West Side Story Song Analysis #3

one hand one heart
the whole song is a musical rendition of the vows two lovers make on their wedding day, albeit this time there is a lot more focus on the idea that death will not not part them, which is a foreshadowing to events to come. the music as it is is a duet, meaning it must be sung by at least two people, preferably not more and hopefully between two people who see nothing but adoration in each others eyes

somewhere
this is a song of hope and somewhat of yearning. the hope is within the words and the fact that maybe there is a place where they can live in peace. the yearning comes from the meaning, they do not know if there is such a place where they can gor or even how to find it, so they are somewhat pleading for a direction for which they must go. the music of this song starts soft but then builds up to a point where it is very bright and cheerful near the middle, but then dies down to give the two lovers the peace they want.

West Side Story Song Analysis #2

"tonight"
this scene parrallels the scene in romeo and juliet commonly known as the balcony scene, as seen with te whole looking out the window to have a secret rendesvous. both maria and this song are very focused on the idea of love and the pure infatuation the two have for each other, but maria is about tony, and this song is about both of them. i feel pretty is the alternative to maria.

"i feel pretty"
this song shows how "odd" maria feels after having met tony, her love is so strong that she does not care what other people think or view her for no matter what she is pretty because she's loved by a pretty wonderful boy. the other girls view her as crazy for seeing things they cannot see, we think she's crazy because she's in love with a man she cannot be in love with.

West Side Story Song Analysis #1

"America"

this song is sung by the Puerto Rican members of the new york culture. anita is specifically the character that is singing about America, and the song expresses her feelings of longing towards returning to Puerto Rico, but on the other hand some of the other members of the group have no such feelings as life back home was plenty more worse than whatever they had to deal with in the states.

"Maria"

Tony is singing very  bluntly about his obsession of a girl he has just met and learned the name of. the name of the girl was Maria, as hinted by the title of the song and his continuous mention of that name. his obsession is shown by how he repeats the name. the beauty of the girl he met is also expressed in the song, mentioning  "how wonderful a sound can be".

west side story plot analysis

summary

1. Explain the roles of the gangs and how they felt about each other.

the gangs represented the two families in romeo and juliet and in both represent a feeling of fear and resentment towards something that is different to each other but at the same time are so similar.

2. Why do you think it would have been difficult for Maria and Tony to be in love?

their love was limited by the fact that they belonged to warring families. if they did get past that problem, there was still the interracial problem that the two may have faced on the larger scale, given that such a thing is still looked down upon today.

3. What differences between the groups creates problems between them? 

i personally think it is what makes them similar that creates the problems. they are both gangs that are looking for a place to call home and as such there is competition between the two. but racial and cultural differences also contribute to their anger, and the fact that the sharks are part of a minority creates resentment towards those who seem more priveliged.