Similarities Between Romeo And Juliet And West Side Story

During the time period of musicals, plays, and movies, there were two big musicals and movies that really got the attention of many individuals. These musicals and movies were Romeo and Juliet, and West Side Story. West Side Story was a love story about a Puerto Rican girl named Maria and a Caucasian male named Tony, as well as gang violence in the streets of New York between the Jets and the Sharks. The musical was performed on Broadway in 1957, which then became a movie in the year of 1961. Romeo and Juliet was a love story between a boy named Romeo and a girl named Juliet. Although there are many similarities and the fact that West Side Story was based off of Romeo and Juliet, their styles and plots differ but are also significantly alike.

Romeo and Juliet is a play that concentrates on many different human emotions

and reactions. Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story are alike in many ways; they were both very successful when they first came out to view by the public. West Side Story is almost exactly the same play that was revived in 1961. Like Romeo and Juliet, Tony and Maria are of opposite backgrounds and families. They fall in love and their love is not allowed to be expressed in the open. In West Side Story they don't get married but they do have a deep love for one another that cannot be broken because of the separate family backgrounds. The hate between the two groups dealt with racism, but not as many of the main characters die in West Side Story.
Another major difference is that Maria doesn't die, she is left lonely. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet kills herself after she finds that Romeo has killed himself for her. Another major difference is that in Romeo and Juliet, Romeo kills Paris who is supposed to marry Juliet then himself when he thinks that Juliet is dead. In West Side Story, Tony is killed by Chino which is similar to the Romeo and Juliet killing of Paris. The storyline of Romeo and Juliet has a stronger sense of love and irony.
There is one subject that is simply depicted in both Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story. The subject that is illustrated in both these classics is love. Members of completely different groups fall in love in both films. In Romeo and Juliet, their love for one another is such a strong love that they both kill themselves at the end of the play and movies. In West Side Story, Tony and Maria discuss running away together and their connection with love is so strong they honestly talk about how they can end all the hate between the gangs by just their strong connection of love between one another.
Both the classic play of Romeo and Juliet and the new movie are pretty much exactly alike in their writing. As a result, the actors do a very great job of keeping the interpretation of both films the same. A major difference is that at the end of the original play the two families end their feud but in the new movie that is not shown. With this being said, even though there are many differences between the play and new movie audiences adore both very much.
A huge similarity between the two films is that Romeo and Tony are pretty much mirror characters of one another. They both are young men who fall in love with women that they aren’t supposed to be falling in love with. They also both are extremely emotional and sensitive towards the people they love, which is very different from their family/gang. The gang in West Side Story only wants to fight the other gang while Tony has a serious job and wants to end hate and promote love. Romeo goes on and is much different than his family because he just wants to show love to Juliet and be a happy individual.
Another set of characters that are very similar are Baby John and Benvolio. Baby John and Benvolio are similar because they share the same personality as one another. They are against all the violence. They also just want to be the best friends that they can be to everyone that is in their core friend group. Neither Baby John nor Benvolio die in the films as well.
Many other characters share similarities as well, such as Riff and Mercutio.

They are both very easily tempered and can take care of their own beef. They are very humorous in certain situations as well. Riff and Mercutio share one very important thing in common as well which is that they both died under their best friends wing.

There are many differences as well between the two characters of Romeo and Tony. Tony is the leader of a gang and Romeo is not affiliated with any gang type of violence. Romeo is very rich and liked a girl before he laid his eyes on Juliet. Tony did not associate with any girls before Maria came along and swept him off his feet. Also at the end Romeo commits suicide and Tony is just shot by someone else and killed.

Differences also occur between more characters in both films such as Maria and Juliet. Maria comes from a poor background and is Puerto Rican. She also has a job and she does not kill herself in the film. Juliet is married and is also very wealthy. She is very proper and is not an is not foreign like Maria is. Juliet kills herself and she does not have and or need any type of job to live herself a happy

life.
Other characters that share many differences throughout both these films and plays are Baby John and Benvolio. Baby John is the youngest of the Jets gang. He is a great friend to Arab just like Benvolio is a wonderful friend to Romeo. Benvolio tries to get Rosaline off Romeo’s mind during the film as well. Benvolio also tries to stop all the violence that is present, as Baby John is easily shy and just follows the Jets around because he doesn’t really know any better.
The last characters that mirror each other’s differences as well are Riff and Mercutio. Mercutio curses the two houses in the film of Romeo and Juliet. He also does not belong into a group and or a gang because he just simply doesn’t fit the categories. Riff is the leader of the Jets gang in West Side Story. He knows his place when it comes to the group and does not have trouble fitting in with the group.
There are many other similarities that are presented throughout the film in general. For example, in the beginning of both films there is an intense scene of fighting and or showing the expression of a battle. After this occurs, someone important comes and breaks it all up. Also the two young couples both meet during parties and understand that their love for each other is magnificent and it is love at first site. Both couples during both movies seem to secretly keep seeing one another. Tony and Romeo both go to Maria and Juliet’s houses to try and see them again because they are extremely head over heels for both women. Also Romeo and Tony both try to put an end to all the violence but they both fail to stop anything from happening.
As there are many similarities that are present in both films, difference are also occurring as well. For example, Romeo shows up to the party to meet Juliet and he was not invited in the first place. Riff tells Tony that he should take a break from his job and go to the dance with the whole gang and when this happens Tony meets Maria for the first time. Bernardo is Maria’s brother not cousin. Tybalt is Juliet’s cousin not brother.
Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story were such classics that today they are still recognized. Both stories were so well written to please audiences and they were also both redone to make them complete perfection. Romeo and Juliet was also copied to make a musical for Broadway and today it is one of the most famous musicals ever. They both made the point across that young love can be very dangerous. Also the fact that during this time period if you liked someone from racial or cultural backgrounds that were different from your own, it was hard to make love work. With this being said, although there are many similarities and the fact that West Side Story was based off of Romeo and Juliet, their styles and plots are very alike but have differences as well.