The objective of my presentation is to discuss similarities between Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" and "Westside Story". As I looked at the similarities between the stories and even more between the characters of the stories, the question popped up if they are a coincidence or if the 20th century author of Westside Story had a desire to rewrite the Shakespeare original and why.
             Did the American author Arthur Laurent write Westside Story 40 years ago to put Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet plot, written in 1595, in a more contemporary jacket? Maybe so, and may be he did it to give it a wider appeal. In any event, Westside Story became very popular as Leonard Bernstein's musical, a classic in its own right, also as a Hollywood movie production. My parents' generation seemed to love it and it became a huge success.
             as published in 1599, now almost 400 years ago.
             Anyone who has read both "Romeo and Juliet" and "Westside Story" would be able to tell that the plots of the stories are very similar. First of all, both stories start off by introducing two rival groups. In Romeo and Juliet's Prologue, the author describes two households, "both alike in dignity" but with an "ancient grudge" between them. These "houses" are ancient, prominent families in the city of Verona, Italy, and their names are Montague and Capulet. In Shakespeare's play, these families desire to dominate as the most wealthy and influential "house" in Verona. In Westside Story, the opposite groups are represented by two rival street gangs, consisting of people who all roughly have the same age. There is a home-grown New York gang, the Jets, and a gang of Puerto Rican immigrants, the Sharks. The two are bitter rivals, battling for superiority and domination of New York's street territory around the middle of the 20th century. There is very little difference in the desire that these rivals have in the two stories. They want control and power of their territory, their c...