"Romeo and Juliet" and "West Side Story" have similar, if not exactly the same theme. Both stories display the power of love and the destruction caused by hatred. In "Romeo and Juliet" two people from rival families fall in love. The families' hatred destroys the two lovers, and the love of the two lovers brings the two families together. But the two families learn their lesson a little bit too late. Their hatred already claimed the life of two innocent people. In "West Side Story" something similar happens. There are also two lovers in this story. The lovers were separated because of gang related violence. In this story, the violence between two gangs also caused death.
The setting of the two stories is one of the few differences. The two stories have very diverse settings. "Romeo and Juliet" takes place in Vernon in the 15th century while "West Side Story" took place in New York around the 1950's. The two gangs have their fights in the streets of New York while the Montague's and the Capulet's raged war on the streets of Verona long before them. The story of Romeo and Juliet takes us to palaces and mansions, while the story of Tony and Mari take us to back allies and broken down buildings.
The main conflicts of these two stories are very similar. There are two groups in both stories. In "Romeo and Juliet" there are two families. Two families that have a feud that is ancient. The