Similarities Between Romeo And Juliet And West Side Story

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Was this whole musical just a rip off of Romeo and Juliet? After seeing West Side Story and reading Romeo and Juliet one could easy see how similar the two are. However you also notice subtle to big differences within the plot, especially the ending. West Side Story is viewed as a copy of Romeo and Juliet, even though it is a musical whereas Romeo and Juliet is a playwright. However these stories do have almost the same basic plot. There are many similarities and differences between West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet.
These stories are similar in many ways, so much it is kinda hard to miss some of the iconic scenes stolen from Romeo and Juliet. For example the balcony scene happened after the party and was when Romeo and Juliet could talk in secrecy. This happened right outside Juliet's home on a balcony. In West Side Story it is basically the same situation, the scene is right after the dance, they are outside Maria's home and she is on a fire escape. They talk until Anita calls for Marira, and in Romeo and Juliet the nurse interrupts them. The Nurse and Anita are looked at as similar roles in their stories. This shows how the scenes are truly similar. The next similarity is both stories focus around …show more content…

One major difference is the setting. Romeo and Juliet take place in old times in a city in Italy. West Side Story takes place in New York in 1961. This obviously sets up for a lot of differences, for example there were guns and pocket knives in West Side Story. One of the biggest differences in these stories is that Maria does not kill herself in the end unlike Juliet. Since these stories are similar you think Maria is going to kill herself after Tony died but she doesn't. As we know Juliet decided to kill herself after she found out Romeo was dead. The endings are essentially different in these stories. Finally a third difference is in

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