Romeo and Juliet & West Side Story
Film Study
West Side Story
West Side Story (1961) is an energetic, widely-acclaimed, melodramatic musical - a modern-day, loose retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet tragedy of feuding families, although the setting is the Upper West
Side of New York City in the late 1950s with conflict between rival street gangs rather than families.
The Montagues became the Anglo Jets street gang, while the Capulets were transformed into rival Puerto
Ricans. Puerto Rican Maria, played by Natalie Wood, and white Tony, played by Richard Beymer, were the
two lovers. Secondary characters were also modified - the Nurse became Anita, Juliet's friend and confidante,
and Friar Lawrence became Doc, the neighborhood drugstore owner.
“Dance at the Gym” and “Love Across the Lines”
1. What scene does this correspond with in Romeo and Juliet?
2. Compare and contrast these scenes.
3. Describe the conflicts that exist between the two groups as seen in this scene. How are these
conflicts similar to the Montagues and the Capulets? How are they different?
“Tonight”
1. How does the director keep this scene similar to the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet?
Consider the setting, stage scenery, and dialogue.
2. Anticipate what will happen in West Side Story. Do you think the director will keep the plot
similar to Romeo and Juliet? What parts might be omitted? How do you think it will it end?
Directions: Divide the paper into two columns. On one side put the heading ROMEO AND JULIET at
the top. One the other side put the heading WEST SIDE STORY. Then compare first the characters
from each. Next compare the settings from each, telling how they are similar and how they are
different. Finally, compare the similar scenes from both the play and the movie.
Character Comparisons:
JulietRomeo
Tybalt
Mercutio
Paris
Friar Laurence
Maria
Tony
Bernardo
Riff
Chino
Doc
Setting:
Verona
New York
Scene Similarities:
The ball
The balcony
The wedding
The fight
The school dance
The fire escape
The bridal shop
The rumble
Character Comparisons KEY
Juliet is a Capulet who is in love with Romeo. She is Tybalt's cousin and she is supposed to marry
Paris, also a Capulet. In the end, she kills herself after Romeo.
Maria is Bernardo's sister. He has brought her from Puerto Rico hoping that she will marry his best
friend, Chino. Maria falls in love with Tony, an American. In the end, Tony gets killed, but Maria does
not.
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Romeo is a Montague who falls in love with Juliet, who is a Capulet. He doesn't fight a lot, but he
accidentally kills Juliet's cousin, Tybalt. He goes into hiding, and when he hears Juliet has died, he
poisons himself.
Tony is the former leader of the Jets, a boastful and contemptuous group of immigrants. He now
has a regular job and is on his way to adulthood, but first has to help their new leader Riff and the
gang in challenging the Sharks.
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Tybalt is Juliet's cousin. He likes to fight the Montagues a lot, so he is, of course, a Capulet. He is
good friends with Juliet's nurse, but his enemies are Romeo and Mercutio. Tybalt kills Mercutio, and
is then killed by Romeo.
Bernardo is Maria's older brother. He is the leader of the Puerto Rican gang, the Sharks, because he
was one of the first to move to New York. Anita is his girlfriend, but he loathes Tony for being in love
with Maria. He kills Riff, the leader of the American gang, and is killed in return by Tony.
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Mercutio is a Montague and a close friend of Romeo. He will fight with any Capulet, but mainly
Tybalt, his worst enemy. Tybalt kills Mercutio.
Riff is a friend of Tony's and the leader of the American gang, the Jets. His enemy is Bernardo,
Maria's brother, who later kills Riff.
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Paris is somewhat neutral in the on-going fight between the Montagues and the Capulets, but he is
Juliet's intended fiance. He doesn't fight of course, but he is killed by Romeo.
Chino is a member of the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang, and one of Bernardo's best friends. Bernardo
wants him to marry Maria, but after Bernardo is killed, Chino shoots Tony.
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Friar Laurence is a priest and a friend of Romeos. He is the only adult that knows Romeo and Juliet
are together. He marries them and helps Juliet pretend to be dead so she won't have to marry Paris.
Doc is the owner of the drugstore that Tony works, making him Tony's boss and friend. He is the only
adult that knows Tony and Maria are together, but he doesn't know that Chino never killed Maria.
Setting Comparisons KEY
Romeo and Juliet: In Verona, Italy, in the late 1500's, two powerful families the Montagues and the
Capulets have been feuding with each other for years.
West Side Story: The story takes place in the 1950's, in New York, New York.
Similar Settings:
Story
Opening Fight
Party
Capulet/Sharks Home
Main Fight
Wedding Setting
Romeo/Tony's Hiding
Place where Romeo & Juliet/Tony dies
Romeo & Juliet
City Street
Capulet House
Mansion
Town Square
Church
In the mountains
Capulet's Burial place
West Side Story
All over New York
School Gym
Apartment complex
Under the Bridge
Bridal Shop
Doc's Basement
Basketball court
Scene Comparisons KEY
The ball: Old Capulet, Juliet's father, throws a party to which he invites all his friends. The Montagues
are not invited of course, but Romeo devises a plan to get a look at Rosaline; a young girl he has
been pursing. He disguises himself and slips into the party. Once inside, his attention is stolen; not by
Rosaline, but by Juliet. Romeo falls instantly in love, but is disappointed when he finds out that Juliet
is a Capulet. The Capulet's party is obviously at the Capulet's mansion. There is very little dancing
compared to West Side Story. Romeo is forced to leave by his friends who are afraid that Tybalt
found out who they were.
The school dance: All the new students are invited to a school dance with a few chaperones and
some police because of the gang fights. The two gangs start a dance-off, featuring Latin American
and American dancing. It is during the dance-off the Tony and Maria first see each other. Just as they
kiss, Bernardo sees Maria and makes Chino take her home. Tony follows soon after, and Riff
challenges Bernardo to a war council after Tony leaves.
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The balcony: Later, after discovering that the young man who caught her eye is a member of the
enemy family, Juliet goes out onto her balcony to tell the stars about her strong but forbidden love. At
the same time, Romeo is lurking in the bushes below. He overhears Juliet confess her love for him to
the heavens. No longer able to control his powerful feelings, Romeo reveals himself to her and admits
that he feels the same. They are almost caught by Juliet's nurse, but Romeo leaves just in time.
The fire escape: After the dance, Tony is searching for Maria when she calls to him from the fire
escape outside her room. When Tony climbs up to see her, Maria's father almost catches them, but
they sneak over to the other edge of the escape. Maria and Tony then sing the song 'Tonight,' after
which Tony leaves.
The wedding: The very next day (after the night on Juliet's balcony), with the help of Romeo's friend
Friar Lawrence, Romeo and Juliet are secretly married. Romeo and Juliet are married by Friar
Laurence without the permission or consent of their parents. No one knew they were getting married,
especially because Juliet was already engaged to Paris.
The bridal shop: Tony and Maria have a mock wedding at the bridal shop at which Maria works.
They use dress and suit stands to represent their family and friends, then, after they exchange vows,
they sing 'One Hand, One Heart.' Bernardo wanted Maria to marry Chino, but they were not really
engaged.
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The fight: On the day of the wedding, two of Romeo's friends, Benvolio and Mercutio, are walking
through the streets of Verona when they are confronted by Juliet's cousin, Tybalt. Tybalt is out to get
Romeo for crashing the Capulet's party so he starts a fight with his friends. Romeo shows up, but
does not want to fight Tybalt because he no longer holds a grudge against Juliet's family. Romeo's
friends can't understand why he won't stand up for himself so Mercutio steps in to do it for him. A
swordfight with Tybalt follows. Mercutio is killed. To avenge the death of his friend, Romeo kills
Tybalt, an act that will award him even more hatred from the Capulet family. The Prince of Verona
banishes Romeo and he is forced to leave Juliet, who is devastated by the loss of her love.
The rumble: The Jets meet the Sharks under the highway bridge. They start out with Bernardo and
Ice fist-fighting, but Tony interrupts them. He tries to get them to stop fighting, but Bernardo wants to
fight Tony. Tony won't fight him, so Riff defends him. Riff and Bernardo then pull out identical
switchblades and continue to fight. Riff gets his knocked out of his hand, and Bernardo corners him.
He would have been killed, but they hear the cop cars overhead, and Bernardo moves away. After
the siren fades into the distance, one of the Jets gives Riff another knife. As Riff lunges at Bernardo,
Bernardo stabs him in the waist, killing him. Tony breaks free from the people who have been holding
him back. The dying Riff hands Tony his weapon, and Tony stabs Bernardo. Bernardo falls to the
ground, dead, and the two gangs begin an all-out fight with anyone they lay eyes on. They are in the
middle of beating each other up when they hear police cars, this time below the bridge. They all run
away, except for Tony, who makes sure Bernardo is really dead before he does anything drastic. The
police see him, but Tony runs away before they can catch him.