Sunday 20 March 2011
West Side Story: Cultural Background and Rivarly of the Sharks and Jets
West Side Story presents the Jets, an American gang, and the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang, who rival over who will rule the streets of the Upper West Side of Manhattan in the late 1950s. The main characters, Tony, an American and ex-Jet, and Maria, the sister of Bernardo (leader of the Sharks) fall in love at a dance. They secretly meet afterward and profess their pure and innocent love for one another. It is heart-breaking to watch Tony and Maria, because viewers can sense that due to their very different cultural backgrounds and traditions, their union will never be accepted by society. In addition, the Sharks and Jets are scheduled to rumble. Tony and Maria, who want peace, can do nothing about this. Tragically Maria loses her brother when Tony accidentally kills him in an attempt to stop the rumble at Maria's request. Maria also loses Tony when Bernardo's avenger Chino kills him. In the end, Maria declares to the Jets and the Sharks that they both killed Tony. She brings to everyone's attention the deadly consequences of killing for the sake of greed and prejudice.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The main reason why Robbins obtained this rivalry of gangs in West Side Story, was because of the cultural differences, which is similar to Romeo and Juliiet, only they have their differences in terms of class. But what the gangs don't realise is that they both have the same amount of class, which is merely no class, and they are both immigrants; however the Jets think that they are more accepeted because they are white. Both gangs are in the same position of not being accepeted by society, and living in the Slums of New York City. This key event of West Side Story is simply an image in Robbins memory of the way that he once lived.
ReplyDeletesdfgh
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete