At first, the Nurse, who is Juliet's confidant and knows all about her relationship with Romeo, supports the young couple and advises Juliet to not listen to her parents and to listen to her heart instead. After speaking with Romeo, the Nurse is certain that he loves Juliet as well, and she suggests that they marry in secret.
Then hie you hence to Friar Lawrence's cell.
There stays a husband to make you a wife.
In act 3, scene 5, Juliet is upset after her fight with her father, who is very angry at her for not accepting the arranged marriage with Paris. She then turns to her mother and tries to convince her to speak with her father and change his mind and hopefully stop the marriage from happening or at least postpone it; she even says that she'll kill herself if she has to marry Paris. But her mother refuses to help her and insists that Juliet listen to her father.
In desperate need for some comfort and sympathy, Juliet, distressed and anxious, goes to the Nurse to tell her about the fight with her parents and to ask for advice. Contrary to her previous advices, the Nurse tells Juliet to forget about her young and immature lover and to marry Paris instead; in her opinion, Paris is a gentleman and a much better match for Juliet than Romeo, who could never do anything for Juliet now, as he's banished.
Romeo is banished, and all the world to nothing
That he dares ne'er come back to challenge you,
Or, if he do, it needs must be by stealth.
Then, since the case so stands as now it doth,
I think it best you married with the County.
O, he's a lovely gentleman!
Romeo's a dishclout to him. An eagle, madam,
Hath not so green, so quick, so fair an eye
As Paris hath. Beshrew my very heart,
I think you are happy in this second match,
For it excels your first, or, if it did not,
Your first is dead, or 'twere as good he were
As living here and you no use of him.
Juliet, who's used to the Nurse always supporting her and always being there for her and on her side, is so shocked, confused, and even offended that she promises to never listen to the Nurse again and stops being her friend after that.
The Nurse actually proves to be a conflicting source of advice for Juliet. Since she has cared for Juliet like her own daughter since Juliet's infancy, they share a close bond. In fact, their relationship is much more affectionate than the one Juliet shares with her mother. Juliet turns to the Nurse several times for advice as she falls for Romeo, who is from a family she is supposed to hate.
After meeting Romeo, Juliet wants to be certain of his intentions. She sends the Nurse to speak with him, and when she returns from this conversation, she playfully withholds information as...
See This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this answer and thousands more. Enjoy eNotes ad-free and cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
Juliet grows increasingly frustrated with her. Finally, the Nurse gives her advice on how to proceed in this relationship:
Then hie you hence to Friar Lawrence's cell.There stays a husband to make you a wife. (II.v.69–70)
This advice is significant, because she is instructing Juliet to go against the wishes of her family and to actually marry Romeo privately. Juliet takes this advice.
Later, Juliet finds herself in a real conundrum. She is already married to Romeo, which the Nurse is aware of, when Lord Capulet demands that she show up to marry Paris. In fact, he tells her that if she doesn't obey him, she can "hang, beg, starve, die in the streets" (III.v.203). Once more, Juliet turns to the Nurse privately, desperately in need of some wisdom. The Nurse doesn't simplify the situation for Juliet:
Beshrew my very heart,I think you are happy in this second match,For it excels your first. Or if it did not,Your first is dead, or 'twere as good he were,As living here and you no use of him. (III.v.233–237)
Advising a married young woman to marry a second husband creates further turmoil for Juliet, who questions the Nurse's advice: "Speakest thou from thy heart?" (III.v.238). She leaves Juliet in an impossible predicament, which is surely a contributing factor in Juliet's drastic decision to fake her own death.
The Nurse has looked after Juliet from her babyhood, and she is extremely supportive of Juliet throughout, to the extent that Juliet seems to trust her more than she does her own mother. Throughout the early part of the play, the Nurse is supportive of Juliet's love for Romeo, which she has been told about in confidence; she even knows that Juliet and Romeo have been married in secret. This makes the advice she gives to Juliet in Act 3, scene 5 particularly difficult for Juliet to accept.
Juliet asks for some "comfort" from her Nurse because of the fact that Romeo, now her husband, has been banished. Instead of offering any real comfort, the Nurse tells her that she should be "married with the county." She is suggesting that Juliet commit bigamy, for purely practical reasons which do not take into account Juliet's feelings. The Nurse says that because Romeo is banished and is therefore "nothing" to Juliet, it is the best thing she could do to marry Paris, by comparison with whom Romeo is a mere "dishclout." She is trying to comfort Juliet as best she knows how: by saying that Romeo isn't particularly great anyway and that Paris is "lovely" and will be a good match for her. However, Juliet clearly feels rather betrayed by this advice.
The nurse advises Juliet a couple of times in this play. She says that Juliet should consider Paris at the party - "Why he's a man of wax.." Later she tells Juliet that she should forget about Romeo, the relationship is as good as dead, and marry Paris. "Then, sine the case so stands as now it doth, I think it best you married with the county."
in Act III, Scene 5, the nurse advises Juliet to marry Paris instead of Romeo, because Romeo is banished and Paris is, in her words “a lovely gentleman.”
This is crucial because up until this point, Juliet had trusted the Nurse with her secrets and accepted her advice. After the suggestion to marry Paris, the trust is broken and Juliet seeks advice from the Friar instead.
In the play "Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the author uses the nurse in many different ways. One of her useful functions is to give us access to Juliet's innermost secret feelings - clearly we see that she does not see her mom as a confidante, or even as a friend like the modern young girls of today. No, she sees her mom as someone to be obeyed, to respect but not to share her dreams with. The nurse,on the other hand, is very close to Juliet and they have a very warm affectionate bond. So, when Juliet confides things to her - we get to hear it, as the audience. The advice 'happy nights after happy days' could just as well apply to Romeo as to any other man Juliet might consider, so perhaps she has this on her mind.
I am not sure where in the play you are thinking of, or where your teacher means you to find this answer.
However, I think that the best answer to this comes from Act I, Scene 3. In this scene, Lady Capulet has been talking to Juliet about marrying Paris. Juliet is not sure, but is willing to do whatever her mom says, more or less.
At the end of the scene, Lady Capulet has left, and the Nurse ends the scene by telling Juliet that she should find a man who will give her happy nights after happy days.