Romeo And Juliet Vs West Side Story

Since West Side Story is a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, many themes, symbols, and characters were altered to fit the modern perspective, though they still maintain a similar purpose. The characters have a clear and distinct correlation to one another. For example, the main male characters in both plays, Romeo and Tony, relate to each other in several ways. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo’s life is surrounded by a violent feud between the Montagues and Capulets. He, the Montague son, falls instantly in love with Juliet, the Capulet daughter. In West Side Story, Tony is also in the middle of a feud between the Jets and the Sharks. Even though Tony does not participate in their gang violence, he was once a Jet, which creates

They coincidently end up going to a party where they meet their true loves. It was fate that they chose to go to the party, since it was where they fell in love. When Romeo sees Juliet for the first time, it was like everything around them didn’t matter. Romeo claims, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it sight, for I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” (ACT 1. SCENE 5. LINES 54-55). They then compare their kiss to a sin, and their love to a holy shrine. In West Side Story when Maria and Tony see each other at the school dance. Everything around them escapes and the only thing they see is each other; “Slowly, as though in a dream, they drift into the steps of the dance, always looking at each other, completely lost in each other; unaware of anyone, any place, any time, anything but one another.” (PAGE 154). The audience sees later on that they pretend to marry each other at an alter, with a cross seen behind them. It is clear that Laurents wanted Tony and Maria to experience the same love problems that Romeo and Juliet did in order to gain a better

This was simply because their loyalties lied on opposite sides. One of the most significant connections between these relationships are the scenes in which Romeo and Tony find their loved ones. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo climbs up Juliet’s balcony and proclaims his love for her. Juliet proceeds to ask why he must be a Montague and Romeo responds with “Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized; Henceforth I never will be Romeo” (ACT 2. SCENE 2. LINES 49-51). Romeo is willing to change his name in order to be with her. Likewise, in West Side Story, Tony climbs up a fire-escape to confess his love for Maria. Maria indicates that it would be difficult for them to be together because of who they are, and where they come from. However, as Tony climbs down the fire-escape, Maria yells out “Te adoro, Anton,” which means “I adore you” in her native language. Tony, showing that he loves her for who she is, responds back with “Te adoro,