West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet are two dramas that will always live. Both of these stories have similarities, but there are also differences. These differences include the differences in speech, that Maria doesn’t die, we never see Tony or Maria’s parents,the issues of marriage, the importance of gangs and families to each story.
Above, I named a few of the many differences between William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Ernest Leaman’s movie, West Side Story. One of the main differences is that in Romeo and Juliet the speech is spoken while in West Side Story there is speech, but it is in a song. Both of them express the characters feelings at the moment , but i feel that West Side Story express’ itself more and makes it easier for the people watching the play. An example of this is the balcony sceen of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo expresses his thoughts in a long speech until Juliet shows up. Romeo and Juliet is all spoken while in West Side Story it is a muscial and its between Maria and Tony.
One of the other main differences is in Romeo and Juliet, Juliet sees Romeo dead and decides to kill herself. However, in West Side Story, Tony does die because he is shot by Chino. Maria isn’t that shocked or upset taht she kills her self as Juliet did. That is very important because in Romeo and Juliet, neither one of them is allowed to move on with their lives. As in West Side Story, I’m sure that Maria moves on with her life to get over Tony. I think if they would show that in the film that it would be a dramtic shock to everyone.
The Term Paper on Romeo And Juliet Comparisson to West Side Story
Andy Warhol once said, "They say that time changes things, but actually you have to change them yourself." Two hundred fifty years passed between the original Romeo and Juliet and the premiere of West Side Story on Broadway in 1957. However, time did not change the message of the story, simply the creators' unique visions evolved. Shakespeare's delivery of the timeless tale of desperate love in ...
I personally think that the above is true because unlike Romeo and Juliet Maria and Tony weren’t kept apart by their families like Romeo and Juliet were. However, in West Side Story the only think holding Tony and Maria back was their realtion to the gangs. Maria’s brother belonges to the Sharks and Tony belonges to the Jets. It’s pretty much the same thing as Romeo and Juliet but its not family hating family, its the gangs they are realted to. I think that is what makes Romeo and Juliet’s love stronger then Maria and Tony’s.
Another difference between these tragedies is the issues of marriage. Marriage is another thing that Romeo and Juliet have that Tony and Maria don’t. Romeo and Juliet’s Marriage was brought up right after they met. As all of us know Romeo is very sensative and falls in love quickly. As in West Side Story it is brought up but is nto taken seriously. I think that that proves to me that Romeo and Juliet are a little more grown up and mature and ready to start a life at such a young age unlike Tony and Maria who are kind of childish and aren’t ready to start their own lifes with one another.
This may or may not be a difference but it depends on how you look at it. Tony and Maria’s parents weren’t in it at all but Romeo and Juliet’s played an important roll in this.
West Side Story is like an updated version of Romeo and Juliet, they are both love tales pretty much based on the same things with very few differences. That concludes my report I hope you enjoyed it.
