"Yea," quoth my husband, "dost thou fall upon thy face?
Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit;
Wilt thou not, Jule?" quoth he;
And, pretty fool, it stinted and said "Ay."
– William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 3. The Nurse tells of a joke her husband made about Juliet at the age of three when she fell forward on her face and hurt her brow. He picked her up as if to console her, telling her that she would "fall backward" when she was older, to which the child replied "yes." There is a bawdy meaning to what the Nurse’s husband said to Juliet – a woman would "fall backward" to have sex. The Nurse finds it hilariously funny that little Juliet, who wouldn’t know this was a double entendre, innocently said, "Ay." The Nurse recounts the story twice to Lady Capulet and Juliet. The story of Juliet’s fall as a child is foreshadowing of her sexual awakening when she meets Romeo, and the pain that will also bring.