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“Westside Story” and “Romeo and Juliet” are both inspiring stories about two star-crossed lovers whose love is forbidden because of hatred between their groups, which leads to inevitable death. These two stories have an unquestionably wide range of similarities and differences as far as scenes and the characters that make the scenes differ or resemble to each other. The first and last scenes of “Romeo and Juliet” and “Westside Story” both resemble much similarities and differences to each other.…
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with his friends; two very different attitudes. The actions of these two are also very good examples of comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences between Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story. “What shall this speech be spoken for our excuse? Or shall we go on without apology?” (Lit Book) Romeo is very reluctant to go to the party, he is nervous and scared. On the contrary, Tony is happy and excited to go the party, he welcomes the challenge to meet new women. Last but not least both Rome and Tony are hopeless Romantics, and there is no cure for…
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What would Romeo and Juliet be like if Juliet hadn't died? What if Paris killed Romeo, instead of vice versa? What if instead of occurring several centuries ago, it took place on the streets of New York City during the 1950s, with a bunch of fresh-faced youths posing as street toughs and dancing and singing their hearts out? Well, just take a look at West Side Story, and you will have your answers. It is impossible for anyone familiar with both texts to not note the obvious major similarities between the two plays. From the opening scenes in both, up through the rumble in West Side Story/death of Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, the plays mirror each other (Poelstra). It isn't until the last part of West Side Story, where Tony, our modern-day Romeo, dies and Maria, Tony's Juliet, doesn't (unlike the two star-crossed lovers of Shakespeare's work), that the major difference between the two works becomes apparent.…
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In this essay I have been researching and will be discussing the different contexts of west side story. This will help me to critically comment on the portrayal of Romeo and Juliet through the use of dance. West Side Story is a modern-day version of Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet, west side story however is set in the Upper West Side of New York City in the late 1950s with conflict between two teenage rival street gangs of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds rather than Romeo and Juliet where there are two feuding families. The two stories parallel each other in many ways, for example, Romeo and Juliet starts out with a street fight between the Montagues and Capulets, so does west side story with the Jets and the Sharks, but instead of it being a fight, the choreographer changed it into a dance/choreographed fight, so you could see which gang was which. Another similar thing is when some Montague men go to the Capulet party, this is where Romeo meets Juliet. In West Side Story, Maria and Tony see each other from opposite sides of the dance and are immediately attracted to each other. Having Maria and tony meet at a dance was a theme related to the time in the 1950’s in America, it was a popular thing to have dance’s at schools.…
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When two people are meant to be together, no time is too long” (Anonymous). Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and West Side Story by Arthur Laurents show the pure evils of acting extremely hastily and how it can change the outlook on the future. Romeo and Juliet are two young lovers who were taught to hate one another and who suffer deeply because of the consequences of fate. Romeo and Juliet’s deaths were sure to be tragic as was hinted at early on throughout the play. Both families suffer with the loss of their children as well as other family members. Maria and Tony are split from one another because of extreme violence, hatred, and the differences between their New York City gangs. Each of them uses their knowledge of the power of love in hopes of them being together forever. Choices both Maria and Tony made resulted in severe heartbreak, the death of three teenage peers in the gangs. Romeo and Juliet is controlled by fate, while West Side Story is driven by free will.…
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|The play begins with a fight between the rival | The play begins with a fight between rival gangs|…
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As for the mood, there a few differences between the two versions of the tragedy. In the dialogue of marriage in the play, Romeo and Juliet are serious and sedate. In Zeffirelli’s version of the play, the marriage scene makes Romeo and Juliet to look almost like fools of young love because they are constantly kissing and giggling. In a marriage, the bride and groom are to be calm and patient because it is an important step in their lives, and the play shows this kind of character. The movie does not portray this realistic kind of character. During the “funeral” ceremony for Juliet, the Friar Lawrence made a giggle because he already knew about the secret plan. This part destroyed the sad and mischievous mood of the scene. Nevertheless, I believe the play and Zeffirelli’s movie did a great job in explaining the tragedy, but the movie could have been a lot more enticing if it weren’t for those minor slip-ups. The play also could have used some help because it felt like the characters lacked some expression unlike the movie, but I cannot criticize which one was better because the play is the way it is to be. One thing that the movie and the play collaborated together, were the props and scenes.…
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In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Benvolio is more civilized than Tybalt. To begin, Benvolio is respectful towards his kin. In a conversation with Montague, Benvolio wishes that “[his] noble uncle…so please [himself], step aside” (Shakespeare 1.1.140-153). Benvolio addresses his uncle with the utmost respect and politeness, depicting his civilized nature. Next, Benvolio tries to avoid violence. Upon seeing a fight, Benvolio intervenes to try and “put up [their] swords” (1.1.63). Benvolio’s trying to avoid a conflict demonstrates his civil actions. Unlike Benvolio, Tybalt is uncivilized. First, Tybalt does not respect the wishes of his uncle. Instead of doing as Capulet bids, Tybalt expresses to his “uncle, ’tis a shame” (1.5.82). Rather than politely doing as he is told, Tybalt snaps back rudely to his elder, illustrating his uncivil side. Whereas Benvolio asks his respected uncle to step aside politely, Tybalt disregards Capulet’s wishes and even retorts with a saucy comment, hence displaying his lack of civility in comparison to Benvolio. Moreover, Tybalt welcomes a fight. When given the chance to avoid using violence, Tybalt does not “excuse the injuries/that [Romeo] has done [him]; therefore [turns] and [draws]” (3.1.65-66). Instead of calmly forgiving and forgetting past offences, Tybalt intends to fight with Romeo. Tybalt is being uncivil towards Romeo, as he is trying to start a conflict with him when unnecessary. In contrast to Benvolio, who does his best to avoid fights, Tybalt strives for a conflict, hence proving him the less civil of the two. In conclusion, Benvolio is more respectful and peaceful than Tybalt, proving him to be the more civilized…
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Mercutio has a partially negative way of thinking, but he is more rational than Romeo's impatient, love-seeking mind. The comparison of the two characters shows Mercutio’s common sense as opposed to impractical Romeo. They are similar and different at the same time, but seeing them interact with eachother helps us better understand Romeo as a character when we see him compared to Mercutio. Romeo's role in the play is a young blind lover who in the beginning, doesn't believe that there could be another lady prettier than his Rosaline. Hs rejection of Benvolio's advice to find another love to replace Rosaline, shows Romeo's immaturity as a lover. Similarly, Romeo claims to have fallen in love with Juliet (another girl) at the Capulet party.…
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"Sweet, sweet, sweet nurse, tell me, what says my love?" (RJ 2.5.55) In Zeffirelli's version of Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 5, Juliet seems bratty and impatient because the nurse fails to deliver the information about Romeo as soon as she walks through the door. Luhrmann made his version more modern, and makes the characters kinder to emphasize their relationship. These movies contain some similarities and differences; they both use some of the same lines, but portray the characters in diffrerent ways and the characters wear different types of costumes.…
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Shakespeare uses Mercutio as a foil to Romeo. They are alike in many ways in the way that they talk and their conclusions. Their characters are lively and excessively dramatic in the way that they speak and act. Romeo and Mercutio also meet the same end, both because of Romeo. They also have numerous differences that show their behavioral and personality distinction. Mercutio has a way of thinking that is partially negative but more rational than Romeo's impatient, love-seeking mind. The comparison shows common sense [Mercutio] as opposed to impatient and impractical [Romeo]. They are similar and different at the same time but it helps us better understand Romeo as a character when we see him compared to Mercutio.…
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I find that these works of literature are similar in the sense that both the stories have a “forbidden” love in the storyline. Romeo and Juliet are from two opposing families which are the Capulets and Montagues. They end up falling in love with each other, and secretly get married, but Romeo has to vanish from the city due to him murdering their cousin. Juliet’s parents force her to get married to another man, Paris, but they are not aware of her marriage with Romeo. At first she refuses, but then she “agrees” because she makes a plan to make everyone think she is dead to run away with Romeo.…
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Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a romantic tragedy set in Verona Italy. All three characters, Mercutio, Friar Lawrence and the Nurse play a role in the death of Romeo and Juliet. Mercutio’s self-centred personality, Friar Lawrence’s negligence in delivering the letter and the Nurse’s motherly love all contributed to Rome and Juliet’s demise.…
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Baz Lurhman's modern film interpretation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet has been a very successful transformation of the classic, original play to a modern context of Los. Angelos gang warfare. Lurhman's film manages to relate the 16th century play to a modern audience while at the same time maintaining textual integrity of the play. He has retained the plot, and language of the original text at the same time as conveying Shakespeare's original thematic concerns of the purity of young love, and the dangers of family feud. He achieves all this through the clever use of a variety of film techniques in three key scenes; the Capulet ball, the balcony scene and the fight involving Mercutio, Tybalt and Romeo.…
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The play of Romeo and Juliet is different from William Shakespeare’s other tragedies in that there is not a clear distinction of individual heroes. The two protagonists are more passive than active; both are naïve and lacking understanding. The hero is often thought to be the romantic, yet often hysterical, Romeo. But Romeo’s immoral background, emotional outbursts, mishap murders, and foolish actions make him a poor candidate for a hero. Juliet proves to be more innocent than Romeo because she possesses more rigorous moral ethics. Juliet is also more successful in overcoming the obstacles that she is faced with throughout the play. While both characters are not without faults, there is more understanding towards Juliet’s regrettable actions than that of Romeo’s. Through these concepts, the character of Juliet is seen to be the superior character and the true heroine in Romeo and Juliet.…
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