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“ Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.” dictated William Shakespeare in the prologue of his play, Romeo & Juliet. West Side Story, directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, is a film about two gangs in New York during the 1950’s who are fighting each other. Their feud is based on racial and ethnic differences. This differs from Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare, where the main conflict is centered around an old family feud. One might think that love can overcome all problems. However, through these texts, it is clear that the smallest differences, such as a name or skin color can destroy the strongest of relationships. The relationships between Romeo and Juliet or Tony and Maria are destroyed by racial differences, as well as social differences, and what family one comes from.
Romeo’s and Juliet’s love for each other was destroyed in the end by the suffering and death, caused by the Montagues and Capulets feuding. In the story, many important people, including the lovers themselves, die due to the family feud, whether they were directly murdered by someone on the other side or forced to take their own lives because
Mooney 2 of the pain caused by the fighting. In the last line of the play, the prince states, “ For never was a story of more woe than that of Juliet and her Romeo,”(Shakespeare). At this point the two have taken their own lives due to a long series of events, including the death of one of Juliet’s cousins and Romeo’s banishment from Verona. All of this has stemmed from a grudge between the heads of the family that doesn’t include the children. The hate the families share has consumed t...
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From both Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story, it is clear how relationships can be destroyed by racial differences, family ties, and social problems. Both stories vary slightly in certain elements such as setting and time period, as well as some key points in the storyline, but the message is the same; The strongest of relationships can be ruined by the smallest of differences. The change in time periods between the two shows that their message is timeless and it can apply to any couple in any situation.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Rpt. in The Language of Liturature. By Arthur N. Applebee. Evanston: McDougal Little, 2002. 990-1102. Print
"West Side Story (1961) - Quotes." IMDb. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
West Side Story. Dir. Jerome Robbins, and Robert Wise. 1961. United Artists, 1961. Film
The story of Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy. The two lovers go against their families and against their hate to be together but they don’t think about the consequences, which in the end are devastating.
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. 2 nd. New York City: New American Library, 1998. Print. The.
West Side Story, a film directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, is a relatively modern adaptation of William Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet. As both, the film and text, explore the perceptions of deep-rooted feud between two parties, it also includes the influence and pressure it has on young love. Although numerous similarities are encountered throughout the play and movie, there are distinguished concepts obtaining great difference. However, the two mediums of this tragic love story have three prominent issues of story, themes and characters instilling both similar and dissimilar concepts.
FIrst and foremost, there is a difference between the musical West SIde Story directed by Jerome Robbins and the play Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare seen in the first scene of each. In Shakespeare’s tragic play, two houses are feuding. The two royal houses are the Capulets and the Montagues. Juliet is a Capulet and Romeo is a Montague. And then in West Side Story, there are two gangs in New York that each lover’s family is a part of. Maria’s brother is a part of the Puerto Rican gang called ‘The Sharks’ and her lover, Tony, was a part of the caucasian gang ‘The Jets’. Secondly, after their parties there is a balcony scene in each. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo comes into Juliet’s courtyard and speaks up to her as she stands on her balcony. But this differs from the scene in West Side Story. In the musical, Tony comes up to join Maria on her balcony. Next, both couples want to get married. Romeo and Juliet are secretly wed and it is no big deal because there were less rules set in this time period. In West Side Story however, Tony and Maria cannot necessarily be married due to the ac...
In William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, two young lovers lost their lives when hate and love collided. From the Montagues came Romeo and from the Capulets came Juliet. The two families were feuding and Romeo and Juliet could not stand being without each other. They both killed themselves because they thought life was not worth living without the other. Though there are many who can be blamed for this tragic ending, there are three that are the most responsible.
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story both tell a story of two lovers who can not be together because of a feud. The characters in Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story are similar in their actions but are different in family background and their attitudes. Two characters that are similar, but different are Tybalt and Bernardo. The two characters had different attitudes and family backgrounds.Tybalt’s attitude was more daring, while Bernardo’s waited for the trouble to come to him first. Even though, Tybalt and Bernardo both come from different backgrounds, they have hatred toward the other side and the actions toward their enemies were the similar, which cost the lives of others and themselves.
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Language of Literature. Ed. Arthur N. Applebee. Evanston: McDougal Littell, 2002. Print.
< http://callisto.gsu.edu:4000/CGI:html> (5 May 1997). Rozen, Leah. "William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet."
An ancient grudge and parents too blinded by hatred to break it, bear the ultimate blame for the tragic death of Romeo and Juliet. Friar Laurence was just attempting to mend the rift between two households. Nurse desired to make Juliet happy. The parents were selfish and could not get over their enmity with each other, and their children suffered the repercussing consequences. Bombarded by the indecision of all, Romeo and Juliet were free-spirited, love-struck, and young. Sadly it was their deaths, not love or marriage that finally brought the two houses together and Verona peace.
The romantic tension between Romeo and Juliet and Tony and Maria in Shakespears original play and its modern day remake, Westside Story, is what makes them have such passionate and entrancing scenes. The main reason for romantic tension in these two plays is because the two couples can’t be together like they want to be. There are many different aspects that create different quality of romantic tension in these two scenes. Although the two plays have similar plots, the romantic tension between the two lovers is very different because of the setting, the language and the circumstances in which the lovers face.
Love is a wonderful curse that forces us to do unexplainable things. Romeo and Juliet is a famous play written by William Shakespeare, who does an exceptional job in showing the readers what hate, mercy, death, courage, and most importantly what love looks like. This play is about two star-crossed lovers who are both willing to sacrifice their lives just to be with one another. Unfortunately tragedy falls upon the unconditional love Romeo and Juliet have for each other, but along the way they experience immeasurable forgiveness and extraordinary braveness just to be with one another. Sadly enough, love is a cause of violence in the end. Even though the pair spends less time together, it is enough for them to fall in love. It is clearly true
Love is a beautiful thing, it always works out in the end. Everyone is always happy and no problems occur. West Side Story, a musical by Leonard Bornstein based on Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet parallels a love story of two star-crossed lovers. The play takes place in 1961 in New York City. This musical displays importance because it shows that nothing can overcome the power of love. This play is based on a love story between the main characters of Maria and Tony. Theses two are from different gangs that trouble to get along. They are from different gangs that do not get along at all. Roughly two hundred blocks make up Manhattan’s West Side, which stretches from Central Park West to the Hudson River. For the most part, the street youths
Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story share many similar themes. Romeo and Juliet both chronicle a story of overcoming prejudice and hatred, forbidden love, and defying stereotypes that nobody thought could be broken. The two stories are similar in a multitude of ways, even though their settings are centuries apart- Romeo and Juliet set in the 1500’s, and West Side Story set in the 1950’s. Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story both teach a lesson of how prejudice can teach you how to hate, and how one of your rivals may be the one who helps you remember how to love. In both Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story, prejudices are so strong between two distinct groups of people that the hatred is passed from generation to generation, always against the same rival group.
Romeo and Juliet’s love story was miserable but captivating in Shakespeare’s play, while in West Side Story it was musical and lively. In Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet fall in love, but their families hate each other because of bad history. In West Side Story, Tony and Maria fall in love, but they are in different groups. Jets are American’s, and the Sharks are Puerto Ricans, both of the groups hate each other because they are of different cultures and they can’t accept each other. Also because they are fighting over the territory.
Filmed in 1961, West Side Story is a modern-day telling of Romeo and Juliet. Two youths struggle with their forbidden love as two gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, duel. At the end of the film, Maria says, “You all killed him […] with hate!” This is a universally acknowledged theme that hate can kill. West Side Story is said to be a “morality play about “our” everyday problems: racism, poverty, and the destructiveness of violence” .