Nurse

           Nurse seems to be a quiet, non-relevant, background character in the beginning of the play, but as the play continues, Shakespeare reveals her true nature and importance. She actually turns out to be one of the more prominent characters in the play. And while her actions don’t play a huge part in outcome of the story, she is still a crucial character.
           Nurse starts out as just Juliet’s aid. She is there to help Juliet with her everyday life, so it seems natural that she should want Juliet’s life to go well and for her to be happy. Shakespeare soon reveals that this is not just part of Nurse’s job, that she genuinely wants Juliet to be happy. It is as if Juliet is her own child, she wants the best for her in all situations. This is shown through Nurse’s reaction toward Romeo. Even though she doesn’t seem to like him that much, she knows Juliet loves him and is happy with him, so she keeps him a secret. Nurse could have easily told Lady Capulet about Romeo, but she chose not to- for the sake of Juliet’s happiness.
           Nurse comes to Juliet’s defense in Act III, when Capulet says something rude to Juliet. Nurse replies with “You are to blame, my Lord, to rate her so.” This shows that Nurse’s true loyalty is with Juliet, not simply with the Capulet family, and she loves her as she would a daughter. I also think that if Nurse hadn't defended Juliet against her parents, Juliet wouldn't have thought so much about her choice to drink the potion. She ended up drinking it anyway, but if Nurse hadn't made the comment, then she would have ended up drinking the potion with anger, not with a tinge of regret.