Enter Lady Capulet and Nurse.

LADY CAPULET

“Nurse, where’s my daughter? Call her forth to me.”

Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, enters and asks the Nurse where Juliet is. She wants her daughter to come to her.

• Analysis: This line shows Lady Capulet’s formal and distant relationship with Juliet. Instead of calling Juliet herself, she asks the Nurse to do it, indicating that the Nurse plays a maternal role in Juliet’s life.

NURSE

“Now, by my maidenhead at twelve year old,
I bade her come.—What, lamb! What, ladybird!
God forbid. Where’s this girl? What, Juliet!”

The Nurse swears by her “maidenhead” (virginity), saying that she was already calling Juliet. She then affectionately calls Juliet “lamb” and “ladybird”, trying to get her attention.

• Language Analysis: The Nurse uses affectionate pet names for Juliet, showing her warmth and closeness to her.
• Characterization: The Nurse has a loud and talkative personality. She is informal and motherly, unlike Lady Capulet.

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Enter Juliet.

JULIET

“How now, who calls?”

Juliet enters and asks who is calling her.

• Analysis: This short line suggests Juliet is obedient but not overly eager. She does not immediately address her mother, reinforcing their distant relationship.

NURSE

“Your mother.”

The Nurse simply tells Juliet that her mother is calling her.

• Analysis: The Nurse often acts as a middleman between Juliet and Lady Capulet, emphasizing their lack of direct communication.

JULIET

“Madam, I am here. What is your will?”

Juliet responds respectfully to her mother, addressing her as “Madam”, which was formal and distant. She asks what Lady Capulet wants from her.

• Language Analysis: The formality in “Madam” highlights the lack of intimacy between Juliet and her mother.

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LADY CAPULET

“This is the matter.—Nurse, give leave awhile.
We must talk in secret.—Nurse, come back again.
I have remembered me, thou ’s hear our counsel.
Thou knowest my daughter’s of a pretty age.”

Lady Capulet first tells the Nurse to leave so she can talk to Juliet privately, but then immediately calls her back, deciding that the Nurse should be part of the conversation. She remarks that Juliet is of a suitable age for marriage.

• Analysis: Lady Capulet struggles with talking to Juliet alone, showing she is not very close to her daughter. She relies on the Nurse for support.
• Theme: This highlights the theme of parental control and arranged marriage in the play.

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NURSE

“Faith, I can tell her age unto an hour.”

The Nurse eagerly jumps into the conversation, claiming she knows Juliet’s exact age down to the hour.

• Characterization: The Nurse is overly talkative and proud of her close relationship with Juliet.

LADY CAPULET

“She’s not fourteen.”

Lady Capulet states that Juliet is not yet fourteen years old.

• Historical Context: Girls in Shakespeare’s time, especially in noble families, were often married young.

NURSE

“I’ll lay fourteen of my teeth (and yet, to my teen
be it spoken, I have but four) she’s not fourteen.
How long is it now to Lammastide?”

The Nurse jokes that she would bet fourteen of her teeth, but she only has four left. She then asks how long until Lammastide (Lammas Day, August 1st), a festival celebrating the wheat harvest.

• Language Analysis:
  • Wordplay & Humor: The Nurse’s joke about her missing teeth adds comic relief.
  • Foreshadowing: Lammas Eve (July 31st) is Juliet’s birthday, foreshadowing that her fate will be linked with time and destiny.

LADY CAPULET

“A fortnight and odd days.”

Lady Capulet confirms that Juliet’s birthday is in about two weeks.

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NURSE

The Nurse goes into a long-winded story about Juliet’s childhood, recalling how she was weaned (stopped breastfeeding) and how her late husband joked about Juliet one day growing up.

“Susan and she (God rest all Christian souls!)
Were of an age. Well, Susan is with God;
She was too good for me.”

The Nurse mentions her own daughter, Susan, who was the same age as Juliet but died.

• Analysis: This line adds depth to the Nurse’s character. She has transferred her motherly love onto Juliet, which is why she cares so much for her.

“My lord and you were then at Mantua.”

The Nurse reminds Lady Capulet that she and Lord Capulet were away in Mantua when Juliet was a baby, meaning the Nurse raised Juliet herself.

• Theme: This reinforces how the Nurse has been a stronger maternal figure than Lady Capulet.

“Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit,
Wilt thou not, Jule?”

The Nurse’s husband made a sexual joke, implying that one day Juliet will learn to fall backwards (a euphemism for sex).

• Language Analysis:
  • Double Entendre: This joke, though crude, foreshadows Juliet’s future sexual awakening with Romeo.

LADY CAPULET

“Enough of this. I pray thee, hold thy peace.”

Lady Capulet gets annoyed and tells the Nurse to stop talking.

• Analysis: This again contrasts Lady Capulet’s cold personality with the Nurse’s warmth.

NURSE

The Nurse still can’t resist laughing at Juliet’s childhood, emphasizing how deeply she loves her.

JULIET

“And stint thou, too, I pray thee, nurse, say I.”

Juliet politely asks the Nurse to stop talking.

• Characterization: Juliet is respectful but direct, showing her maturity.

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LADY CAPULET

“Marry, that “marry” is the very theme
I came to talk of.—Tell me, daughter Juliet,
How stands your disposition to be married?”

Lady Capulet finally gets to the point: she wants to discuss marriage with Juliet.

• Theme: This introduces the central conflict of arranged marriage.

JULIET

“It is an honor that I dream not of.”

Juliet says marriage is an honor, but she has never thought about it.

• Language Analysis:
  • Dramatic Irony: The audience knows Juliet will soon fall deeply in love and desire marriage.

LADY CAPULET

“The valiant Paris seeks you for his love.”

Lady Capulet reveals that Paris, a nobleman, wants to marry Juliet.

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NURSE

“A man, young lady—lady, such a man
As all the world—why, he’s a man of wax.”

The Nurse describes Paris as “a man of wax”, meaning he is handsome and perfectly shaped like a wax statue.

• Figurative Language: This metaphor compares Paris to a flawless model of masculinity.

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JULIET

“I’ll look to like, if looking liking move.”

Juliet says she will look at Paris and try to like him, but she won’t force herself to love him.

• Foreshadowing: She is open to love but doesn’t believe in arranged marriages—foreshadowing her love for Romeo.