Comparing Romeo And Juliet And West Side Story

West Side Story is a musical that was inspired by Shakespear's play Romeo and Juliet. The play and musical share numerous similarities and differences. Much of the plot and many characters are undeniably similar with their own distinct differences. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo's family the Montagues and Juliet's family the Capulets hate each other because of an unmentioned ancient feud. In West Side Story, the main male role Tony is part of a New York City gang called the jets, and the main female Maria is the sister of the leader of the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang. They despise one another because they both want control of territory. In both stories, problems between who the male is associated with and who the female is associated with causes the main problem with the stories being that the lovers can't openly express their love for one another.

Romeo has crashed the party with his friends hoping to forget about Rosaline. Conversely, Romeo and Juliet see each other and fall in love off of just looks. They would go on to dance with one another and anger Juliet's cousin Tybalt who would later start a fight with Romeo which results in his death. In West Side Story, Tony and Maria meet at a dance. Tony was at the dance with the Jets at the request of his friend Riff who was going to challenge the Sharks to a rumble. When Tony and Maria see each other they fall in love at first sight. They dance and kiss, but are separated by Bernardo, Maria's brother, who then later is killed by Tony in a brawl. With both stories, the couples meet at a festive gathering and fall in love at first sight and in both cases, it leads to a brawl which is the climax of the