Romeo and Juliet vs. West Side Story

300 Words2 Pages
Romeo and Juliet vs. West Side Story Tony / Romeo Male Lead. Modern-day Montague. Both characters are portrayed as growing out of youthful pastimes in favor of romantic pursuits. Both die in the end: Tony from an enemy's gunshot; Romeo from poisoning. Maria / Juliet Female Lead. Modern-day Capulet. Both are forced into engagements with men they do not desire. Maria's survival at the end of the story (despite her threats to commit suicide with the same gun that killed her lover) departs from Shakespeare's ending wherein Juliet willingly commits suicide with Romeo's dagger. Chino / Paris The Embittered Fiancée. Both are engaged to the female lead. Paris dies from a duel with Romeo in Act V. However, Chino survives after having shot Tony to death in the final scene. Bernardo / Tybalt Ring-Leader of the Sharks and Capulets, respectively. While Tybalt is Juliet's cousin, Bernardo was written as Maria's brother and protector, creating a closer familial, Male lead kills both. Anita / Nurse Friend and confidante to the female lead. However, Anita is also Bernardo's girlfriend, which adds considerable interpersonal conflict. Both know about the romance between the leading characters, but choose not to subvert it. In fact, Nurse aids Juliet in her secret marriage to Romeo. Anita reluctantly chooses not to reveal Maria and Tony's relationship to Bernardo (her boyfriend), though she angrily denounces it to Maria a few scenes after Bernardo's death. Doc / Friar Laurence Confidante/father figure to the male lead. Friar Laurence blesses and officiates Romeo and Juliet's private nuptials. Doc loans a considerable amount of money to Tony so that he may flee New York City with Maria. Keeping with a theme of tragic irony, both characters unwittingly send the male leads to their deaths by relating the tragic "news" that Maria/Juliet has
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