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Compare And Contrast Chino And Juliet And West Side Story

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Compare And Contrast Chino And Juliet And West Side Story
West Side Story is a very popular musical that follows the plot of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Instead of a feud between two families in fair Verona, in this story, it’s a feud between two gangs (the white American Jets and Puerto Rican Sharks) in New York City in the 50’s. Romeo is represented by Tony, an ex-Jet, and Juliet by Maria, a Puerto Rican girl promised to a member of the Sharks, Chino. For the most part, both versions match up on their telling of the story. However, whereas both Romeo and Juliet kill themselves over one another at the end of story, Tony is killed by Chino and Maria remains alive. What this iteration will attempt to understand is: why did the creators of West Side Story decide to veer from Shakespeare’s ending

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