Discrimination In Romeo And Juliet And The West Side Story

When Juliet finds out that Tybalt has been killed and Romeo is in exile, for killing Tybalt, Juliet feels both passionate about Romeo and disappointed in both Romeo and herself, which reveal her inner struggle. In Act 3, Juliet’s Nurse comes back with this news that Tybalt is dead and that Romeo is such an awful person for killing him. Juliet fights back at the Nurse, and herself, for speaking bad about Romeo. She claims, ““Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband? Ah, poor my lord, what tongue shall smooth thy name, When I, thy three hours' wife, have mangled it? But wherefore, villain, didst thou kill my cousin? That villain cousin would have killed my husband.” (3.2.99-101). This shows that Juliet is passionate about Romeo, because first of all, she says that she was wrong to say bad things about her husband.

Throughout the past, discrimination has been a common topic in history around the world. World problems, battles and wars have been fought over discrimination against different races and religions, and problems like that still happen today. Over race or religion, discrimination has been a problem in the past and the present time and it is something that needs to change. In the past, discrimination of race can be shown in the movie Remember the Titans, where the discrimination of blacks are in the 1970s. In a number of videos about Jane Elliott and her experiment shows how eye color and other small things can be a basis of discrimination and the What Would You Do? videos show discrimination in common society. Lastly in the near present day, the case of EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch the famous clothing company was caught discriminating against religious clothing. These all address the idea that separating and discriminating against people based on their race, religion, and other factors is wrong and a problem.

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 the past 400 years since this play was written the world has changed drastically, but the emotions and feelings in this play have withstood the test of time. This is why the movies, Romeo and Juliet (1996) and West Side Story (1961) were so

Haply, for I am black/ And have not those soft parts of conversation/ That chamberers have, or for I am declin’d/ Into the vale of years (yet that’s not much) She’s gone. I am abus’d: and my relief/ Must be to loathe her” (III.III. 304-309). As the emanation of social interaction among various races appear within English literature, the vault of new beginnings and change takes hold. William Shakespeare’s Othello, is most notably recognized for the character, Othello. Through various texts of literature, the idea of racial construct and discrimination was never an easy topic to come by. Since the play was written in Europe during the 1600s, the emergence of slave trades in this area further divided races. The play itself follows the tragedy for Othello, and the transition from a military general to a tragic hero. The limitation of power plays a huge role in Othello’s ability to withstand the manipulation of multiple characters. Although he is Moorish general in the Venetian army, he is still indeed a Moor, a socially lower class, muslim man. From this, cultural collision of ethnicity influences how Othello is treated and the disadvantages he faces because of his color. Through the mere jealousy in which Iago, Othello’s standard-bearer, has for Othello’s life, he proposes the idea to manipulate his life by using the one difference between all men, race. When Iago awakes Brabantio, the father of Desdemona, he hopes to initiate his plan to take down Othello. His description

     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).

When men got back from war the women were expected to go back to their housework and do what they did before the war. Rosie the Riveter was expected to dissipate and be forgotten, because women were no longer wanted or needed in the workplace. This created nationwide anger for many women that wanted to continue working and continue having freedom and a sense of importance. Most women swallowed their pride and went back to being housewives and caretakers. Rosie paved the way for gender equality and greater gains for women throughout society in decades ahead. Betty Friedan even said that the World War II female movement was “the feminine mystique” which was the title of a book she wrote that is still adored today. She wrote the book in 1962 and this sparked a renewed interest in women’s equality. Women wanted more females in the workplace and no discrimination due to gender for salary and the way women were treated in the workplace. Instead of men not hiring women because the fear of them becoming pregnant soon or just because they were women, women wanted to be respected and freed. As more and more people read the book and how it explained what women’s life was like people began to fight back. Women would hold protests in the streets holding signs high above their heads. Others got involved in the National Organization of Women (NOW) that focused on pro-equality. As time went on women were gaining more freedom again for the first time since WWII and from then on things changed. Betty Friedan once said, “What used to be the feminist agenda is now an everyday reality. The way women look at themselves, the way other people look at women, is completely different...than it was thirty years ago...Our daughters grow up with the same possibilities as our sons (“The”).” In conclusion, Rosie the Riveter was long-lasting after the war’s end and inspired women to pursue their dreams, which later on

Discrimination is alive and well in America. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines discrimination as “the practice of unfairly treating a person or group of people differently from other people or groups of people”. The article “FOBs vs. Twinkies” written by Grace Hsiang discusses intraracial discrimination amongst Asian Americans. It describes the divide between the Asian Americans called “FOBs” (fresh off the boat) that cling to their ethnic heritage, and those called “twinkies” that reject Asian culture and try to be seen as American. The article “Black Men in Public Spaces” by Brent Staples describes discrimination by giving a personal account of walking through public spaces at night and innocently scaring a woman. She silently stereotyped that he was a mugger, murderer, or rapist because he was black. This experience stayed with the author for his entire life. These two

Attitudes, actions or institutional practices that subordinate or marginalize anyone can be considered discrimination. Racism in particular has historical roots in beliefs in the superiority of one group over another, beliefs that were once used to justify discrimination against ‘inferior’ groups. Although such beliefs are now widely rejected, racial discrimination nevertheless continues to exist. Other forms of discrimination include sexism, ageism, homophobia, anti-Semitism and

People are discriminated for their race, age, situation, and even discussions. Just like how blacks are discriminated in To Kill a Mockingbird, today's society also discriminates gays, lesbians, and bisexuals, transgenders, and even immigrants. Many people today are now being treated differently for what type of

Partly based on a real-life munitions worker, but primarily a fictitious character, the tenacious Rosie became one of the most iconic images of working women in this time period. Instead of being seen as weak and inadequate, Rosie showed women as being tough and equal to men. She symbolized the woman worker and illustrated that she was a strong and capable woman, which is why so many women decided to follow her. In movies, newspapers, posters, photographs and articles, the Rosie the Riveter campaign stressed the need for women to enter the work force and take part in war efforts. After the war, Rosie was still used to promote the feminist movement in the 1980s. She still remains a symbol of women empowerment and stresses the idea that women deserve equal opportunities.

There have been many stories about discrimination. It has affected people of color. Those stories explained how bad it can be for outsiders. Stories like that have had a big impact on society. Two stories that are an example of that are “Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples and “The F Word” by Firoozeh Dumas. The stories, “Black Men and Public Space” and “The F Word” are similar because both characters were discriminated against themselves, were not the only ones harassed, and each went through a tough moment.

“I have a dream,” once said the famous and respected Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the topic of segregation. Segregation has been seen throughout society ever since 1896. The nation has been racially divided ever since that time. The problem is that some people believe that others of a different race / ethnicity are not as good as themselves and therefore think more highly of people who look and seem as they do. Today, some people believe that this problem was solved in the sixties, but they would be wrong.

Discrimination is the separation of society; it has always been apart of history, especially in the United States and is still going on now. History has shown that white men has always been the superior race in the past and has had more privileges compared to other ethnic groups. In the mid 1900s white Americans were the superior race and black Americans were treated brutally and didn’t have the same rights. Even today, white Americans are known to have high social status compared to other races. There has always been social inequality and white Americans has always had the upper hand. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee it demonstrates how skin color affected the way people were judged and what rights they had. It shows the inequality

The play, Othello, is certainly, in part, the tragedy of racism. Examples of racism are common throughout the dialog. This racism is directed toward Othello, a brave soldier from Africa and currently supreme commander of the Venetian army. Nearly every character uses a racial slur to insult Othello at one point in the play. Even Emilia sinks to the level of insulting Othello based on the color of his skin. The character that most commonly makes racist remarks in Othello is Iago. It is very apparent that Iago uses racism as a scapegoat to hate and blame Othello. Societal racism takes its toll on its victims. The effect of racism on Othello is quite evident and is one of the main causes for

Have you ever been mistreated by someone before? Imagine being mistreated and being looked down upon everyday just because you think differently than someone else. Before Shakespeare’s time Jews were banished from England so there would be no more Judaism by Edward I in 1290. This was just the beginning. Discrimination continued into Shakespeare's time, in 1607, a person attacked the Pope for not banishing Jews like Edward did before him. Especially in England, anti-semitism was very prominent in Western Europe (Saunders, Walter). Shakespeare wrote to please his audience so he kept to the current times. "After all, Shakespeare would fit the profile of that era's most stereotypical nemesis, the Jew" (Traylor, Dean). It was consider the normal thing to do, discriminate against Jews. In Shakespeare's time and in the Merchant of Venice, Jewish people were discriminated in many instances in the book and in real life.