Comparing Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet versus the West Side Story

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Comparing Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet versus the West Side Story

These stories are similar and different in many ways and they aren't the only stories in the category of romance. Romeo and Juliet is a classic story of love, hate, and conflict. Same thing with West Side Story, the conflicts are a little different but the love part of the story is basically the same. If you were to watch West Side Story after you watch Romeo and Juliet you might even think it is some kind of a sequel or an updated version of the story.

In Romeo and Juliet, the love part of the story is obviously between Romeo and Juliet. Right off the bat, Romeo meets Juliet at a party and they are married right away. Although they are married they still have to keep quiet about the fact that they are married because of their feuding families. This love is stressed during the play by Juliet's father arranging a marriage to Paris after she has already married Romeo secretly. This is extremely stressful on Romeo because he has been banished from Verona, where Juliet lives. So Romeo is left out in the cold while he has to leave it up to Juliet to get out of this arranged marriage. Later Romeo finds out that something has happened to Juliet but he is not sure exactly what. He finally finds out some information about Juliet, he and the rest of the world think that Juliet has died, but in reality she has just taken a powerful sleeping potion. So Romeo buys some poison so he can die and be with his Juliet. Right after Romeo drinks the poison Juliet wakes up. Romeo dies from the poison, then Juliet stabs herself with a dagger.

In the West Side Story, the love comes from the Jets leader, Tony. The Jets rival gang, the Sharks, has a leader named Bernardo. Bernardo's sister, Maria, is the object of Tony's affection. As you can see this is going to cause some problems. Since Tony and Maria are in different gangs and families, someone is going to have to give in to the other. While people from both gangs meet at the local drug store, Tony sneaks off to talk to Maria after the dance where they meet for the first time.

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