The Walls Go Crashing Down When two people are meant to be together, no time is too long” (Anonymous). Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and West Side Story by Arthur Laurents show the pure evils of acting extremely hastily and how it can change the outlook on the future. Romeo and Juliet are two young lovers who were taught to hate one another and who suffer deeply because of the consequences of fate. Romeo and Juliet’s deaths were sure to be tragic as was hinted at early on throughout the play. Both families suffer with the loss of their children as well as other family members. Maria and Tony are split from one another because of extreme violence, hatred, and the differences between their New York City gangs. Each of them …show more content…

Next, when Anita goes to deliver a message from Maria to Tony, Anita gets mualed by the Jets. She is so furious that as she is leaving she stops near the door and says, “Don't you touch me! I got a message for your American buddy. You tell that murderer that Maria's never going to meet him. You tell him that Chino found out about them and shot her. She's dead” (Laurents 218). Oppositely, there is also fate that occurs throughout the musical. Tony and Maria attempt to escape and spend the rest of their lives together when Chino appears from behind a light post and shoots Tony. Free will also plays a part in this scene because Tony and Maria made the choice to leave and Chino chose to shoot Tony. Overall, most of the events in West Side Story are driven by free will. While Romeo and Juliet is compelled by things they could not control, fate, West Side Story is driven by the choices they made, free will. Romeo and Juliet are lovers from feuding families that marry and because of pressures; they are torn away from each other and destructed. On the other hand, in West Side Story, the Jets and the Sharks take their hatred too far and cause deaths for which they are to blame. Like they always say, everything happens for a