Shakespeare’s works are considered timeless due to their universal relevance and showcasing of themes that examine the human condition. Wise’s West Side story adapted from Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet turns the classic story into a modern tale. Shakespeare’s universal theme of love and identity continue to be regarded in today’s society. Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story’s stories describe how love is a brutal, intense feeling that can overwhelm a person, capturing them against the reality of their world, giving the person purpose. It is so powerful that it causes people to willingly sacrifice everything else by which they are known, disregarding ideals, society, and family completely for each other. In both the stories because of the
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Identity is a key factor in your decisions and life, the decisions that the characters pick all come from who they are and their placing in the story. Romeo and Tony are from the opposing families and gangs from Juliet and Maria. Identity in Verona is drawn along socially established lines of who is a Montague and who is a Capulet. When Juliet calls out, “Oh Romeo where art thou Romeo. / Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I 'll no longer be a Capulet,” she speaks of how she dreads why he has to be from an opposing family. It’s his name, his identity that creates obstruction for the lovers to be together. Juliet is easily willing to give up her identity as a Capulet for her love, Romeo. While in West Side story, it is race where identities clash, Puerto Ricans against White Americans. The Sharks are desperate for acceptance in America, they want to be considered Americans anymore than the Jets but because of their race, their identity they are discriminated and casted away. This can be seen when Lieutenant Shrank kicks out the Sharks in Doc’s store, “You Puerto Ricans get what you 've been itching for, use of the playground, use of the gym, the streets, the candy store. So what if you do turn this whole town into a stinkin ' pig sty? Clear out, you! I said, clear out!”. This blatant act of discrimination against the Sharks is the reason that they are so protectant of Maria and why Tony and Maria’s love is forbidden. It is the identity in the stories of both Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story that create angst amongst the rivals and constrains the individual. Shakespeare has portrayed a universal theme that is applicable in today’s society, by demonstrating that a person’s identity can be constrained by the community to fit whatever standards apply to
Identity is a key factor in your decisions and life, the decisions that the characters pick all come from who they are and their placing in the story. Romeo and Tony are from the opposing families and gangs from Juliet and Maria. Identity in Verona is drawn along socially established lines of who is a Montague and who is a Capulet. When Juliet calls out, “Oh Romeo where art thou Romeo. / Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I 'll no longer be a Capulet,” she speaks of how she dreads why he has to be from an opposing family. It’s his name, his identity that creates obstruction for the lovers to be together. Juliet is easily willing to give up her identity as a Capulet for her love, Romeo. While in West Side story, it is race where identities clash, Puerto Ricans against White Americans. The Sharks are desperate for acceptance in America, they want to be considered Americans anymore than the Jets but because of their race, their identity they are discriminated and casted away. This can be seen when Lieutenant Shrank kicks out the Sharks in Doc’s store, “You Puerto Ricans get what you 've been itching for, use of the playground, use of the gym, the streets, the candy store. So what if you do turn this whole town into a stinkin ' pig sty? Clear out, you! I said, clear out!”. This blatant act of discrimination against the Sharks is the reason that they are so protectant of Maria and why Tony and Maria’s love is forbidden. It is the identity in the stories of both Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story that create angst amongst the rivals and constrains the individual. Shakespeare has portrayed a universal theme that is applicable in today’s society, by demonstrating that a person’s identity can be constrained by the community to fit whatever standards apply to