Exploring the role of the Nurse and comedy in Act 2, Scene 4
I can explain the role of the Nurse and comedy in Act 2, Scene 4 of ‘Romeo and Juliet’.
Exploring the role of the Nurse and comedy in Act 2, Scene 4
I can explain the role of the Nurse and comedy in Act 2, Scene 4 of ‘Romeo and Juliet’.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Shakespeare presents the relationship between the Nurse and Juliet as a close relationship.
- Shakespeare implies that the Nurse is protective of Juliet and that Juliet in turn trusts the Nurse.
- Arguably, the Nurse’s use of malapropisms presents her as uneducated.
- Shakespeare’s use of bawdy humour might have been a way of appealing to the lower classes.
- Alternatively, Shakespeare’s use of bawdy humour might emphasise the youthfulness of the characters.
Keywords
Tragedy - a play dealing with tragic events and often ends with a death
Comedy - a play that has a light or humorous tone that depicts amusing incidents
Bawdy - containing humorous remarks about sex
Malapropism - the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one
Witty - using words in a clever and funny way
Common misconception
The role of comedy is merely to make people laugh.
Comedy can be a way of revealing information about characters.
To help you plan your year 10 english lesson on: Exploring the role of the Nurse and comedy in Act 2, Scene 4, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 10 english lesson on: Exploring the role of the Nurse and comedy in Act 2, Scene 4, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
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The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 english lessons from the Romeo and Juliet: exploring the role of love and fate unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You may wish to have a copy of Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' for this lesson.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of sexual content
Supervision
Adult supervision required
