In Shakespeare’s marvellous play Romeo and Juliet, we witness an unreal love affair between two teenagers in Fair Verona who are guided by two major characters: the Nurse, and Friar Laurence. Both of these characters each help accompany both Romeo and Juliet in their four day adventure through the ups and downs of one of the most powerful forces on the planet, which is love. These two characters, the Nurse and Friar Laurence, are incredibly important in the mystical journey of Romeo and Juliet, as they provide a loving factor that neither parent of Romeo nor Juliet could provide: parental guidance. The Nurse was able to fill in the role of Juliet’s mother when Lady Capulet was absent from Juliet’s younger years, when she was finding her feet so to speak. Friar Laurence acted as a sort of peace keeper and adviser to Romeo during Romeo’s later years. The Friar filled in the role of Romeo’s father through the tough times Romeo was faced with in both his later years, as well as his final days.
The Nurse acts as a mother to Juliet in many ways all throughout the play, and even before the play. When Juliet is in a time of hardship, it is the Nurse she turns to as opposed to her mother. The motherly figure in a girl’s life is often dependent upon whom she feels fits the position best, and in this case, it is the Nurse, not her true mother being Lady Capulet. It is evident that Juliet feels this way about the Nurse because in the scene in which Juliet is faced with the rage of her Father forcing her to marry Paris, she clearly turns away from her Mother for guidance. Instead, she asks the Nurse to comfort her. “What say’st thou? hast thou not a word of joy? Some comfort, Nurse.” Juliet clearly says to the Nurse, asking her for comfort. Not only this, however the Nurse practically raised Juliet to be the girl that she