In 1961, West Side Story, a filmed version of the hit Broadway musical that was inspired by William Shakespeare’s "Romeo and Juliet," was released to viewers, who just could not resist the energy and excitement of the movie. Thirty-eight years later, viewers, like myself, still cannot resist it. I had never seen the film, which was directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, before, but I had always wondered why people loved this multi award-winning movie so much. After viewing the film, I think
The movie takes place in the West Side of New York, in the late 1950s.The Jets are a teenage gang of American boys determined not only to check but to destroy the growth of Puerto Rican population and influence on their block. They are opposed by a Puerto Rican gang, the Sharks, led by Bernardo. In the entirely dance sene, the members of the two rival gangs provoke each other. A fight breaks out between them, but it's broken up by the arrival of two cops. After the police has got rid of the Puerto
West Side Story 1. Point out how the general setting of the play is established. Give at least two examples. The play West Side Story takes place in a suburb on the West Side of New York City. We can conclude that we are talking about a socially disadvantaged suburb as the surrounding area is described with high brick walls, not very attractive and by the presence of the two gangs – the Jets and the Sharks. We are also able to say in which time period the actions take place. As an
In the book West Side Story by Arthur Laurents there were many prejudices. Prejudice is a favoring or dislike of something without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge. There were prejudices in West Side Story that had to do with the types of people, their races and sex. Sometimes prejudice can be in small doses and can be meaningless, other times prejudice can be very serious and cause death. Prejudice was the theme of this story, there are many examples.For instance, an act of prejudice
Realities of West Side Story 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” . Shortly after 1949 had been rung
The Outsiders and West Side Story I read the book The Outsiders and watched the movie the West Side Story, they had many similarities but they also had their differences. I enjoyed both the book and the movie they were very well written. I will tell compare and contrast the book and the movie. In the book The Outsiders the people joined the gang for protection from the Socs who liked to jump them like in the West Side Story the people join for there protection against the other gang from
but he did have dreams. He knew there was a better life for him out there, and parting from the gang allowed him to search for that life. Maybe it was only me, but Tony seemed to be the happiest person there, even before he met Maria. The West Side Story did not demonstrate a good society, either. The people outside the gang did not help to lead these kids in the right direction. The gangs learned to be negative towards one another, because people of higher authority did the same, such as the cops
Compare and Contrast of the Love Stories Setting: Romeo and Juliet was set around 1954 which was Shakespeare's time period and was set in the city of Verona, Italy. Wheras West Side Story is set in the 1950's New York City where gangs were abundant. Pyramus and Thisbe was set in Ancient Greece. Plot: The plots are very much the same but are slightly altered to fit the time period that they were set in. One example of this is the names of Romeo and Juliet vs the other two plays. Juliet, Maria
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
Juliet Andy Warhol once said, "They say that time changes things, but actually you have to change them yourself." Two hundred fifty years passed between the original Romeo and Juliet and the premiere of West Side Story on Broadway in 1957. However, time did not change the message of the story, simply the creators’ unique visions evolved. Shakespeare’s delivery of the timeless tale of desperate love in his classic Romeo and Juliet proves to only intensify through retelling and modern interpretation
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
West Side Story and The Outsiders West Side Story is a book about two gangs living in a large city. The Outsiders is a book with the same concept, two gangs that are archrivals. Even though two different authors wrote these books during two different time periods, they have the same story line. These books are realistic, because gang rivalry is still going on today. They are different, since they were written separately. Also, both these books have different problems between the main characters
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story both have a lot in common as well as major differences that set them apart. Although West Side Story is a direct rendition of Shakespeare's original play, many of the themes and symbols are altered to fit the modern perspective. The characters have a direct correlation to each other, yet racial issues give them a new light. Many of the events also reflect each other, yet small differences give them uniqueness. West Side Story differs from Romeo and Juliet
The book West Side Story written by Arthur Laurents is set in the mid 1950’s, created as modern version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. West Side Story is a romantic tragedy about two characters that are supposedly completely different and aren’t accepted when they fall in love. The “difference’s” between these characters is centered on the prejudice’s they had against each other. Prejudice is a harsh opinion or feeling formed previously without any knowledge or reason. The Jets and the Sharks
Romeo & Juliet vs. West Side Story Shakespeare's is one of the most read writers ever and his writing was so successful that not just one group of people liked it. He did this by relating to his audience using universal truths. . Human emotions are not something that change over time and they are also known as universal truths; love, hate, revenge, and envy are all examples of universal truths. This play was so successful that many other movies have copied the plot but changed the scenery. Over
performance combining music, dance, acting and spoken dialogue. Written by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, ‘West Side Story’ is a classic American musical based on William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The through-composed score and lyrics are used to portray different characters and their cultures, the rivalry between the Jets and Sharks, and the emotions felt as the story progresses. This essay will be exploring the music and how effective the score is in realising the world and characters
Romeo and Juliet versus West Side Story Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story, two timeless dramas that will live forever. Although both of these stories have many similarities, there are also many differences. These differences include the differences in sililoquy, the fact that Maria doesn't die, the fact that we never see Tony or Maria's parents, as well as the issues of marriage, the importance of gangs and families to each story. To understand these differences, I have read and/or
Although the discrepancies between Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story are too frequent to categorize in such limited space, it is impossible for anyone familiar with both texts to not notice the obvious similarities between the two works ("Theme"). 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
Meshing Together of Characters in Arthur Laurents' West Side Story and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet 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
Some people may say that West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet are different, but that’s not true. West Side Story is an interpretation of Romeo and Juliet’s Balcony scene because they both talk about the sun, moon and the stars, in both someone like Maria's father and Juliet's nurse is constantly calling to them when they are on the balcony and finally the both confess their undying love to one another. In Both Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story in the balcony scene, they both talk about the