Who Is The Protagonist In 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

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.

The film and play Romeo and Juliet has a similar story line to West Side Story. However this story is based in Verona, Italy and the rivals are not gangs but families, the Capilates

The relentless and dangerous feud between the Montagues and Capulets is elaborated in Romeo + Juliet through the contrast in tone, speed and style of music when these two different parties are introduced. The Montagues are introduced with is light and airy music, however, the music is altered to a heavy western style when the Capulets enter the scene. The musical elements create anticipation among the audience as they foreshadow the imminent fight. Furthermore, the distinctive difference in race between the Latino Capulet boys and Anglo-Saxon Montague boys represents and symbolises the conflict between the two houses. Reinforcing the ongoing war between the Montagues and Capulets, Baz Luhrmann has applied corresponding camera shots of the two contrasting family crests which are opposite primary colours. Therefore, Luhrmann makes reference to the conflict theme exploited in Shakespeare’s work. (link)

     The West Side Story portrays the lives of two different gangs living in America, as well as their beliefs and examples of living a good life. The expectations of what people consider the good life to be may vary on a person’s morals and their dreams of what life is truly about. In this movie, whether or not these characters were good people, lived a good life, or lived in a good society is a very controversial topic.

Romeo and Juliet is a timeless, classic love story written by the incomparable William Shakespeare. Many of Shakespeare’s works are considered literary classics, but none are more loved than Romeo and Juliet. This play masterfully tells the love story of two teenagers in Elizabethan England. The title characters Romeo and Juliet are members of two feuding families, Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet. There are different stylistic ways of portraying Romeo and Juliet, and the two most popular film versions portray two very different styles of this one play. Zeferelli's Romeo and Juliet was made in the 1970s, and is the film version most commonly shown in high school classrooms. The newest film version of this play is Baz Luhrmanns

In Shakespeare’s comedic play “Much Ado about Nothing” there are many unique characters but the character Beatrice sticks out for many reasons. Beatrice is not like the other characters in “Much Ado about Nothing.” She “rebels” against the idea of conformity and humility that was prevalent during that time period for women; therefore, she fit the archetype of

In the book, Bodega Dreams, the author sugarcoats romantic relationships because he knows that a facade is easier to digest; the reader must pay close attention to his words in order to understand the hidden complications. Chino and Willie Bodega share the same dream of recreating the stereotypical image of Spanish Harlem and this is what they originally bond over. Bodega’s group does not want Spanish Harlem to appeal to its stereotypical image. At first, Chino does not realize that Bodega is willing to achieve this goal through illegal methods yet, once Chino realizes this he is too deep into his situation with Bodega to back out. He cannot focus on his own goals anymore; instead, he is forced to live for others.

In Luhrmann’s movie, there are two rival gangs known as the Montague and the Capulet. The movie is set in Verona Beach which is like a modern version of Verona. Romeo, son of the head Montague, falls in love with Juliet which is

Romeo and Juliet, one of William’s Shakespeare most famous classic works, is a heart-wrenching tale which is composed of passionate love and anger. It is a timeless piece of literature that has lasted to this century. The beautiful story is set in the remote town of Verona. This play recounts a tale of two star-crossed lovers, forbidden to pursue their inescapable love due to the long history of a violent family feud. Passion is strongly represented in Romeo and Juliet’s undying romance. As the story continues, passionate and uncontrolled anger is clearly expressed, fuelled by the noxious hatred of the family’s feud, intensifying as the plot progresses.

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 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.

The Jets are weary in as to what the Sharks will choose as weapons, for their perception of them is violent and possibly dangerous. “They might ask for blades, zip guns… But if they say blades, I say blades” (West Side Story). West Side Story only helps solidify that Hispanics can be and are seen as criminals, for it is added to the list of movies with inaccurate representations of Hispanics. To add to the tension amongst the two gangs, Bernardo first kills Riff, which then leads to Toy killing Bernardo.

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.

The Godfather and Romeo & Juliet are complex texts which the readers of them barely see pass their superficial meanings. The Godfather on the surface is about the mafia underworld in the Italian American underworld, however underneath the facade it is also a fantastical tale of many types of honour. Romeo and Juliet is superficially a tale of two lovers whose families are torn apart by hatred for one another, but it too is a tale of honour. The four main types of honour in these texts are family, enemy, female and community honour. 95