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

Although Juliet seems more serious and mature at the beginning, Maria grows up during the course of the movie. Tony and Romeo are just the opposite. Tony knows whom he loves, and that's Maria, while Romeo had a very idealistic view of love in the beginning of the play, maturing as the end neared and he had to deal with Juliet's death. Tony and Maria are also less preoccupied with the bonds of marriage and love in their society, while it's almost like a sin for Romeo and Juliet to be together before being married. This is further emphasized by the fact that religion plays a substantially lesser role in West Side Story than it does in Romeo and Juliet.

One of the major differences is that Maria doesn't die, she is left alone. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet kills herself after she finds that Romeo has perished. Another major difference is that in Romeo and Juliet Romeo kills Paris who is supposed to marry Juliet then himself when he thinks that Juliet is dead. In West Side Story, Tony is killed by Chino (the equivalent of Paris) . Romeo and Juliet has a stronger sense of love and irony.

Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story are both iconic, enjoyable stories that most people have heard of. Romeo and Juliet was written much earlier than West Side Story was, however it was still based on older Italian stories. These stories can teach us a lot about our daily lives and how we live them. In order to do this though, we have to make other comparisons throughout the story first. So, let’s dive in and analyze the differences between the stories, their origins, and their authors.

Romeo and Juliet is a timeless story about two ill-fated lovers. Originally written by, Shakespeare, this story has been adapted by different directors who all commonly try to add their own unique twist to it. Two of the most prevalent adaptations of Romeo and Juliet have been done by Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann, who have taken this love story to the big screen. Franco Zeffirelli’s movie, which was produced in 1968, is extremely authentic and stays true to Shakespeare's vision, whereas, Baz Luhrmann’s version produced in 1996, is contemporary and appeals more to younger audiences. There are various differences and a couple of similarities between Zeffirelli’s and Luhrmann’s movie versions such as the costumes, their interpretations of

In the play, Romeo sees her as soon as he walks in the door and then goes over to her. In the movie, they see each other through a fish tank, separate, and then Romeo goes and finds her. Also in the movie, Romeo finds Juliet, after seeing her through the fish tank, as she is dancing with Paris and in the play, Juliet did not dance with Paris. Also in the party scene, in the movie, They also kiss a lot more in the movie than in the play. Another difference between the party scene in the movie and in the play is that in the movie the party is a costume party and it’s not in the play. They should not have changed so much about the party scene because it’s one of the most important

In Romeo & Juliet the setting is in the time of the 16th century. West Side Story was filmed in the 20th century. There are a lot of differences between the two. In Romeo & Juliet the settings was during the era of the realm, big ball gowns, and sword fighting. But in West Side Story there are guns, dancing and singing, and rumbles. Romeo & Juliet has a monologue of old English language. As for West Side Story is written in modern English language. In West Side Story, doc says to the boys “Why do you kids live like there's a war on?". The times are different in Romeo and Juliet they didn't worry about wars they only cared about the royal families and the fights between the two families, but for West Side Story they worry about

     What would Romeo and Juliet be like if Juliet hadn't died? What if Paris killed Romeo, instead of vice versa? What if instead of occurring several centuries ago, it took place on the streets of New York City during the 1950s, with a bunch of fresh-faced youths posing as street toughs and dancing and singing their hearts out? Well, just take a look at West Side Story, and you will have your answers. It is impossible for anyone familiar with both texts to not note the obvious major similarities between the two plays. 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).

In Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet, is a traditional adaptation of Shakespeare’s original Romeo and Juliet, with some variations. Baz Luhrmann directed the 1996 version, also known as the MTV Romeo † Juliet. This version is very modernized, but keeps the language intact with few changes.

West Side Story is the iconic American musical that is a 1957 Broadway production choreographed by Jerome Robbins. Arthur Laurents is the author of the original book with the setting taking place in the upper west side New York city in a blue-collar neighborhood during the mid-1950s. (The Broadway) Because West Side Story is a movie musical, it will be a lot of narrative conveyed through the song. The movie West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet have many similarities and differences consider their plot, their character and their setting. The major plot of the musical is about a rivalry between two different ethnic group gangs, the Sharks and Jets. The Sharks are Puerto Rican and the Jets are white. Leonard Bernstein composed the dynamic and influential music. In the mix of the conflict between the two gangs, a former member of the Jets, Tony, falls in love with the leader of the Sharks sister, Maria. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet clearly influenced this movie, and there are parallel characteristics. For instance, Romeo and Tony, Juliet and Maria, Mercutio and Riff, Tybalt and Bernardo all have similar characteristics. As for the specific film, I decided to watch the 1961 version.

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 Juliet) doesn't (unlike the two star-crossed lovers of Shakespeare's work, both of whom perish), that the major difference between the two works becomes apparent.

Throughout the years there have been stories related to love and loyalty. West side story and Romeo and Juliet are perfect examples of this. Their themes are very similar but at the same time they are very different since they don't really relate. This could be as how they have different time periods and they had different time periods and they had some similar scenes. The way that their feuds were set up was very different with family feuds and then there was gang feuds and nationality problems as well.

In the dance piece called “Stinging Embraces” choreographed by Jeremy Dickerson, a female character was having a violent relationship with a male character. It was hard for the female character to interact around others mainly because she was afraid of her partner because he was way too violent. There was a part where the female character tried to slide between couples but they were harmless to her. At the moment when she tried to slide between her partner with another female character, the male dancer started attacking her and suddenly all female characters started moving in together to protect her from the violent male character. At the end of the piece all of the performers bend down and raised their shaking hands up trying to reach for

The scene that was most different between the play and the movie of Romeo and Juliet was how the two crossed lovers first met each other. In the play Romeo and the Montague boys find out about the Capulet party through a poor peasant who could not read the invitations. While in the movie the Capulet party is announced through a newscast over T.V. I think the director changed this so the invite can go more along with the time period of the movie. This could change how the viewers see it by making the invite less secret. Over a newscast anyone who was paying attention to the T.V. could of heard the invite. Another main difference in this scene would be Romeo and Juliet first seeing each other in the bathroom across a fish tank rather than across the ballroom in the play. This could take away from the romantic side of the two first seeing each other. In the play it seems Romeo and Juliet have more privacy when they first speak to each other. In the movie the two are getting on and off an elevator just not to be seen. This could add more suspense to the scene and make the viewers see the movie from a lofty viewpoint.

In conclusion, Romeo and Juliet is the most common love story written by Shakespeare. It was played in Renaissance Theatre and we can see a lot of violent actions, we can see young boys were playing female act without masks, many scenes, and time changes throughout the play. However, the Renaissance is very different theatre style from Greek Theatre. If the Romeo and Juliet were played in Greek theater, then we would have no violent actions and the narrator would tell the story about the fight instead of showing violent actions. Also, in Greek Theatre we would have men characters to play women parts by pretending that they are women and covering their faces through masks. At Greek Theatre we wouldn’t have time change, instead it would play continuously and the setting would be shown in one

After this, the guitarist returns back to the main theme, this time at a louder dynamic, which indicates a more intense and passionate love. During this rhythmic moment noted above, the man gradually makes his way to the woman who is now wearing a flirtatious smile with all other men dispersing to make way for the tall, broad body. The instant he reaches her, he grabs her hand and kisses it slowly but passionately while introducing himself during which she questions why a man like him would be in such a small, unknown