A Comparison of the characters in Romeo and Juliet and the West Side Story

In plays, as in real life, individuals’ actions can change the course of events in theirs, as well as, other individuals’ lives. In both Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story, the lovers were forced to take their own lives or be killed because of fate and the actions of others. In Romeo and Juliet, one character who is partly responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet is Tybalt. Tybalt enrages Remeo and causes …

…each other may have been one of the things that caused Chino to murder Tony. Although Romeo and Juliet, and Tony and Maria were partly responsible for their deaths, the majority of the blame can be put on the minor characters in both plays as well as fate. This fate is alluded at in the prologue of Romeo and Juliet when they are described as “a pair of star crossed lovers” and throughout both plays.