Romeo & Juliet Narrative Essay
The Nurse and Friar Lawrence are admirable characters because they are respectively stronger parental figures to Romeo and Juliet than their actual parents. This seems to be evident because Romeo and Juliet’s parents are nasty to them, so actually pretty much anybody would be considered stronger parental figures. This is also true because both Romeo and Juliet are comfortable talking to The Nurse and Friar Lawrence about anything and they care for Romeo and Juliet as well. And finally, this is accurate because Romeo and Juliet are able to share their secrets with The Nurse and Friar Lawrence; in particular their secret marriage.
Thus, the Nurse and Friar Lawrence are stronger parental figures to Romeo and Juliet than their actual parents. Romeo and Juliet do not share a close relationship with their parents, nor do their parents know them very well. At the beginning of the play, when Romeo is moping over Rosaline, his father is worried about him but he actually does nothing about it. Juliet’s parents are nasty to her, especially her father, who is particularly horrible when she says she wants to marry for love. He tells her that he has lined up a suitable husband, meaning a wealthy one, and that is that.
If she doesn’t marry Paris she will be thrown out of the house, to fend for herself. What a father does not know is that his only daughter, who he is supposed to be so concerned about, is already married to the son of his enemy, Montague. He really doesn’t communicate with his Juliet at all. Obviously she has not spoken to him about it. She cannot even share her secret about the most important moment in her life with her mother. Meanwhile, The Nurse and Friar Lawrence continue to remain strong parental figures to Romeo and Juliet.
The only person who truly knows Juliet is The Nurse, who helps to arrange everything, the way a mother should. Juliet’s nurse has been with her since birth and brought her up like her own daughter. The Nurse is more of a mother figure to Juliet than her actual mother. Even though she is a servant in the Capulet household, she does love Juliet. “Thou wast the prettiest babe that e’er I nursed. And I might live to see thee married once, I have my wish. ”. This passage also shows that The Nurse breast fed Juliet.
This was because The Nurse had just lost her child, so she took care of Juliet as the child that she never had. Likewise, Friar Lawrence is the only person that truly knows Romeo. He depends on the Friar for fatherly advice. In this way the Friar is a father figure to Romeo. “That’s my good son; but where hast thou been then? ”. This passage shows that Friar Lawrence cares for Romeo enough to ask where he was been. Friar Lawrence also came up with a plan to bring Romeo and Juliet together in Mantua, away from Verona.
This was because Friar knew Romeo well enough to know that we couldn’t live without Juliet. Very few people were informed about Romeo and Juliet’s marriage. This was because word travelled very quickly in Verona, and they knew that their families would not have approved of each other because they were marrying someone who came from the family which they had despised due to countless years of feud. As a result, neither Romeo nor Juliet’s parents were informed about this marriage of theirs. Still, both The Nurse and Friar Lawrence were trusted enough by Romeo and Juliet and were both informed about their secret.
The Nurse and Friar Lawrence continued to prove their trust and loyalty to Romeo and Juliet after Romeo had been banished from Verona. Friar Lawrence also came up with a plan to bring Romeo and Juliet together in Mantua, away from Verona. The Nurse and Friar Lawrence are great parental figures because they know and understand Romeo and Juliet better and they don’t protest Romeo and Juliet’s love. In essence, The Nurse and Friar Lawrence are stronger parental figures to Romeo and Juliet than their actual parents.
