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Essay On Romeo And Juliet Vs West Side Story

681 Words3 Pages

Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story are very similar. This is for the most part because West Side Story is based off the story, Romeo and Juliet.
Romeo and Juliet is a 1597 play written by William Shakespeare about two young teenagers who experience “love at first sight”. Upon committing suicide, both of their deaths end the long feud between their two families.
Very similarly, West Side Story is a 1961 movie/musical in which modern day Romeo and Juliet (who, in the musical, are known as Tony and Maria) are involved in a New York street gang war. On the streets of the west side, the two gangs (Sharks and Jets) battle for control of land. The situation becomes complicated when a member of a gang falls in love with their rival gang leader’s sister.
Romeo and Juliet compared to West Side Story is very …show more content…

The way in which the two lovers meet one another is very similar. In Romeo and Juliet, the two lovers meet at a party held by Juliet's parents (Note that Tony and Maria’s parents are not mentioned in WSS). In Westside Story, Tony and Maria meet at a party, but fall in love when they start dancing together. Both stories tell of a feud between two groups. Capulets vs Montagues in R&J, and Sharks vs Jets in WSS. The Capulets and Montagues are seen as “ancient”, or as some put it, “outdated” noble families in Verona, Italy. It is obvious that these two houses are in a feud and are each attempting to dominate as the wealthiest and influential groups in Verona. However, in West Side Story, the plot takes a modern twist. Instead of being two noble families, there are two gangs. The New York gang, the Jets, and a Puerto Rican immigrant gang called the Sharks. At the end of each story, upon death of either Tony or Romeo and Juliet, each feud that both sides of the family (or gang) were involved in is dissolved. Finally, the moral is the same: “Love overcomes hatred, but usually at a great

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