Preview

Similarities Between Romeo And Juliet And West Side Story

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
461 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Similarities Between Romeo And Juliet And West Side Story
Haven Jilcott
Ms. Nan Howell
Computer 9
25 February 2016
Comparison and Contrast between Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story West Side Story by Lehman is a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. There are many similarities and differences between Shakespeare’s classic Romeo and Juliet and the modern musical West Side Story. Overall, the stories are similar, however there are some differences. The plot and theme of Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story are very similar. Both are tragedies with the major conflict centering around two opposing families or gangs who do not agree with the love relationships. Both stories start off by introducing the two rival groups. The couples in both stories meet at a dance and fall …show more content…
Tony, one of the main male characters, in West Side Story is similar to Romeo, the main male character in Romeo and Juliet. Maria in West Side Story is similar to Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. Juliet’s nurse is harassed when she tries to relay a message to Juliet just as Maria’s friend, Anita, is harassed when she tries to communicate with Tony. Even though Romeo and Juliet and Tony and Maria are partly responsible for their deaths, most of the blame can be put on other characters in both stories, as well as fate. Even though Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story are similar, they are also different in many ways. West Side Story is a movie musical with a lot of the narrative shared through song, while the characters in Romeo and Juliet talk to themselves using poetic words of Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet takes place in Italy while West Side Story takes place in New York City. The two gangs, Sharks and Jets, in West Side Story are very poor compared to the Montague and Capulet families in Romeo and Juliet. Swords were used in Romeo and Juliet while guns were the weapons used in West Side Story. The lovers in Romeo and Juliet get married, but the lovers in West Side Story do not. At the end of the movies, Juliet kills herself to be with Romeo, but Maria does not kill herself to be with
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Comparison: Romeo and Juliet vs. West Side Story
    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Comparison: Romeo and Juliet vs. West Side Story

    “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.…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Romeo and Juliet vs Wesi Side Story
    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Romeo and Juliet vs Wesi Side Story

    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…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Similarities Between Romeo And Juliet
    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Similarities Between Romeo And Juliet

    However, in spite of the many differences, there are similarities between the two stories. Romeo and Juliet and “Teen Couple Executed by their Parents…for daring to fall in love,” both involve the deaths of the couples all happening at a young age, all of them dying before the age of 19 before any of their parents died. Throughout both stories a common factor is that the couples were forced to make adult decisions about their lives and love lives; while, the adults around them were making many poor decisions. Unlike many love stories where the strong, handsome male saves the damsel in distress, the female protagonists in both of these stories appeared to be stronger than their male counterparts. Maybe that is why when the time came, both mothers…

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Romeo &Juliet vs. West Side Story
    • 1931 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Romeo &Juliet vs. West Side Story

    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.…

    • 1931 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Historical Context Dance.
    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Historical Context Dance.

    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.…

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Fate vs Free Will- Romeo and Juliet & West Side Story
    • 905 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Fate vs Free Will- Romeo and Juliet & West Side Story

    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.…

    • 905 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Critical Lens 11th Grade English
    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Critical Lens 11th Grade English

    Romeo and Juliet was about two families that hated each other, they’ve had a rivalry and been fighting many years now. Juliet from the Capulet side and Romeo from the Montague side. These two lovers acted on emotion and put their love and happiness before the…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    West Side Story: the Romeo and Juliet Connection
    • 1071 Words
    • 5 Pages

    West Side Story: the Romeo and Juliet Connection

    The characters do have some differences, since they are created in another place and time. For example, Doc is more helpless than Friar Laurence; Det. Shrank shows the dark side (not the wiser side) of the law; the religious side of Maria and Juliet comes from a different motivation. There are also other possibilities for comparison--are the characters Anybodys and Action similar to Shakespeare's clowns in the way they comment on society? Are Rosalia, Velma and the other women Romeo's Rosalind--stereotypes of women by naive men?…

    • 1071 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Wrongful Death In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet
    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Wrongful Death In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

    Romeo and Juliet is a story about two lovers who come from families that hate each other. Romeo, a son to the Montague family and Juliet, a daughter to the Capulet family and they both meet at a party and fall in love. A few days after the party they get married, but they know their families would never approve because their families have been feuding for many years. After,…

    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Comparative Essay Example- Romeo and Juliet vs West Side Story
    • 368 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Comparative Essay Example- Romeo and Juliet vs West Side Story

    Juliet is the lover of Romeo. The biggest difference between her and Maria is that Juliet is obviously Italian and Caucasian, whereas Maria is Puerto Rican and dark skinned. Juliet is not afraid to show how much…

    • 368 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Romeo and Juliet - Comparisson to West Side Story Essay Example
    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Romeo and Juliet - Comparisson to West Side Story Essay Example

    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.…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Romeo and Juliet Compared to West Side Story Essay Example
    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Romeo and Juliet Compared to West Side Story Essay Example

    There were also a lot of differences. One major difference was the time period each story was set in. In the movie West Side Story, the setting was more modern. Romeo and Juliet had a setting in the older days, as you can tell by the scenery and the language they spoke. The movie dealt with racism more than Romeo and Juliet did. In West Side Story, it was different races causing the problem for the two lovers. In Romeo and Juliet, the two lovers were the same race, but they had a feud between the families. This difference becomes a similarity though because in both stories, there was split between the lovers caused by hatred between the two families/groups.…

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analyzing Themes In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald
    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Analyzing Themes In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

    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.…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story Essay Example
    • 1508 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story Essay Example

    The play West Side Story, by Arthur Laurents, is based upon the play Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare. Despite a few differences, both works, in essence, have the same plot. The source of violence in Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story is the ever-present hatred between families and between gangs, although, because of the "star-cross'd lovers" motif in Romeo and Juliet, the hatred plays a larger role in producing the ending of West Side Story than it does the ending of Romeo and Juliet.…

    • 1508 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Comparison Of Les Misérables And West Side Story
    • 1404 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Comparison Of Les Misérables And West Side Story

    In the last century, two musicals have stood out from there comic counterparts. Les Misérables and West Side Story tell more serious stories and have captivated audiences with revivals and film versions. Both are based on classic literature, and share universal and relatable social problems. West Side Story created by Lenard Bernstein, Steven Sondheim, Arthur Laurents, and Jerome Robbins tell the story of Romeo and Juliet in 1950s New York. Les Misérables by Composer Claude-Michael Schonberg and lyricist Alain Boublil is based on Victor Hugo’s novel of the same title. The atypical nature of both the musicals that has made them more than just a temporary cultural fad. Initially both musical were not received well and did not receive that same…

    • 1404 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More