Romeo and Juliet is full of references to the very rigid hierarchy of the time, we are constantly reminded of who holds the power and who is a mere peasant. I feel that the plays are plays within plays, there are many references throughout to Shakespeare's times, the hierarchy then was just as firm as the plays suggest, you had a place and you stuck to it. To the Elizabethans the plays weren't just epic stories of love, lust and murder, they were moral lessons.

However, there are exceptions to this rule. The Nurse been perhaps the key one. She often rises above her post for example in 4.4 the Nurse simply says to her master, "To bed with you." A friendly banter or the Nurse once again demonstrating her lack of fear from the Capulets. In the very first...