Leonardo DiCaprio once said “To believe in love, to be ready to give up anything for it, to be willing to risk your life for it, is the intimate tragedy”. In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Romeo falls in love with the enemy, Juliet leading the two individuals to go against their family values and principles of the rival. This is like the musical West Side Story by Arthur Laurents, Tony and Maria go against the ideals of their two separate rival gangs to be in love. They represent how the individual lovers are prevented and interfered with the rival families. In both stories, the protagonists from two rival groups go against their authority to be together and in love. They show how their circumstances get in the way of their romance
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During the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet states, “Deny thy father and refuse thy name, or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet” (II. ii. 37-39) This is an example of the Montague and Capulet feud where Juliet is willing to deny the feud and go against her family to be with Romeo as clarified when she stated how she will “No longer be a Capulet” at the end of her statement. This establishes the individual vs. group relationship in the novel. Although Juliet is a family member of the Capulets, she still goes against their will for love. This is very much like Maria and Tony who go against their gang members to be together. The couple realizes the consequences, like Romeo and Juliet did, but still continue with their actions of going against their authority. For example, during a scene in the musical, Tony comes across Maria's apartment building the moment that Maria is at the balcony of her room. Tony and Maria converse about their love and being together. Several times in the film, Tony would sneak into Maria's room through her window to see her because he could not walk through the entrance and risk of another member of the Sharks gang being there. The novel and musical both demonstrate the actions that the protagonists take as individuals in order to avoid the gang/families while still taking major
During the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet states, “Deny thy father and refuse thy name, or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet” (II. ii. 37-39) This is an example of the Montague and Capulet feud where Juliet is willing to deny the feud and go against her family to be with Romeo as clarified when she stated how she will “No longer be a Capulet” at the end of her statement. This establishes the individual vs. group relationship in the novel. Although Juliet is a family member of the Capulets, she still goes against their will for love. This is very much like Maria and Tony who go against their gang members to be together. The couple realizes the consequences, like Romeo and Juliet did, but still continue with their actions of going against their authority. For example, during a scene in the musical, Tony comes across Maria's apartment building the moment that Maria is at the balcony of her room. Tony and Maria converse about their love and being together. Several times in the film, Tony would sneak into Maria's room through her window to see her because he could not walk through the entrance and risk of another member of the Sharks gang being there. The novel and musical both demonstrate the actions that the protagonists take as individuals in order to avoid the gang/families while still taking major