The play West side Story - Assignment Example

Romeo and Juliet in the West side Story The play West side Story is based on the famous Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet. This was made possible because of values believed to be universal. These values include love, which made the play easier to transform from the European audience to the American setting. Several traits hardly change wherever the people are. However civilized or back water our societies are, we are bound to have and feel emotions like love and hate. The main reason for antagonism between the two rival gangs is battle for superiority; every single gang wanted power over the other.

In Romeo and Juliet, the Montagues were fighting the Capulets while in the west side story; the Anglo Jets was rivals with the Puerto Rican Sharks. In both cases, the rival sides found a common link with a member falling in love with the other rival. The play would take place in New York; the gangs would be represented by social classes. The setting would be a neighborhood with the leafy suburbs and the slums. The rivalry would be between the rich and the poor and the music to accompany would urban contemporary pop with a mixture of Hip Hop.

The messages drawn from the play is the power of love. The play has various lessons from trust, respect, care and good citizenship. The play shows how endurance and trust are important in a relationship situation and further outlines the main values in the society that should get more audience. The modern plays try to relate directly to the time we living now and this has lost the touch of the original story. Although the morals are constant in the Ellen Eccles version, the capture of the original play is just missing.

Yet they meet the film at the moral of the story and that is just it. My favorite musical number is the Romeo and Juliet. I think it is more original and has more practical morals without the American twist. Works cited Hager, Alan. Understanding Romeo and Juliet: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Greenwood Publishing Group. 1999. Print