West Side Story

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…

The violence in “West Side Story” has been argued to be egregious and unnecessary. The glorification of gangs has made the story a controversial read for teenagers, according to some critics. People may think that the violent scenes such as when bernaldo is stabbed and killed and when Tony is shot to death are not needed in order to get the stories message across to the reader. I believe that the violence in the story provides the reader with a more detailed story and a realistic encounter of…

Romeo & Juliet, West Side Story, and The Outsiders all share the same basic themes. One theme that stands out the most is the feuding that takes place between the two groups. In The Outsiders, the Socs and the Greasers are always fighting. Romeo & Juliet has the Montagues and the Capulets and West Side Story has the Jets and the Sharks. In the stories, these groups fight to see who is better and there always is some conflict between them. As you can see, feuds exist between two groups in all of…

Postcolonialism lens, West Side Story establishes more physical ethnic groups than Romeo and Juliet. West Side Story takes place in New York City where there is danger that lurks around every corner and killers that lie in the shadows. Romeo and Juliet takes place in the Renaissance Era, in the cities of Verona and Mantua. Talking about the lens, Postcolonialism, both stories share a lot of similarities, but West Side Story gets into more detail than Romeo and Juliet. In the story, West Side…

Tragic Love In real life your actions affect others as much as they affect you, and this relates to the stories Romeo and Juliet, and West Side Story in the way that death was brought because of feuds and people telling you who you can and can’t love, which in the real world it happens all the time. In Romeo and Juliet, the story starts off with two families with an ancient grudge, the Montagues, and the Capulets. Romeo, a montague, falls instantly and madly in love with a girl, Juliet a…

or other literary works such as, The Belle of Mayfair and Giulietta e Romeo. Providing an outstanding example of this, is the musical West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein created a very similar story of Romeo and Juliet, A West Side Story. In comparing the two tales, one could draw several close parallels between the characters and plots. Both stories begin by introducing two rival groups.…

every effort that the two make to retain happiness; it is a classic that will stand the test of time. West Side Story cleverly manipulates the plotline of the original story of forbidden love with the depiction of Tony and Maria instead. In both Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story, classic romantic scenes between two lovers are portrayed in a similar fashion proving that indeed, the two stories are more alike in nature than different. Love at first sight is a strange concept that one has the…

the base for many novels and movies. For example, the movie West Side Story is a great example of how books and movies are impacted by Romeo and Juliet. There are many parts from West Side Story that were exactly alike or almost the same from the famous Shakespearean book, especially the balcony scene. The first way Romeo and Juliet influenced West Side Story was by the characters. The two main characters were Romeo and Juliet in one story, a boy and a girl who fell in love at first sight.…

The novel West Side Story by Arthur Laurents is a literary interpretation of the musical by the same name. It follows the musical fairly closely, sticking to the same storyline and similar dialogues. In the story, two rival gangs, the Sharks and the Jets only seem to have one thing in common; their hatred for each other. Even with this, Maria, little sister to the leader of the Sharks, and Tony, a former member of the Jets, fall in love. There are many reimaginings of this book, but one movie in…

There are many similarities between Chino in West Side Story and Paris in Romeo and Juliet. Paris has the approval from Montague to be with Juliet when Capulet says to Paris, “Inherit at my house. Which, on one more view of many, mine, being one. Come, go with me” (I, ii, 30). Capulet gives consent for Paris to marry Juliet. Though Juliet is not so fond of the idea. Similar to Paris, Chino also has the approval to be with Maria from Bernardo. Bernardo wants Chino to be with Maria because he is…