Comparing Arthur Laurents West Side Story and Shakespeares Romeo and

In spite of the fact that the errors among Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story are too successive to even think about categorizing in such constrained space, it is unthinkable for anybody acquainted with the two writings to not see the undeniable likenesses between the two works (Theme).â From the initial scenes in both, up through the thunder in West Side Story/passing of Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, the plays reflect one another (Poelstra).â It isn't until the last piece of West Side Story, where Tony (our cutting edge Romeo) kicks the bucket and Maria (Tony's Juliet) doesn't (not at all like the two star-crossed admirers of Shakespeare's work, both of whom die), that the significant contrast between the two works gets clear.  â â â â â â â â â â â â â Granted, rather than pressure between fighting families (Montaguesand Capulets), West Side Story offers preference between races, as outlined between road posses (Jets and Sharks).â Some of the characters in West Side Story are duplicates of those in Romeo and Juliet: Maria (Juliet), Tony (Romeo), Bernardo (Tybalt), Lt. Schrank (Prince),â and Anita (Nurse).â Others give off an impression of being a composite of characters, in particular Riff, a blend of Benvolio and Mercutio, and Doc, who seems to satisfy the job of Friar Laurence (had to some degree a peacekeeping nature: You were unable to play ball?, he solicits, when educated regarding their forthcoming war board [Laurents 57]) yet, simultaneously, it is inferred (in the film form, not the play) that he is a drug specialist, and there was, all things considered, a pharmacist in Romeo and Juliet . The tomboyish Anybodys, a Jet wannabe, would best fit into the job of Balthasar (in sp ite of the fact that Doc's character fits into this job imperceptibly, too), since it was she who supported Tony in getting away after the thunder (which brought about the d... ... a story four centuries old to be retold in a genuinely advanced setting (all things considered, road groups are increasingly noticeable now that ever previously), a retelling that has earned its own wide crowd offer over the past fourâ decades (Theme), indicating that specific stories can stand the trial of time more than once, gave the substance/setting adequately mirrors the world inside which it occurs.â Works Citedâ Laurents, Arthur. West Side Story. (A melodic, in view of a conceptionâ of Jerome Robbins; music by Leonard Bernstein; verses by Stephen Sondheim.) NY: Random House, 1966. Poelstra, James. Romeo and Juliet versus West Side Story. (17 July 97). Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Volume I. Ed. W. G. Clark and W. Aldis Wright. NY:  Nelson Doubleday, Inc., 247-277.â â Modernizing Age-Old Theme. (17 July 97).