Supporting Characters in Romeo and Juliet

In Romeo and Juliet, the Nurse and Friar Laurence are of special importance in moving the action along because they extend themselves beyond the call of ordinary duty as servant and priest, respectively. They act as "enablers" of the elopement to the best of their ability, even though things do not turn out as they wish. The Nurse is perhaps the single most important supporting character for helping to move the plot along. It is the Nurse in whom the family memory of young Juliet resides, and it is she who first reveals the sensual potential of Juliet, in her account of the baby's falling down forward and her guileless agreement that one day she would "fall backward when thou hast more wit, / Wilt thou not, Jule? . . . I never should forget it: 'Wilt thou not, Jule?' quoth he; / And, pretty fool, it stinted and said 'Ay'" (I.iii). The Nurse's earthiness is also to be contrasted with Lady Capulet's reluctance to broach the issue of marriage to Paris. In II.iv, The Nurse functions as a go-between for Romeo and Juliet, delivering Juliet's message to Romeo in the street. She also takes the time to warn Romeo against dealing "double" with Juliet. While th

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e origins remain obscure but whose passions are nevertheless--or for that very reason--intensely felt. The affection in which they are held is not, however, to be underestimated. Romeo feels the death of his best pal Mercutio so keenly that he loses all reason, concluding that Tybalt has come out of the duel "alive, in triumph! and Mercutio slain!" (III.i). Importantly, he even forgets the wife he has just married, and rashly goes in murderous search of Tybalt--so beloved that Lady Capulet is later constrained to plead for Romeo's death. The latent dramatic dynamic of Romeo's rush to Friar Laurence and his rage at Mercutio's death is that the minor characters highlight a flaw in Romeo's character--namely, the heedlessness of youth. Repeatedly, he acts before thinking, and that seals his doom. That is so even though his defiance of the very stars when Balthasar tells him Juliet is dead shows that true love has at least endowed him with courage. In Hamlet, minor characters drive the plot chiefly by forcing Hamlet to make key decisions and act on them. It begins with the appearance of the Ghost, who charges Hamlet with revenging "murder most foul" (I.v). It is as if Hamlet would continue brooding about the death of his father and t
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Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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