Loving. Whatever else Juliet's nurse may be, she certainly loves her charge a great deal, and her greatest desire is Juliet's happiness.
The fact that she can recall precisely when Juliet stopped nursing, when she could stand on her own, and so forth, shows that she's been more present in Juliet's life than Juliet's own mother has been. The nurse wants Juliet to be happy, more than anything else, and she acts as go-between...
Loving. Whatever else Juliet's nurse may be, she certainly loves her charge a great deal, and her greatest desire is Juliet's happiness.
The fact that she can recall precisely when Juliet stopped nursing, when she could stand on her own, and so forth, shows that she's been more present in Juliet's life than Juliet's own mother has been. The nurse wants Juliet to be happy, more than anything else, and she acts as go-between when the young couple are arranging their plans to marry and also after Romeo has slain Tybalt, incurring the punishment of exile from Verona. The nurse even goes to find a ladder that she can prop up against the house so that Romeo can climb up to his bride's bedroom on the night of their wedding. After Romeo is exiled, and Juliet's parents insist that she marry Paris, the nurse eventually agrees with them, but only because she thinks that Juliet will be "happy in this second match, / For it excels [her] first, or, if it did not, / [Her] first is dead [...]" (3.5.235-237). What happiness can Juliet have with Romeo as her husband, hated by her family, and exiled from Verona forever? It's not what Juliet wants to hear, certainly, but it is the truth, told lovingly by a friend who only wants what is best for her.
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