the events that could be described loyal or deceptive. In the story, all the events…
“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.…
No one goes through all of life without the knowledge of these two timeless classics: West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet. These films are each a great literary work that defines the true meaning of life, sorrows and love. We all have knowledge of Shakespeare’s original Romeo and Juliet. In 1957 Leonard Bernstein created a Broadway Musical with a plot similar to Romeo and Juliet. As well as this film, Baz Luhrmann created a film in 1996 using the exact play write from the original Romeo and Juliet set in modern times. Luhrmann entitled his film simple, Romeo and Juliet. These two timeless tales can be compared in many ways, such as: the differences and similarities Romeo and tony, the differences and similarities of each of the fighting scenes, and the differences and similarities of the wedding scene.…
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.…
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.…
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.…
|The play begins with a fight between the rival | The play begins with a fight between rival gangs|…
Personal choices has a much greater impact on the characters then their destiny. Their destiny was a series of events that happen to lead up to the tragedy. It was the characters personal choice to do what they did. The events that lead up to the tragedy were their personal choice also. Therefore, the character’s choices on how they lived their lives were furthermore effective than their destiny.…
Romeo and Juliet' and The West Side Story' are both movies based on William Shakespeare's play. They are very similar in many ways, but different in others. It is about two teens that fall in love and see each other without their families knowing, because their families have a feud against each other. I will be discussing the differences and similarities between, Romeo and Tony, Juliet and Maria and finally, the families and the Gangs, which are in the movies, Romeo & Juliet' and West Side Story'. Event thought they seem different they have the same plot line.…
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is a timeless play that concentrates on many different human emotions and reactions. Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story are alike in many ways, they were both very successful in their day. West Side Story is essentially the same play that was revived in 1961. Like Romeo and Juliet, Tony and Maria are of opposite "families", They fall in love and their love is forbidden. Maria is Puerto Rican and Tony is Irish. In West Side Story they don't get married but they do have a torrid love affair. The hate between the two groups was modernized to racism and not as many of the main characters die in West Side Story.…
Conflict and violence in the play are presented in a variety of different ways. Throughout the play, there runs this idea of a conflict between love and hate- the key part of Romeo and Juliet’s problems. This conflict in part leads to the violence of the play, with the feud providing the catalyst for events such as Mercutio’s death and the demise of the star-crossed lovers. Interpreting conflict as a discord of feelings, actions, and events, the play shows how conflict creates an atmosphere of violence that permeates their language and actions. Violence begets violence, causing a chain reaction that ends in tragedy. There is a contrast between the internal nature of the conflict and the physical nature of the violence within the play.…
In the play Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare shows the key idea of think with your head, not with your heart. This idea is still relevant today as people today usually think with their heart without thinking with their head first. In the play when Romeo meets Juliet at the Capulets ball, the idea of think with your head, not with your heart is still relevant today. Romeo said when he sees the beauty of Juliet, Did my heart love til now Forswear its sight. For I never saw true beauty til this night. I know Romeo is now thinking with his heart now because a minute ago he was frustrated about Rosaline, but now he forgets everything about Rosaline and fall in love with Juliet. Later on, Romeo soon finds out that Juliet is Capulet. He says Is she a Capulet My life is my foes debt. This shows me how stupid Romeo is because if he uses his head to think about the identity of Juliet, both of them can avoid this star-crossed love. I think Shakespeare wrote this to warn his audience think with your head, not with your heart as well as making his audience excited. This actually worked for me because though I knew this scene makes Romeo look foolish, I felt excited about what is going on next. The idea of think with your head, not with your heart is still relevant today as many people today fall in love quickly with each other by just looking at the profile picture on facebook, which is a really bad idea as they know nothing about each other but only a picture. Not like the freedom society we live in now, actually it was not always possible for a girl and a boy fall in love with each other so quickly and get married during middle century as parents usually have the complete authority over their children. So the audiences would probably felt jealous about the love between Romeo and Juliet as most of their marriages were arranged by their parents but not themselves. When Romeo slews Tybalt for Mercutios revenge, the idea of think with your head, not…
Deemed the new modern day Romeo and Juliet, Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight reintroduces the idea of “forbidden love”. However, Meyer’s Edward Cullen and Bella Swan are not simply rewritten versions of Romeo and Juliet. Instead, when comparing these two stories together, the reader can recognize more than the “forbidden love” that occurs between two opposing sides in both books, but they can also use the comparison to understand each character as individuals more thoroughly.…
William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet is full of different characters, and each plays a different role to make for a complete work. Mercutio is an essential force in the play by serving as a colorful character and comic relief against the more serious and emotional characters such as Romeo and Juliet. He demonstrates himself as a colorful character through his figurative language. Additionally, he portrays himself as a comic relief when he adds humor to intense situations, and when he mocks the Nurse and Romeo. The combination of Mercutio’s clever tongue and flamboyant actions with other character earn him the label of a comic relief and brilliant supporting character, which is needed to keep the play entertaining.…
The story of Romeo and Juliet truly demonstrates a play of love, tragedy and romance at a time, when social status dominated decision making and women always fell second to the men. Juliet’s choices were limited by her sexual gender, females were not regarded as decision makers and hence their opinions were never recognised. Romeo on the other hand suffered from a different kind of limitation, his choices were limited due to his social denomination, the poor class to which Romeo belonged were not regarded as equal members of society. However Romeo and Juliet weren’t the only ones who experienced a lack of choice. Mercutio, Tybalt, Benvolio, Nurse, lady…