From Verona to New York: the Stories of Love and Woe.
Two classic stories. Both about two young lovers, and their journey to be together. Both also about the tragedy that ensues because of their meeting. One, the classic romantic tragedy written by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet. The other, the renowned musical inspired by William Shakespeare's play, Westside Story. Since Westside Story was based off of Romeo and Juliet, there are many similarities between the two works, but there are also quite a few differences. Comparisons of plot, blatant racism and character analyses will be just a few topics in the dissection of these two well known works of theatrical art. As told in the beginning, the themes of love and tragedy are very prominent in both shows. In Romeo and Juliet, the main characters, Romeo and Juliet, fall in love at first sight, but come from two rivaling households who would never allow them to be together. Because
…show more content…
Some characters are easy to put together. Maria and Tony are Romeo and Juliet because they are two star crossed lovers who somehow seemed made for each other. Anita replaced the role of Nanny. Because of its semi modernized nature, Maria could not have a nanny so Anita, Maria's best friend, steps into Nanny's sassy, outspoken shoes. Other characters are harder to pinpoint. Riff seems to represent the characters of both Benvolio Montagué and Mercucio. He is Tony's best friend, like Benvolio, but seems to have no interest in stopping the gang wars and even gets impaled and dies because of one just like Mercutio! Similarly, Bernardo, Maria's brother, takes the roles of both Lord Capulett and Tyblat Capulett. Maria's father isn't featured in West Side Story so Bernardo is the only parental like figure we see with Maria. Though, just like Riff, Bernardo was not looking to stop the fighting. Perhaps, one could say, he was even looking for a fight, just like