Love in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and in the Movie West Side Stories

“My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee, the more I have for both are infinite.” (Act 2, scene 2, 146) Love is a concept that has been around from the beginning of time and will most likely carry on until the end. Everyone has their own love, and their of definition of what love actually means. Probably the most well known love stories of all time in the play from the 15th century, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare tells the tale of young love and fatal misfortune. With the same message the musical from the 50’s, West Side Story directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise carries out a similar story of young love and tragedy. Although some are touched by these love stories, others believe it tells a tale of young fools. Although the theme of tragedy is seen in both stories as the time goes on from when they stories were created, the circumstances had changed between the teens living in the 15th century and the ones living in the 50s.

The classic story of Romeo and Juliet takes a traditional take on conflicts of the 15th century. For instance one of Juliet’s greatest conflicts on the story was she was arranges to marry the county, Paris, in the same week. “... At night she be fourteen; That shall she, marry; I remember it well.” (Act 1, scene 3, 23) Juliet was not allowed to choose who she would be married it had already been decided for her. Also Juliet was only fourteen and she was already engaged. In the time period it was normal for the girls to marry at a very young age, to a man they have been assigned to. On top of that, following with the topic of Juliet's marriage her father makes his opinion on the topic obvious.“ Hang thee,young baggage! disobedient wretch! I tell thee what-...

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...ot to be taken by their literal meaning. Using a more casual and “street” vocabulary West Side Story uses slang terms like “Daddy-o” in order to fit with the gang setting. So it is clear to see that the time period is a great contributor to the changes in several aspects of the two stories.

Through different manifestations the story has different ways the time has a way of changing the story in ways that if it was not changes it would no longer match with the time and proves that several circumstances can lead to the tragic ending of a relationship. Some may say these stories are the best love stories to ever be created but others disagree.saying it is a tale of fools. So although the conflicts and other aspects of the stories were changed in order to accommodate the time period both stories finished having a tragic and fatal end to both love stories.