November, Thuesday, 8th(2)

Today we made a comparaison between Romeo and Juliet, the play of Shakespeare, and West Side Story.

The characters : 

Romeo who is a Montaigue, correspond to Tony, the lieder of the Jets, and Juliet, who is a Capulet, is Maria, the sister of the lieder of the Sharks. In Romeo and Juliet, Mercution is the Romeo's best friend, who's killed by Tybalt. There is the same character in West Side Story : Riff. Maria has a brother, Bernardo, who's killed by Tony, he corresponds to Tybalt, the Juliet's cousin, who's killed by Romeo. Maria and Juliet both supposed to be married with a man : Chino in WSS and Paris in R&J. The lovers are help by differents characters : Friar Laurence, who married Romeo and Juliet, and the Nurse, who helps them. In WSS, this two charcaters correspond to Anita, the Maria's best friend. But we don't find the character of the Prince, who bannished Romeo after the murder of Tybalt, in WSS. But we know that Tony is searched by the police.

The setting : 

Romeo and Juliet takes place in Verona in Italy in the Middle Ages whereas West Side Story takes place in a district of New-York calld West Side (it's a very poor district) in the 1950s.

The plot : 

In the two stories, we find two feuding groups who are ennemies : The Capulet and the Montaigue/The jets and the sharks. The two families want the power whereas the two gangs want control the street. It's also a story of racism, because the Sharks are immigrants called Puerto Ricans, and the Jets were born in New-York.

The lovers : 

Romeo and Juliets were born in wealthy families and Maria Tony are very poor. There is also a similarities between the ages of the characters : Romeo is 15 years old whereas Tony is 20 years old, and Juliet is 12 years old whereas Maria is 17 years old. They both met at a party.

The action (the murder) :  

In R&J

Tybalt kills Mercutio                                                                                                                Romeo kills Tybalt                                                                                                                      Juliet coming suicide                                                                                                                Romeo coming suicide

 In WSS

 Bernardo kills Riff                                                                                                                      Tony kills Bernardo                                                                                                                    Tony is shout dead by Chino