This very night; for Love is like a child,

That longs for everything that he can come    by.

-Duke of Milan

The Two Gentlemen Of Verona          Act III, scene i, line 124

Well there are a few interesting facts here. For starters, here is the Duke of Milan in one of Will’s earliest plays. And of course, in one of his last plays the Duke of Milan shows up again in the person of Prospero in The Tempest. So that’s mildly interesting. I’m not sure if the Duke shows up in any of the thirty-odd plays in between. 

Perhaps more interesting is the capitalization, personification and description of Love. I guess the capitalization is our clue that we’re going to be personifying it. And the description? Well, he’s like a child that wants everything he can possibly get. Does that sound like the guy (Love) that you know? Yeah, I think it kind of does.

Here's an example of a child who's not getting what he wants (a swim in the hotel pool). But he still wants it.

God and his angels guard your sacred throne,

And make you long become it!

-Archbishop of Canterbury

King Henry The Fifth                        Act I, scene ii, line 8

Here is a fairly short consideration for the day. This is the Archbishop’s greeting to the king. Pure and simple. The archbishop has just entered the room and, no, he can’t just say ‘hello your highness’. He’s got to say this. It seems a bit overly obsequious, doesn’t it? 

 

I'm pretty sure God and his angels are in this picture somewhere.

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.