Mojo, The Bard, & Me

Madam!

-Nurse

Romeo And Juliet                   Act III, scene v, line 37

A nice short line today. One word spoken by the nurse: Madam!

So, just who is this nurse, and what, in the context of the 1590’s is a nurse? Should we look into it? I imagine there’s a wealth of info out there. What if we just Google ‘Juliet’s nurse’?

Hah! Just as I thought. The first hit is Wikipedia which says The Nurse is a major character in William Shakespeare's classic drama Romeo and Juliet. She is the personal servant, guardian (and former wet nurse) of Juliet Capulet, and has been since Juliet was born.

According the Goodreads, the second hit, Juliet’s Nurse is a book by Lois Leveen which was engaging from the very first page. The story is told from the point of view of Juliet's Nurse, Angelica, beginning with the rather odd childbirth and subsequent death of her infant girl. Her voice is at times compelling, sensitive, humorous, and profound.

So there you have it. One further point of interest: per Wikipedia, only Romeo and Juliet have more lines in the play than the nurse. How about that!

Madam!

 

Here's a picture of one of my favorite nurses, the young lady in the center of the picture. That's Lucy on the left. She's not a nurse. And I don't know who that little guy is, photo-bombing from the far left.