Similarities And Similarities Between Romeo And Juliet And West Side Story

     The plot sequences are also different in West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet. Prince Escalius is completely neutral about the Capulet and Montague brawls as well as all public disputes. He is the voice of reason in their turmoil, and serves as the peacemaker. Lieutenant Schrank, although he tries to stop the brawl, is more biased towards the Jets. His prejudice almost permits the brawl to go on, and the Jets certainly take the hint. Romeo and Juliet marry each other secretly, and that in itself binds them together. It was because that Juliet couldn’t marry Paris for fear of bigamy that she had to go to Friar Lawrence for help. This ultimately led to both protagonists' death. Tony and Maria never

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 blurred effect on the screen. The effect makes her look like she is almost spinning into the next scene. When Tony and Maria meet, all the other characters that were dancing, slow down and fade behind Tony and Maria. The room becomes dark and there is a spotlight on Maria and Tony.

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 used many prejudices against other races, sex, and age. What they didn’t realize is that they have more similarities than differences.

Nevertheless Shakespeare uses the same two different coloured costumes scheme in his play on both the rival families but uses it to tell the audience which is the member of which family. The colour schemes in both films are similar because the background the characters are in are colourful similar in both films, in West Side Story it is colourful because of the graffiti however in Romeo and Juliet the background is colourful naturally. The body language in both the films is similar. The viewers instantly recognises that there is hostility between the Jets and the Sharks and the Montigues and the Capilates by watching how the body language changes as the either the rivals families clash or rivals gangs.

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.

Everyone has felt hate at one time or another in their life. As it is in Romeo and Juliet with Mercutio and Tybalt, in West Side Story Maria's brother, Bernardo and Tony's best friend, Riff are the focus of hate. These characters could not see past their blind hatred and many others were killed.

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.

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

R-The story of Romeo and Juliet is one o the most famous love stories in the world. The play was written by William Shakespeare in 1595.

     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).

The text Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and the text west side story by Arthur Laurent’s deals with the main themes of love and conflict. The two stories are similar in multitude of ways, even though their settings are centuries apart. The author explore (other themes) family, friendship, and hate. Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story both teach a lesson of how to hate, and how one of your rivals may be the one who helps you remember how to love.

Since the beginning of time people have been intrigued by the story of “two star-crossed lovers”, those who long to be together but never can. Such is the case of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and the collaboration work, West Side Story. The purpose of this paper is to show the similarities and differences between these two tragic love stories.

West Side Story maintains Romeo and Juliet’s intricate and exciting plot using appropriate adaptations to accommodate mid-twentieth-century pop culture. For instance, both artistic forms portray mutual disrespect between the parties. At the dawn of Romeo and Juliet, Capulet’s cohorts harass Montague’s. "I will bite my thumb at them; which is a disgrace to them, if they bear it," boasts Sampson (1.1.42-43). In the opening scene of West Side Story, several members of a Puerto Rican gang insult A-rab, a member of the opposing gang. It is here where Lieutenant Schrank becomes aware of the potential rumble.

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.