The Importance Of Art In West Side Story

West Side Story is based on free will, the choices the characters make throughout the musical. There was so much tension and hate that built up between the gangs that they turned to an altercation to settle the situation fairly. After the death of the three teenagers, two at the fight under the bridge and Tony getting shot by Chino, Maria tells the other members of the gangs, “All of you killed him! And my brother, and Riff. Not with bullets, or guns, with hate”

Romeo and Juliet shared a secret, forbidden love, much like Tony and Maria’s. The Montagues and the Capulets- both sophisticated, wealthy families would have been driven mad to hear that their children had fallen in love, and had plans to marry secretly and run away together. The jets and sharks- two street gangs- would quite literally kill one another upon finding out about Tony and Maria’s short-lived romance. Neither of the groups wanted for the two to fall in love- whether it was because of a family hatred traced back for generations or because of a simple dispute over the street- their love way truly forbidden. When their love was discovered, there was a sense of betrayal, that by loving their enemies they were destroying their allies within their own groups. The gang members of West Side Story felt as if they had to get revenge for the death of their leader- and that led to more killing. Revenge became a common denominator in both

The thought of art is more than what you see it is what you feel and what you learn from looking at it. Art can heal the soul and create and new outlook on images we may see every day. Sadly, we may not always see the art in things, pieces, or, humans.

Art has been a factor of our life as long as humanity has existed. For thousands of years, art has been created, observed, critiqued, and enjoyed by human beings in many regions across the world. Art aren’t just murals, sculptures, music, books or anything that someone may define as art but more of a bigger picture like if has a deeper meaning such a message or a theme that is looked upon. Art can be viewed at as many different ways in terms of people having different reactions or observing it in a different meaning. Someone could feel that the art work is very extraordinary and unique but someone else can have a different reaction and feel like it is no different than other artworks and have a literalist view upon the art. One art that made

Throughout life there have always been racial tensions. West Side Story has difficulties between the Jets and the Sharks. Ever since the advent of the Sharks to America it’s been hard for the Puerto Ricans. The Jets and Sharks have a pugnacious feeling for fighting. In a scene from the movie Anita and the Sharks are singing about America. Anita and the girls sing about how they love America. Bernardo and the boys sing about how they hate it. The Sharks do not get along with the Jets because of the repugnant comments they make about their heritage. This causes a conflict between Maria and Tony. Bernardo, Maria's brother, sees her and Tony dancing making him very angry. In West Side Story, Anita says to Bernardo, “More than what? She was only dancing."

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

On the west side of Manhattan two groups compete for turf, the Jets, a group of white juveniles, and the Sharks, a group of young Puerto Rican men. The conflicts that arise from racial and cultural differences are what lead to West Side Story’s message. The Jets do not like the Sharks because they came from a different part of the world. They don’t want them in their neighborhood because they are worried that they will change things, take their jobs, and make the neighborhood dirty. People have always and still have this fear for immigrants because they can’t accept change. When Tony and Maria fall in love, it makes the two gangs’ rivalry even more complicated.

Art in general is a form of expression. Individuals use art to express emotions, passion, or make a statement. Society can have an impact on how an artist chooses to express his or her sentiments. The beauty of it all is that interpretation is what makes art so unique. The same piece of art can mean so many different things due to who is looking at it. Just like everything else, art changes with time. There has been different eras in art that have impacted society as we know it.

The Tony award winning musical West Side Story shares much of its themes and characters with the infamous tragedy Romeo & Juliet, and it can be argued that the creators of the musical used the old tale as a template. They do this by developing characters of which are parallel to those in Shakespeare’s drama, as well as, following the same plot in which two born enemies share a forbidden love. This is done to develop the concept of two enemy characters falling in love unexpectedly, thus, forming the plot of their struggle to have a relationship whilst everything is going against them.

West Side Story came out in 1961 as a melodramatic musical that took place in New York. It takes the same theme as Shakespeare's, Romeo and Juliet, in that it is about two lovers whose relationship is not accepted by others because of conflicting backgrounds.

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.

West Side Story is a musical that includes gang violence and full-hearted relationships Between Tony, the ex leader of the Jets and Maria, the leader of the Sharks sister. It all takes place in Verona, a township in New Jersey. The movie starts with an Ariel view of the city shifting from site to site showing off of the pleasant areas. The movie goes on to show that there is a gang of white boys that call themselves the Jets, the Jets have a rival gang made up of Puerto Rican guys that go by the name of the Sharks. The jets are informed by the police that if they cant get along with the other boys, they will all be taken to jail. Obviously none of them want to go to jail so they come up with an idea for a settlement, a sort of agreement with the other gang. This agreement is a “Brawl” a fair even fist fight between the toughest guys of the two gangs, whoevers gang loses the fight has to leave the area. Tony aka Richard Beymer and Maria aka Natalie Wood are in an unbreakable relationship

Art is a catalyst of change. It can confront both social and political issues as well as providing people with a creative outlet in which they can express their innermost thoughts and feelings - but what effect can art have on our society as a whole? Artists today have the unique ability to connect with people in a creative, innovative way that they can understand and interpret themselves. With this ability, artists are able to express their own views as well as influencing the views of others. Art is an immense part of our world – so much so that we barely even consider its impact upon us – but just how significant is the work of artists in our modern day society?

Art is not just a picture on a wall or in a museum, art comes in many forms. It can be a song you just heard, a video you watched, or a painting you saw in a gallery. Also, art can be just text. All forms of art grasp you in different ways and make your thoughts evolve to new distances. Art can bring you feelings you did not think you had. You can perceive the art in many ways and the creator wants it to influence you. I believe that yes, at can truly influence society and inform human behavior. While it may seem to some that pictures, songs, and videos influence you the most, it is actually true that books are the most influential and informative because they get in touch with your mind and emotions.

A lot of people think that art can only go as far as a class in school, but in reality there is art around everyone. Art can be a way of life for some people, and for others it is simply just something they pass every single day. What they do not realize is that art can have benefits in different aspects in their life, in children's lives, and even the world around them.