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Compare west side story and romeo and juliet
Compare west side story and romeo and juliet
Compare west side story and romeo and juliet
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During the time period of musicals, plays, and movies, there were two big musicals and movies that really got the attention of many individuals. These musicals and movies were Romeo and Juliet, and West Side Story. West Side Story was a love story about a Puerto Rican girl named Maria and a Caucasian male named Tony, as well as gang violence in the streets of New York between the Jets and the Sharks. The musical was performed on Broadway in 1957, which then became a movie in the year of 1961. Romeo and Juliet was a love story between a boy named Romeo and a girl named Juliet. Although there are many similarities and the fact that West Side Story was based off of Romeo and Juliet, their styles and plots differ but are also significantly alike.
Romeo and Juliet is a play that concentrates on many different human emotions
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They are both very easily tempered and can take care of their own beef. They are very humorous in certain situations as well. Riff and Mercutio share one very important thing in common as well which is that they both died under their best friends wing. There are many differences as well between the two characters of Romeo and Tony. Tony is the leader of a gang and Romeo is not affiliated with any gang type of violence. Romeo is very rich and liked a girl before he laid his eyes on Juliet. Tony did not associate with any girls before Maria came along and swept him off his feet. Also at the end Romeo commits suicide and Tony is just shot by someone else and killed. Differences also occur between more characters in both films such as Maria and Juliet. Maria comes from a poor background and is Puerto Rican. She also has a job and she does not kill herself in the film. Juliet is married and is also very wealthy. She is very proper and is not an is not foreign like Maria is. Juliet kills herself and she does not have and or need any type of job to live herself a happy
The characterization of the protagonists and antagonists have many differences. The Montagues and Capulets are from the same society and lifestyle in the play. They don’t have a reason for their long feud that's stretched back for generations. The Sharks and Jets, however, are segregated by racial and ethnic tensions. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet's parents are the sole obstacles blocking her from Romeo, because they want her to marry someone suitable. Yet parents are never seen in Maria's life, while, her brother and his girlfriend are the ones that act as parents. Juliet's suitor, Paris, is neutral and is on neither side of the feud. Maria's suitor, Chino, is completely on the Sharks' side and ends up killing Tony, one of the main protagonists. As for the main characters, Maria and Tony are somewhat different from Juliet and Romeo. Maria is more carefree and ideal...
The meshing of characters between Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Bernstein’s West Side Story formulate significant similarities between the two. In Romeo and Juliet the story of “Two households both alike in dignity,” (Montagues and Capulets) who have been feuding is parallel to the two gangs in West Side Story (Jets and Sharks). This grouping of loyalties keeps the segregation of the two groups at a dead lock, thus producing the tension that keeps the two lovers in each play (Romeo and Juliet, Tony and Maria) in the unattainable, intangible realm of their idealistic love. It is these two groupings that cause the star-crossed lovers to forfeit their lives in Romeo and Juliet’s instance and costs Tony his life in his and Maria’s love. Why do these groups feud and keep love bound by hatred? How are these groups alike in their intent? What are the similarities between the leaders of the groups or gangs in both Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story? The hatred of diversity is what created these groupings, binding them to love their hate.
...and Juliet, when they marry, must marry secretly because of the feud. However, Maria and Tony do not marry, although they do perform a mock wedding. Another example of a difference is that Anita purposely tells the Jets that Maria is dead because of her hatred for them. But when Balthasar tells Romeo that Juliet is dead, he does it without knowing that it isn’t true. The last major difference between the two works is the death of the heroine. Juliet kills herself because she knows that her Romeo is dead and she cannot live without him. However, Maria is left alive at the end of West Side Story. It is almost as though she does not die so that she can accuse society of its prejudicial attitude against the Puerto Ricans and reveal everyone’s role in her and Tony’s love story.
Even though the themes were similar, the plot of the movie and the play were rather different. In the movie, Mercutio, Romeo’s friend, got an invitation to Lord Caplet’s ball where Romeo and Juliet meet, but in the movie Romeo and this friends go to Lord Capulet’s party uninvited. What's more, is that when Romeo was at the ball he was recognized by Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, from the sound of his voice in the play, but in the movie Tybalt sees him. In addition to that one scene where Juliet was hysterical because she thought Romeo was dead was completely absent in the movie.
A Comparison of Scenes From West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet Cinematography The scene before the meeting scene in West Side Story Maria spins. around in her dress the camera then carries on spinning which creates a colourful blur effect on the screen. The effect makes her look like she is almost spinning into the next scene. When Tony and Maria met, all the other characters that were dancing.
Now in the play in act 5 a total of four of the characters died but in the movie only two died in Act 5. The only real similarities are that Romeo and Juliet die and Balthazar told Romeo that Juliet died. At the same time the differences are that in the movie Romeo never went to the apothecary witch in the play he did. Also In the movie when Romeo and Balthasar went to the Capulet tomb Romeo never gave his servant the reason why he did go into the tomb and he opened the tomb with a boulder but in the play he told Balthasar that he was going to give juliet a final kiss and retrieve a ring from her. Romeo also opened the tomb the a iron crowbar. And the biggest Difference was that Lady Montague died from grief but in the movie she lived and Romeo never fought Parris in the movie at the Capulet
West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet, two classic tragedies about young love. Both have many similarities and differences, but none are dealbreakers. Things that need to be kept the same are left alone, leaving Shakespeare’s original meanings unaltered. New aspects and changes needed to modernize the story are written in well, still leaving a mostly accurate retelling of Romeo and Juliet. The differences are what makes it unique from others-- the racism, the take on Tony-- all important. The similarities are what keep it true to the original-- Juliet and Maria, and the famous balcony scene. Everything the writers put in is what makes West Side Story a classic, just like Shakespeare would want it to be.
West Side Story: The musical West Side Story is based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. This musical was possible due to the efforts of four people, Leonard Bernstein, the composer, Jerome Robbins, the director and choreographer, Arthur Laurents, the playwright, and Stephen Sondheim, the lyricist. After Rodgers and Hammerstein II’s Oklahoma! West Side Story is considered as the most significant musical. The theme of this musical was different than the contemporary comical musicals in the sense that the plot had a tragic ending.
West Side Story is the story of two lovers from rival gangs who cannot be together. This musical was heavily inspired by William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The music was a combination of jazz, pop, and classical which was influenced by Aaron Copland, which was Leonard Bernstein's friend. This
The circumstances that Romeo and Juliet and Tony and Maria are in differ in many ways. For example, Romeo and Juliet come from rival families that would not allow them to be together. Tony and Maria, on the other hand, come from families of different backgrounds, which isn’t nearly as bad. Tony and Maria’s parents have no say in whether or not they are together, it is just their friends and gangs that are against it.
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.
The love that Maria and Tony have shows their willingness to sacrifice for each other no matter the circumstances. Despite being from two different gangs, Tony and Maria go through great lengths to see their relationship blossom. In the musical, there are several instances when Tony and Maria meet secretly without their friends or families knowing. Understanding the consequences of being caught, they still felt a profound love for each other that could not keep them apart. Maria sacrificed her entire life with her family and friends to run away with Tony. Her love was the priority and nothing else mattered except Tony. Tony was also willing to sacrifice for Maria as he puts her before his family, friendships, and values. Love brought these two together made their relationship strong against the will of others in their lives. In the musical West Side Story, and play Romeo and Juliet, Tony and Romeo display many similar
middle of paper ... ... Romeo and Juliet decided that they would marry- until death did them part- they loved one another so much that even then they did not part. They committed suicide to be together- together in a place, hopefully, where they could be free from prejudice and hate. Tony and Maria never got the chance to run away and live together in this place, either.
The movie adds a musical twist to the original Romeo and Juliet, which gives the story a lighter look than the original. Instead of bloody fights, the movie puts in dance and singing scenes. The characters are also different because some of them are in relationships, while others even completely change their roles. For example, Bernardo is Maria’s brother in the story, while in the original play Tybalt plays her cousin. The nurse is also not in a relationship with anyone, while Anita is in a relationship with Bernardo and that fact drastically changes the storyline.
The only difference between the love between Romeo and Juliet and other scenarios such as West Side Story, and Splendor in the Grass, is that these social situations make the story interesting, therefore, a wonderful love story. In the story, West Side Story, there is a huge social disagreement between two New York City gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. The Jets are primarily a white territorial gang that has been sworn to defend there street from a Puerto Rican gang, the Sharks. This social difference had made these two groups sworn enemies of each and there fore there, it was known that there was to be no interaction between the gangs unless it was expressed in hostility. At a dance on night that both of the racial groups were attending, Tony, a Jets veteran, had his eye caught by a young girl, Maria, who happened to be the younger sister of the Sharks leader, Benardo.