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All Site ContentRomeo and JulietAct 1Scene 3
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"making yourself no less"
Wordplay
Act 1,
Scene 3
Lines 95-97

An explanation of the Nurse’s wordplay in Act 1, Scene 3 of myShakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Lady Capulet

So shall you share all that he doth possess,
By having him, making yourself no less.

Nurse

No less! Nay, bigger — women grow by men.

These lines provide another moment of wordplay by the Nurse:

  • Here, Lady Capulet means that Juliet will not be less of a person once she's married to Paris.
  • The Nurse turns the idea bawdy by implying that Juliet will literally grow — get bigger — with pregnancy.