similarities and differences between romeo and paris essay

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Compare/contrast romeo and paris.

In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, two suitors, Paris and (of course) Romeo, have their eyes set on the quivering thigh and red lips of Juliet, eager for her betrothal. Strangely, the similarities and differences in these gentlemen are strikingly equivalent; they are as different as they are the same. For one, both are extremely self-centered in their wills toward Juliet. Upon first bringing up his proposal to her father, Capulet, Paris is so intent on having Juliet for himself that he disregards Capulet’s insistence that Juliet has not yet ripened and to “Let two more summers wither in their pride/Ere [he] think her ripe to be a bride.”(1.2.10-11) Instead, he responds that “Younger than [Juliet] are happy mothers made”, not caring about how she feels on the matter. Similar to Paris, Romeo is so eager for marriage that courtship is out of the question which is further indication that neither of them really care for her to a great extent and rather just want her “…quivering thigh, And the demesnes that there adjacent lie.” This is further proved by their easily impressionable minds where Romeo has a tendency to jump for girl to girl with haste and Paris being described as “a man of wax”, suggesting that he was just superficial beauty without genuine character. As for social standings, Both men are presumingly wealthy, as Romeo has servants (Abram and Balthasar ) and upon the couple’s death, the families plan to get gold remembrance statues. Seeing as Capulet agreed and knew Paris as a friend, he also must be well connected politically and from a good family. Next, straying from the negative side, both men show levels of integrity in the tragedy. Romeo shows this by proving his love through his undying devotion (no pun intended) by proving his love through his actions. Paris does the same when he tries to uphold the law by making a citizen’s arrest upon seeing Romeo at the tomb. On the contrary, both men show significant differences in age, personality, and finance. Physically, though both are attractive, Romeo is a “blooming flower”, only sixteen at the time, while Paris is closer to Juliet’s mother’s age, obviously making him more mature and arguably a better suitor. Additionally, Paris was a kinsman of the Prince, well-loved and a good friend of the Capulets. Contrarily, Romeo was a Montague (do matter how much he swore of his name), an ancient enemy of the Capulets. Also, their personality traits and means of interest differed highly. Romeo was a head-strung lovesick boy with no means of supporting his new wife, where Paris is already established with a fair job. Furthermore, Romeo’s love was untraditional and ruled by passion, climbing in through her window to compensate their marriage. However, Paris is more conventional in his ways and asks Capulet for Juliet’s hand in marriage instead of hoping for the night to shield his entrances and using “lover’s wings” to soar above her wall (ah hm, breaking and entering even if poetically). Lastly, Romeo never treats Juliet as if she were his property while Paris dares to say her face is not her own, acting presumptuously before they even got married. To conclude, both males exhibited traits that one may see husband-material, but are similarly lacking a trait the other possess that they do not.

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• Romeo and Juliet Essays

A Comparison and Contrast of Romeo and Juliet with West Side Story Essay

Introduction.

The two plays, Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story, have a lot in common. In fact, many analysts claim that West Side Story is the modern version of Romeo and Juliet (Wells 7), hence a great resemblance in the theme development. Conversely, the two plays have many differences for anyone with a keen eye, especially as regards their plots, character traits, ending of the stories, and the development of themes. This analysis will be a comparison of these two plays.

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Thesis Statement

The plays, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and West Side Story, have many different and similar features. First, the plays were written in different periods, so their characters are not similar. This is a statement to establish in the following discussion/comparison of the two plays.

The Plays’ Plots

The two stories revolve around disagreements between families with opposing values and conclude in the demise of young adults. This is because the young people involved had a notion that their deep love to each other would surmount the aggression between the families (Gibbons 3). In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet’s family (Capulet) considered themselves as noble, while Romeo’s family (Montague) was a humble family. Juliet was a young virgin girl 14 years of age, who had been promised to marry a man of the family’s own choice. However, she cared less for the man. It occurred that Romeo, accompanied by his friends, crashed at the Capulet’s party and instantly fell in love with Juliet.

At that time, when Juliet was falling in love with Romeo, she had no idea who he was. Juliet came to know more about Romeo from her cousin, who identified him as a family enemy. Romeo and his friends were ousted by the Capulet family from the party. Some days later, Romeo returned back to Juliet’s home where they met on her balcony. He slept with her and promised to marry her. The two families issued various threats against each other, and Romeo accidentally killed Juliet’s cousin (Bly 17). Romeo was banished from the city. Conversely, in the West Side Story, Tony was Polish while Maria was a Puerto Rican residing in New York. Just like the Montague and the Capulet, the two groups had people who protected them regardless of the aggressiveness between the two families. Tony is killed by a gang in the end as a result of the union between him and Maria (Laurents 3). Maria decided to move on after Tony’s death despite the strong love she had for him.

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Comparison between the Two Plays

The West Side Story plot and performance is in Manhattan Upper West Side. The story revolves around the conflict between two youth groups living in different areas. Anton, who is an affiliate of the white gang, falls in love with Maria, who happens to be a sister of the members of the rival Puerto Rican gang. On the contrary, Romeo and Juliet is about two families in conflict – Capulet represented by Juliet and Romeo by Montague. The main theme in the two love stories is profound, powerful, and ardent love that overrides everything; not even the family differences or loyalties can stop it.

The bonds between Tony and Maria and Romeo and Juliet were strong to an extent of defying their families, social class, and friends just to remain together. They both rebel against their environment of origin to the point of even forgetting their wellbeing. Both plays are filled with intensity of thoughts and emotions. Romeo’s emotions go to a different level when he accidentally kills Juliet’s cousin and later commits suicide as he believes Juliet is dead. On the other hand, Tony was killed by the Puerto Rican gang after numerous attempts to separate him from Maria. This is after Tony challenged Chino to a duel when he believed Chino had murdered Maria. Initially, Tony had killed Maria’ brother Bernardo after an intense argument.

In the two plays, the male personalities tend to be described by their intense and powerful feelings of love. This powerful deep feeling in the male characters is what seems to drive the stories to greater heights. It must be noted that if these male characters had not had such strong love to the female characters, the conflicts would not have been there in the first place. On the contrary, the female characters showed some sense of reasoning and took circumstances into consideration. For example, Juliet showed submission when she tried to show some form of affection to Paris, her parents’ choice for her. Maria, on her part, showed some willpower when she consented to marry Chino.

Another theme of contrast is the objectivity. When Maria makes a decision to run away to the city with Tony and leave all the conflicts behind them, theme of objectivity is revealed. In contrast, when Romeo accidentally kills Juliet’s cousin, Juliet does not flee with him immediately. She, however, makes a rational decision to let her love for her boyfriend to take its course. It is evident that both female characters, opting to follow their hearts, made efforts to delink themselves from their present social links. Maria had the objective to follow her boyfriend Romeo and leave behind her social status, family, and the nurse who was her best and trusted friend. Maria had the objective to delink herself from the social connection when she decided to flee off with Tony to the city.

Out of love she had for Romeo, Juliet commits suicide after finding out about his death. She opted to kill herself with a dagger rather than use other simple means. This shows her courage. On the other hand, Maria does not commit suicide but decides to walk away upon witnessing the death of Tony in the hands of Chino. Maria courageously uses the tragedy to condemn the hatred between the two groups – the hatred which led to the demise of Tony. After this, the two groups declare respite. In essence, the deaths of two youngsters lead to peace between the two groups, and this seems to be the objectivity behind it. That is to say, peace between the two groups was only probable after the death of someone and the pain of losing someone. There is no particular lesson that can be learned from the two love stories. The playwrights seem to convey a message to the reader that at times chaos and other constrains is likely to exist where two lovers from different backgrounds love each other passionately.

In both of the novels, theme of violence is expressed in unique ways. The reader is able to figure out that love in the two stories is connected to death. Violence is so evident that at the end of Romeo and Juliet both lovers die, while in West Side Story Tony is killed. From the beginning of the two stories one can easily sense trouble brewing due to the hostility between the two groups and families. It is only death that ends the violence between the two groups and families.

The two stories also portray the theme of conflict between the individuals and the community. The community wanted the lovers to remain in their own groups against their expectations. Romeo and Juliet defy their families’ wishes of not being together romantically due to their social class. They all fought for their personal desires to an extent of taking their own lives. Respectively, Tony and Maria fought for their love but on their part they did not opt for suicide, which makes a difference between the two groups. Tony’s death was caused by another person as opposed to Romeo and Juliet, who killed themselves.

Paris, who was the suitor Juliet’s parents had chosen for her, wants to marry her against her will. Her parents want someone who has the same social status, but Juliet goes for someone of the inferior social class. She ends up marrying Romeo without informing anyone. In West Side Story, Tony and Maria do not end up getting married. Their love is separated by the conflict between the two opposing groups: the white gang and the Puerto Rican group. The most explicit dissimilarities between the two stories are the following: the fact that the identities of Tony’s and Maria’ parents are never revealed to the reader and the fact that Maria does not opt to commit suicide despite the fact that she loved Tony so much. The significance of the gangs and the two socially bounded families in the plays is not actually revealed to the reader.

In West Side Story, the play is expressed mostly in songs while Romeo and Juliet has more profound spoken words. The character’s thoughts are more expressed in speech when Romeo and Juliet meet on the balcony. On the contrary, in West Side Story, the characters’ thoughts are shred in form of music. The play is written in musical form, which adds liveliness to the whole action.

Another main contrast between the two stories is the reaction of the female characters after discovering that their lovers are dead. Juliet commits suicide upon seeing Romeo dead. In West Side Story, after seeing Chino kill Tony, Maria does not make a choice to kill herself. Rather, she decides to walk away. It seems that she is not overwhelmed or stricken by the death of her lover. It is then apparent that the main characters in Romeo and Juliet do not let themselves continue with new life upon finding one of them is dead. In West Side Story it is apparent that Maria might have moved on with her life after the death of Tony.

In Romeo and Juliet the relationship is mostly bonded by blood. Montague and Capulet are two families separated by social class. The blood connection difference seems to be so deep that when their children fall in love there is a great conflict. Conversely, Tony and Maria are separated by their gangs. No family connections are mentioned in the play apart from Maria’s brother. Perhaps this is the reason why it is much easier for Maria to move on after the death of Tony. Their love is only separated by the affiliated membership in the two distinct gangs.

In addition, another clear difference between the two stories concerns issues relating to marriage. Romeo and Juliet are married while Tony and Maria are not married. This might also be the reason why Juliet kills herself after Romeo’s death. In their scenario, the marriage subject is immediately brought up when they meet. On the other hand, the issue of marriage in West Side Story is only discussed in a joking way. This shows their love was not that profound. They seem not be ready for what they have put themselves into.

Finally, there is no reason to believe that there are no other similarities. The similarities between the two plays revolve around the characters’ roles and love. The main male characters have a lot in common. Romeo and Toni fail to spot the fight at the commencement of the plays; they both fall in love and in the end they both die. On the other hand, the two main female characters have something in common. Juliet’s and Maria’s families had a high contempt for their boyfriend’s lineage. The hate goes to an extent of the demise of the youth due to differences between the families. In summing up, the comparison of the two plays reveals something to the reader. First, in terms of quality character development and plot movement, as discussed above, Romeo and Juliet surpasses West Side Story. The language used in Romeo and Juliet is more appealing though difficult to understand at some point. The story has much to teach the current playwrights as seen from the contrast between the two stories.

Works Cited

Bly, Mary. “The Legacy of Juliet’s Desire in Comedies of the Early 1600s”. Shakespeare and Sexuality. Eds. Margaret M. S. Alexander, and Wells Stanley. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Print.

Gibbons, Brian (ed.). Romeo and Juliet. The Arden Shakespeare Second Series, London: Thomson Learning, 1980. Print.

Laurents, Arthur. Original story by: a Memoir of Broadway and Hollywood. New York: Knopf, 2000. Print.

Wells, Elizabeth A. West Side Story: Cultural Perspectives on an American Musical Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland, 2010. Print.

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The Similarities and Differences Between Romeo and Paris

• Post author By admin
• Post date November 5, 2021
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The Similarities and Differences Between Romeo and Paris. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, both Romeo and Paris love Juliet however, they are very different. Paris and Romeo both have qualities that the other doesn’t and they have things that are alike. Paris is a suitor in Verona is also a kinsman of the Prince. Romeo is a Montague and his family are enemies of the Capulets. Although Romeo and Paris have many things in common such as they both loved Juliet, they also have many things that are different too. Paris has the approval of Juliet’s parents however, Romeo does not. Although Juliet loves Romeo; Romeo does not have approval from Juliet’s parents. Romeo was younger than Paris. Romeo was a young man about sixteen or seventeen who was the son of Montague and Lady Montague. At the beginning of the play he is in love with Rosaline,but quickly, he falls in love with Juliet and he ends up secretly marrying her. In the end, he kills himself for Juliet. The reason he marries Juliet in secret is he doesn’t have approval from Lord Capulet (Juliet’s parents). Romeo and Juliet think that their parents would disapprove because they are sworn ,enemies. Romeo also has some things that Paris doesn’t have. He is a Montague; he is respected by Juliet; he has the love of Juliet; ,and he ends up actually getting married to Juliet. Romeo also showed proof of his love to Juliet throughout the play. He tells her throughout the play how much he loves her and how beautiful he thinks she is.

Romeo says”His banishment would be purgatory, torture, hell itself”, and that ” Heaven is here where Juliet lives”.( Anne Marie Hacht 287) He marries her in secret, and he was willing to kill himself to be with her. Another way is when he was on the balcony and he tells her how much she loves her Romeo says”…Oh I wish she knew how much I love her…”(Shakespeare 2.2.10-11). On the other hand, Paris is older, wiser, and wealthy. Paris is a wealthy suitor and he has a lot of money. Most of the Capulets including the nurse, Lady Capulet, and Capulet want Juliet to marry Paris. They think he is the best choice for Juliet. They all think he is more mature because he is older( about 25), he is wealthy, and they think he is handsome. Paris also has things that Romeo doesn’t. He has the approval from Juliet’s family (aka the Capulets). He has the approval from Lord Capulet as well and that’s one thing Romeo doesn’t have. He has proof of his love as well. When he asks for Juliet’s hand in marriage, and Capulet tells him he would have to wait two years, Paris is willing to wait ;he shows up at Juliet’s grave to grieve; and he thinks Romeo is going to destroy the tomb, even though he is unsuccessful, he fights for her and his dying wish is to lie next to Juliet (GCSE). Before Paris dies he says “Oh I am slain! If thou be merciful, Open the tomb. Lay me with Juliet” (Shakespeare 5.3.72-73). Paris and Romeo both loved Juliet. Both men live in Verona, They are both noblemen who are in love with and want to marry her. They both end up dying by Juliet’s side (GCSE). The evidence of their love is seen throughout the course of the play. They both have some money because Paris is a count and Romeo is an Montague. Both of them think Juliet is in love with them. Paris only starts one fight and that is at the end of the play and it is because he thinks Romeo is trying to destroy the Capulet tomb because he is a Montague. Romeo never instigated fights he just finished them like the one with Tybalt, Tybalt was the one that started it and he killed Romeo’s best friend so Romeo killed Tybalt. Although both men had many things in common they both had their differences as well. Paris has the approval of Juliet’s parents and family, however, Romeo does not. Paris was more formal. He asks for permission from, Lord Capulet to marry Capulet. Romeo runs based on passion. Romeo is willing to get married the day after they met, he was willing to get married in secret, and he was willing to kill himself for her. The way Juliet felt about each of them was different. Juliet doesn’t love Paris as she loved Romeo, she doesn’t mind Paris,but she doesn’t love him (she didn’t think anything of him). Even with her parents pushing her to marry Paris she still loves Romeo. She truly loves him and she was willing to marry him the day after they met, she is willing to run away with him, and get married in secret, and she is willing to kill herself for him. Romeo and Paris both had as many similarities as they do differences. Although Romeo and Paris have differences they also have many similarities as well. Romeo is in love with Juliet and proves throughout the play his love for Juliet (he killed himself for her), and he and Juliet got married. Paris is also in love with Juliet and he thought that Juliet is in love with him (she wasn’t), and he wanted to marry her. He also proves this love for Juliet in the story ( waiting 2 years to marry her). Even though they both love Juliet, Romeo is the one who actually had her heart, he also actually married to her, but he doesn’t have the approval from the Capulets. Paris doesn’t actually have the love of Juliet although he thinks he does. He also wants to marry Juliet, but they never actually get married, what he does have that Romeo doesn’t is that he has the approval from Juliet’s family, including Lord Capulet. As proven Romeo and Paris are both very alike and very different in many ways. Works Cited

“Focusing on Act 5, Scene 3, What Are the Similarities and Differences between Romeo and Paris and How Does This Contribute to the Ending of the Play – GCSE English – Marked by Teachers.com.” Marked by Teachers, www.markedbyteachers.com/gcse/english/focusing-on-act-5-scene-3-what-are-the-similarities-and-differences-between-Romeo-and-Paris-and-how-does-this-contribute-to-the-ending-of-the-play.html. “Romeo and Juliet.” Drama for Students, edited by Anne Marie Hacht, vol. 21, Gale, 2005, pp. 287-276. Gale Virtual Reference Library, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3420500023/GVRL?u=avl_bald;sid=GVRL;xid=a4114abd. Accessed 30 Apr. 2018. Shakespeare, William. No Fear Shakespeare:Romeo and Juliet. New York Spark Publishing, 2003

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