Comparing Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story

544 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Difference and similarities between romeo and juliet and west side story

In plays, as in real life, individuals’ actions can change the course of events in theirs, as well as, other individuals’ lives. In both Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story, the lovers were forced to take their own lives or be killed because of fate and the actions of others.

In Romeo and Juliet, one character who is partly responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet is Tybalt. Tybalt enrages Remeo and causes him to kill Tybalt. In Romeo and Juliet, this brings about Romeo’s exile from Verona. If Romeo had not been exiled from Verona, he would have heard of Friar Lawrence’s plan to keep Juliet from getting married. If he had known of the plan, he would not have gone to the vault and killed himself over what he thought was Juliet’s dead body.

In West Side Story, a character with a role similar to Tybalt is Bernardo. In West Side Story, the killing of Bernardo enrages Chino to the point where he takes out a gun and searches for Tony. While trying to protect Tony from Anita, Bernardo’s girlfriend, they cause her to become extremely upset and to say that Maria is dead. Upon hearing this, Tony leaves the drug store in search of Chino. When Tony eventually finds Maria, Chino kills him. None of this would have happened, had Bernardo not gotten into a fight with Tony and been killed.

Another character who is responsible for the deaths of the lovers in Romeo and Juliet is Lord Capulet. Knowing that her father would disagree with her being married to Romeo, a Montague, Romeo and Juliet were forced to keep their love a secret. In the beginning of the play, Lord Capulet tells Paris that Juliet is still to young to woo and that he should wait two years. However, later in the play, he tells Paris that Juliet will be married to him in two days. After hearing that she will be wed in two days, Juliet goes to Friar Lawrence asking for help. If Lord Capulet did not force Juliet to marry Paris, she would not have had to fake her death. The plan that Friar Lawrence devised to prevent the wedding led to death of Romeo and Juliet.

An additional character in West Side Story that is partly responsible for Tony’s death is Officer Krupke.

Show More
Related

  • Similarities Between Chino And Juliet And West Side Story

    349 Words  | 1 Pages

    Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story have many differences and similarities. Characters such as Chino and Count Paris are very similar. There are also many similar events like their rumble. However, there are some differences in the scenes such as the tomb scene.There are many similarities and differences in West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet.

    Read More

  • Inevitable Death in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    1216 Words  | 3 Pages

    Because of the time this play was written, people would have strongly believed in bad luck and fate, but the characters were equally to blame. It was just a question of which one is to blame the most for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. First of all, Romeo could be most to blame for the deaths of himself and Juliet, he asked Juliet to marry him when he hardly knew her. Romeo declared his love for her and went to friar Lawrence and asked the friar if he would marry them, Romeo says "Then plainly know my hearts dear love is set, on the fair daughter of rich Capulet, by holy marriage, when, where and how, we met, we woo'd and make exchange of vow. " If Romeo had restrained himself from killing Tybalt, or waited a day before killing himself after hearing about Juliet's death, it might have ended happily, and if Romeo didn't have such deep feelings, his love with Juliet wouldn't have existed in the first place.

    Read More

  • A Comparison of Scenes From West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet

    793 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the film, West Side Story. The two rival gangs, the jets and the sharks meet at the school disco. They refuse to dance with any member. of the opposing gangs, which results in a dance showdown. At different ends of the dance hall, Maria and Tony lay eyes upon each other.

    Read More

  • Mercutio To Blame In Romeo And Juliet

    573 Words  | 2 Pages

    Friar Lawrence is responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s stronger affections for each other because he married them and therefore binding their love. Friar Lawrence also came up with a risky solution to get Romeo and Juliet together for the rest of their lives without anyone knowing. However, it consisted of faking Juliet’s death and Romeo did not know she was not actually dead, but alive. Friar Lawrence’s messenger did not tell Romeo the plan in time because Romeo had already heard of Juliet’s death and had gone to her tomb to die with her. Friar Lawrence is responsible for the star-crossed lovers’ death because of his miscalculated

    Read More

  • Who is to Blame for Romeo and Juliet’s Death?

    697 Words  | 2 Pages

    He should have ran towards the tomb when he got the letter back since it was possible that someone could provide Romeo the small piece of dangerous information; and knowing Romeo’s impulsive nature he should wait for Romeo to arrive and tell him the truth. Therefore, Friar Lawrence’s useless wisdom has become the cause of the young couple’s death. In conclusion, the four people to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s death are Capulet, Nurse, Mercutio and Friar Lawrence. The Capulet’s big heartedness and small heartedness has taken the life of the young couple. The nurse intended to provide Juliet a better life by giving her life of love than advising her to marry Paris for both the life of wealth and love, and Mercutio’s impulsive nature has caused their death.

    Read More

  • Brazil Essay

    2119 Words  | 5 Pages

    The arrival of the World Cup and Olympics will serve as a catalyst for Brazil to gain the recognition it desires. As enjoyable and lucrative as those years of international exposure have the potential to be, they will ultimately be short lived and fleeting in long term impact, unless the Brazilian government uses the platform afforded to it to set up long term plans to establish the “Brazilian Brand” in foreign markets. No where is this opportunity more readily available to the Brazilian government and private sector than the African continent. Long standing associations between the population of Brazil and the western coast of Africa, through the slave trade and natural migration, form an organic connection between the two entities that isn’t found in any other region of the world. With a majority Afro-decendant population and the largest concentration of individuals of African decent outside of Nigeria, Brazil is uniquely situa...

    Read More

  • Brazil

    532 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1822, Brazil became a nation independent from Portugal. By far the largest and most populous country in South America, Brazil has overcome more than half a century of military government to pursue industrial and agricultural growth and development. With an abundance of natural resources and a large labor pool, Brazil became Latin America's leading economic power by the 1970’s.

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet West Side Story Analysis

    1027 Words  | 3 Pages

    Scene VI, West Side Story, finds Tony awaiting the appearance of his beloved, who is living in the apartment above him? Immediately

    Read More

  • Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

    1152 Words  | 3 Pages

    Liebrechts-Akkerman, G., Lao, O., Liu, F., Sleuwen, B., Engelberts, A., L'Hoir, M., & ... Kayser, M. (2011). Postnatal parental smoking: an important risk factor for SIDS. European Journal Of Pediatrics, 170(10), 1281-1291. doi:10.1007/s00431-011-1433-6

    Read More

  • The Role Of Death In Romeo And Juliet

    1558 Words  | 4 Pages

    Although many believe that fate plays a large role in determining the death of Romeo and Juliet, a few characters in the play should be held accountable for the deaths of the lovers. Romeo and Juliet, a play written by William Shakespeare, is set in Verona, Italy. The play describes the life of two lovers, who are apart of rival families, which ultimately ends in the death of both lovers. Many readers throughout the time the play was published until now believe that fate plays a major role in the events leading to the suicide of Romeo and Juliet. However, simple decisions made by a few characters lead the couple to their miserable deaths. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare exemplifies how certain characters should be held responsible for

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet Forgiveness Analysis

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the course of the play, Romeo and Juliet immediately fall in love. Also, they know they are meant for each other and therefore decide to get married. After this marriage, there was a brief moment in time where everything was perfect. They are married, in love and there is nothing stopping them from being together. This however quickly changes after a fight that leads to death. Once Romeo is banished from Verona for the penalty of murder, love grows tremendously between the couple and drives the need to be together. The marriage between Romeo and Juliet is hidden from their parents, so Montague decides to arrange a marriage between her and Paris. With all the conflict arising between Juliet’s family, Friar Lawrence creates a plan that unfortunately does not succeed. His plan for Juliet is to tell her father she will marry Paris then go to bed with no one, not even the nurse. After, she will drink a potion to make her seem dead for forty two hours and then have a messenger tell Romeo about it. He will have her put in a vault to wait for Friar to bring her out so she and Romeo can elope. The plan was perfect until tragedy occurs, Benvolio had seen Juliet dead and immediately tells Romeo about it. The result is Romeo and Juliet murdering themselves and the play had a tragic ending. Overall, young, innocent lovers die, through no fault of their own but a simple mistake. “How oft when men are at the

    Read More

  • Brazil Culture Essay

    1424 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Brazilian culture is one of the world’s most wide ranged and diverse. This is a result due to it being a melting pot of nationalities, as a result of centuries of European domination as well as slavery, which brought large groups of African migrants across Brazil’s borders to live in and influence the local cultures with their ancient customs and ideas. The European settlers also brought ideas, innovations and belief systems with them, molding the local societies remarkably. All of these varying influences have made the modern-day Brazilian culture is unique and very elaborate (Meyer, 2010).

    Read More

  • Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

    1395 Words  | 3 Pages

    During infancy (2-8 months), respiratory control is almost entirely dependent on brain stem control (Naeye). Due to the fact that this is also the peak time for SIDS, the hypothesis ...

    Read More

  • Causes Of Suicide In Romeo And Juliet

    971 Words  | 2 Pages

    Capulet’s controlling and aggressive parenting forces Juliet to marry someone she does not love. Furthermore, this causes Juliet to start considering suicide as a way out. Capulet’s actions to forcefully marry Juliet to Paris brings her to death because it results in the Friar’s potion plan which would cause the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. If Capulet did not force Juliet to marry, she would be dead. The Nurse shares some responsibility for Romeo and Juliet’s deaths due to the fact that she did not counsel Juliet when she learned about Juliet’s relationship with Romeo.

    Read More

  • The Blame Game

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...s unreasonable for him to place all of the blame on McDonald’s. It’s the consumer’s choice to pick where they eat, and Spurlock takes his personal choice away. If his methods are accurate, he attempts to show that people don’t have a choice in what they eat. There certainly are Americans that agree with Spurlock’s theory, and believe fast food is bad for everyone’s health, but they simply choose not to eat it. Spurlock’s method to justify his theory isn’t reasonable enough to prove to the judge that McDonald’s is the source of America’s bad health, and the two girls lose the case. Luckily for American’s and their health, still only one out of four people eats fast food a day.

    Read More

More about Comparing Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story

Open Document