the stability of a favorable match for her family’s reputation. When Lady Capulet exits without a final word of encouragement for her daughter, it is the Nurse who encourages Juliet to “ seek happy nights to happy days.” The Nurse has cared for Juliet since her infancy and treats her as a surrogate daughter. Her care is unwavering. Juliet is her pupil and seeks advice from her confidant, but after she meets Romeo, her perspective changes and her innocence is no longer ignorance. She begin to form her own opinions and think independently, which can be seen through how she distances herself from the Nurse. I staged Act 2 Scene 5, and excerpts from Act 3 Scene 2 and Act 3 Scene 5 to show this evolution. These scenes show the gradual process of Juliet outgrowing her Nurse. The changes in Juliet’s relationship with the Nurse, from close companions to a young woman and her outgrown attendant, provide evidence of Juliet’s evolution into an independent thinker.
After meeting with Romeo on her balcony, Juliet sends the Nurse to gather the details of Romeo’s plans and to make sure that there are actually plans to have. In Act 2 Scene 5, the Nurse returns with news, but is reluctant to share it. The scene begins with impatient rumblings of Juliet. When the Nurse enters, Juliet immediately asks her of news from Romeo. The Nurse, instead of answering, says, “I am aweary, Give me leave awhile. Fie how my bones ache!” I played the Nurse in this scene. I chose to over exaggerate my weariness. I grasped at my back and rubbed my knees to show my discomfort. The Nurse is doing this in a teasing manner. She’s egging Juliet on. I continued to exaggerate my aches and pains throughout the scene to play up that the Nurse was joking for the audience. Juliet remains oblivious, which solidifies that she is childish and easy to trick. Juliet continues to beg information from the Nurse, but the Nurse replies that she is out of breath. It was staged that Juliet stomped away after this complaint. While her back was turned, I had the Nurse look to her and smile, but then begin to speak nonchalantly, almost flippantly, when Juliet looked back at me. This demonstrated that the Nurse cared for Juliet and was just trying to get a rise out of her. This happens again when the Nurse interrupts a description of Romeo with a “Have you dined at home?” Juliet stomps her feet and the Nurse smiles at her back. Juliet continues to show that she is childish. When the Nurse begins her descriptions of Romeo, it was staged that Juliet looked off into the distance as if she was imagining him. This shows that the Nurse still treats Juliet like a child and that Juliet still acts like one.
When Juliet voiced her objections to the Nurse’s out of context question, the Nurse complains her head “beats as it would fall in twenty pieces!” I exaggerated this by holding a hand to my head and putting on a very obvious “in pain” face. The Nurse’s teasing shows that she plays games with Juliet. She still treats Juliet as a child, like she is protecting her, even though she is considered of marrying age. The Nurse appears to want to preserve Juliet’s childhood. I demonstrated this again when I had the Nurse get up and turn her back to Juliet after Juliet explains about “how oddly [the Nurse] repliest” when the Nurse interrupts another description of Romeo with the question of “where is your mother?” The Nurse folds her arms, but I smiled to show that the Nurse wasn’t truly angry, even though Juliet couldn’t see this. When the Nurse finally turns around, it is with good news that Romeo waits at Friar Lawrence’s cell to marry Juliet. I grasped Juliet’s hands and smiled widely at her to show how genuinely overjoyed the Nurse was with Juliet’s happiness.
The next scenes, Act 3 Scene 2, starts off less happily. I had the Nurse run in, but stop before reaching Juliet, who is sitting down at the beginning of the scene. I ran my hands through my hair to show my distress. Juliet comes to me. I start screaming that “he’s dead, he’s dead, he’s dead.” Shakespeare never names who it is that’s dead, so Juliet jumps to the worst case scenario. The Nurse is too invested in her own grief to pay much attention to Juliet. Juliet asks, “Can heaven be so envious?” I face Juliet and reply angrily and forcefully with “Romeo can,” but then I turn away and say mournfully that “heaven cannot.” This is to show that I blame Romeo, but it also serves to further upset Juliet. She concludes that it is Romeo that is dead and that he might have killed himself. I remain distracted and pay little attention to Juliet, which shows that I am overwhelmed with the situation. I turn to Juliet and grasp her arms when I describe the wound the Nurse saw to further demonstrate this. I stared at my hands that were shaking or I turned off into the distance. I stepped forward when I cry out about Tybalt. Juliet becomes very upset after this, fearing that both are dead. This is when the Nurse finally realizes the misunderstanding that she caused. She remedies it with a slow and sad “Tybalt is gone” and then a short, clear, and angry “and Romeo banished.” This is to show that the Nurse holds disdain for Romeo and wants Juliet to know. Displaying this attitude immediately also pushes Juliet to agree, which is what the Nurse wants Juliet to do. I faced Juliet and grabbed her arm and said this line while looking into her eyes. This acted as a kind of imposition of the Nurse’s views of Juliet. The Nurse was rallying Juliet to anger. This is what Juliet felt initially. She agrees with the Nurse, calling Romeo a “damned saint, an honorable villain,” but when the Nurse delivers an unrepentant “Shame come to Romeo,” Juliet experiences a shift.
Juliet begins to defend Romeo. She steps forward. this acts as a visual representation of Juliet’s defiance. She straightens her back to demonstrate her resolve. She gets angrier as she continues and calls herself “a beast to chide at him!” I take a step back to demonstrate that the Nurse is taking a back seat. In a lower, incredulous, and almost scandalized voice, I ask, “ Will you speak well of him that kill'd your cousin?” Juliet takes another step forward and begins to valiantly defend her husband. Originally, the Nurse and Juliet were standing side by side, but now the Nurse is up stage and further stage right, while Juliet has gone downstage and further stage left. This shows a physical separation to pair with the growing emotional one.
To follow:
- evaluation of the end of the second scene- Juliet giving the Nurse the cold shoulder and how the Nurse is no longer the one to comfort Juliet
- Reflection of third scene- Last time Juliet seeks the Nurse’s advice; Nurse’s advice for Juliet is only for Juliet’s well-being; Juliet’s immediate objection that she then hides- lying to Nurse; Juliet’s final stand
- Conclusion
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