Comparative Essay ( Romeo & Juliet and West Side Story)

     Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story both have a lot in common as well as major differences that set them apart. Although West Side Story is a direct rendition of Shakespeare's original play, many of the themes and symbols are altered to fit the modern perspective. The characters have a direct correlation to each other, yet racial issues give them a new light. Many of the events also reflect each other, yet small differences give them uniqueness. West Side Story differs from Romeo and Juliet in characterizations, plot sequences, and themes.

In order to compare and contrast the play to the movie,first I will discuss the play .In the play there is a character named Romeo.Lovely Romeo wanted to marry Juliet and stay with her in Verona,Italy.But

Finally the last comparison between West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet is the setting of the story. In Romeo and Juliet the setting was in a small city named Verona. One of the main plots in the story was the balcony scene. This is where Romeo and Juliet declared their love for each other. This scene leads directly to their marriage, their griefs, and to their deaths. In comparison to West Side Story both Maria and Tony declare their love for one another, and that no one would become between

The Zeffirelli(1967) and Luhrmann(1996) men who both filmed different versions of one of William Shakespeare's best plays in the the world. Both versions of Romeo and Juliet may be very similar but also different in many ways. One of the similarities that I found in both movies of Romeo and Juliet is their dialogue I found this to be similar because in both movies they used the same dialogue for example “Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?”(Act I, Scene I).Another thing that I found similar in both movies was Juliet’s cousin Thibault is still a big, scary, rude, man. So there were some of the similarities of the two versions of Romeo and Juliet.

In Romeo and Juliet, the characters are Romeo, Juliet, Nurse, Lady Capulet, Capulet, Lady Montague, Montague, Tybalt, Mercutio, Paris, Benvolio, Friar Lawrence, Friar John, and Prince Escalus. In Pyramus and Thisbe are Pyramus, Thisbe, and the lion.The conflicts in Romeo and Juliet were... The parents of both Romeo and Juliet had forbidden any communication between the two children but they did it anyways. The men in the play are always fighting each other. Two warring families that only know how to hate each other and can get over there feud it takes their children dying to end the feud. Romeo and Juliet are in love but they aren’t allowed to be according to their families. The conflicts in Pyramus and Thisbe were... The barrier between them making it so that they couldn’t see each other. The lion that Pyramus thought killed Thisbe. In conclusion, the similarities and differences in the stories. Similarities are they both end up dying in the end, they both are forbidden loves, in both the man thinks the woman is dead so he commits suicide and the woman finds him so she kills herself. Differences are Romeo drinks poison and Pyramus stabs himself, Romeo is just someone who lives in the same town as Juliet and Thisbe is Pyramus’ neighbor, Juliet talks to Romeo through a window and Pyramus and Thisbe talk through a crack in the

The play “West Side Story” was written by Arthur Laurents in 1957. West Side Story is a musical in which a modern day Romeo and Juliet named Tony and Maria find each other fighting for their love for each other because they are involved in opposing street gangs. Romeo and Juliet was written by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet” is about a long conflict between the Montague and the Capulet families. The plays “West Side Story” and Romeo and Juliet” share many similarities and differences.

In both the movie and the play the Montagues and Capulets hate each other. Even though the families hated each other Romeo and Juliet fell in love at first sight. Both had showing the struggles the Romeo and Juliet had to go through to be together. They both were spot on how the character Mercutio acted,

As the famous philosopher Lao Tzu once said, “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” This quote represents the truth about the classic tragedy play of Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare and the movie “West Side Story” directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, in which the two set of couples go against their own families and fall in love with their own enemies. In the play, Romeo falls in love with Juliet, who was on the opposing family, and Tony, who belonged to the Jets, falls in love with Maria, who was part of his rival gang, the Sharks. Even though both versions have a similar plot of events and portrayal of characters, they contrast with each other in many ways.

The memorable novel Romeo and Juliet, authored by the brilliancy of William Shakespeare clashes with the theatrical film West Side Story, written by Arthur Laurents . When the two films compare it’s evident that both share a variety of similarities. To the extent of storylines, characters and importantly themes. The main themes that interacts between the two worlds are Love and Conflict which is illustrated amongst that characters as they mature along the story. To roughly summarise both story plots, there are two equally match gangs in constant war displayed in the public’s eye, as both gangs start to make things heated, police intervene and trying to stop the compiling complaints they decide to throw a party to cool down the controversy. Both gangs end up dancing on the de same dance floor, accepting the fact just to leave each other alone and enjoy the dance. But by faith these cross star lovers cross paths and fall in love. But by the bad history between their gangs conflict rises and tries to conquer their love.

The films had their similarities such as the main character Romeo was always white in the films. Also you rarely seen Romeo’s parents. In all the films Juliet resembles the sword of death while dying next to Romeo. The nurse in all the films had the same mentality as one another. Also each author thought that Juliet was trying

I am comparing Romeo and Juliet to the movie Cinderella because there are so many things alike in that movie. Like how Romeo and Juliet meet at a party and fell for each other. Cinderella meets her prince at a party too. Romeo and Juliet parents don't want them to be with each other. Cinderella stepmother stopped her from going to the party by loading her with work.

The film adaptations both include similar important dialogue and don’t make too many large changes as of how Romeo and Juliet met as well as many other scenes.

The themes in West Side Story manage to be very similar, if not the same in Romeo and Juliet. One theme in both stories is that love defies all. It is love that causes both Romeo, Juliet, Maria and Tony to forget the differences in each of their families because of the love they have for each other. During the balcony scene Romeo says, “And what love can do, that dares love attempt. Therefore thy kinsmen are no stop to me,” (II.II.69-70). Romeo is talking about how his love for Juliet is stronger than the Capulets killing him if they were to find him with Juliet. In West Side Story, when Bernando sees Tony and Maria talking he interferes by saying, “‘Couldn't you see he’s one of them?’ ‘No, I saw only him,’” (Robbins). The scene where Tony and Maria first meet shows how although they are from different sides, they couldn't tell because of their love for eachother. Violence is another theme in both stories. When the Capulets and Montagues find Romeo and Juliet dead the prince says, “See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, that heaven finds means to kill your joys with love,” (V.III.302-3). The quote explains that it was the two feuding families and their problems that eventually led to the death of the star-crossed lovers. In Maria's case it the same thing, when Tony is dead she yells at the others saying, “You all killed him!... Not with bullets and guns - with hate. Well, I can kill too because now I have hate!” (Robbins). The feud between the Jets and the Sharks is what causes not only Tony's death but also Bernardo's death, leaving Maria sad and alone, similar to Montague and Capulet without their children. Violence is what keeps the two similar couples from being together and violence is what kills them in the end. The similar themes show that there are still lessons and morals to be learned from Romeo and Juliet and proves that Romeo and

In many ways these stories are the same, but i will explain the way they're different fists of all Romeo and Juliet was a very long and strung out the story, it help you get really into it and lots of good point promise and fissure was different because they gave a better situation and they gave a real reason why it should've been of been better but this opinion is up to you to

As a matter of fact, Romeo has differences in the play and the movie. First to be present is Romeo in the play. Romeo was a round character. He will always change his mind often to find another girlfriend. When Romeo went