In tragic stories like these two, naturally their must be inadvertent casualties. In these works this slot is filled by the Mercutio and Riff respectively.
The quarrel that leads to Mercutio's death in Act III Scene I of R&J is the inspiration for the iconic rumble in WSS.
SIMILARITIES:
- In R&J Romeo's interference gives Tybalt the chance to stab Mercutio
In WSS Tony's interference holds back Riff from finishing Bernardo and allows Bernardo to stab Riff.
- Both Romeo and Tony kill Tybalt and Bernardo respectively out of revenge.
-In both situations there is a clear sense of disrespect from both
factions; in WSS Bernardo refuses to shake hands with Diesel, and in
R&J they use their words to berate each other.
- It is implied in both shows that the death blows are inflicted accidentally as the fight escalates.
DIFFERENCES
- In R&J the fight happens outside in broad daylight on a very hot day.
In WSS the rumble takes place in secret under a bridge at night
- In R&J the rumble is actually planned and agreed upon until things get out of control
In WSS the fight is impromptu; dueling ego's getting out of hand.
As much as I hate to say so, I do agree with Houghton to a certain extent. If you look at Riff in comparison to Mercutio: they are both strong, stubborn, and tough and although there is something deeply endearing about Riff, I am hurt more when Mercutio dies in R&J. He has razor sharp wit which makes you curse his impulsiveness. The fact that the rumble in WSS is planned while the fight in R&J is not really makes a difference as well. Because Mercutio is killed in broad daylight the fight is spontaneous, suspenseful and forbidden not to mention heartbreaking when Mercutio goes on about how he will be fine when he knows that he will soon die and curses both sides with his dying breath. In WSS as soon as a rumble is announced, you know that someone is going to die and as the sequence ends with both teams retreating into the darkness from the police, Everything happens so fast that the scene doesn't elicit the same air of sympathy but more of a frantic anxiety.
The 2 scenes though similar, are vastly different and they have the power to command the same breadth of emotion in different ways; however, despite the lack of song and dance, I prefer the parallel in Romeo and Juliet.
Bonus: Ballet of Romeo and Juliet (best of both worlds) Watch Mercutio die ever so gracefully...
I find the parallels between characters one of the most complimentary elements when looking at the two pieces. I love that you chose to look at the deaths of Mercutio and Riff and how they mirror each other. I would like to add into the mix the additional idea of how they create an aftermath. This is what I find particularly important. In West Side Story, after the death of Riff, Tony kills Bernardo and is told to flee. Where does he go? He goes immediately to his love. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo goes to the Friar. He is told that he will be banished for his action of killing Tybalt. At this point he is still in an emotional state after having watched his best friend die and having killed someone, he attempts to kill himself. He then is told that everything will be okay and that he should go see Juliet. This scene is absent in West Side Story, which makes the approaches that Tony and Romeo take to dealing with a similar event very different. While Tony goes to assure his love, Romeo doubts himself. They both lost a friend and they both grieve, and both have acted upon revenge. But how they respond is different and thus making them different characters. (I would suggest that this is partially because Tony is a gang member and is used to death, whereas I don't believe that Romeo has had to kill anyone before. Tony is used to fighting and thus the killing of Bernardo is more out of rage, whereas Romeo probably was in such a state of shock that he could not contain his emotions.)
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to propose the idea that the battle in Romeo and Juliet was planned; just not by all. At the very beginning of Act 3 Scene 1, Benvolio asks Mercutio to retire because the Capulets are abroad and he knows that there will be a fight if they meet. Mercutio then dances around the subject; could it be that he wants to battle the Capulets? We already know that Mercutio has a very eccentric personality and enjoys the concept of brawls (in Act 2, Scene 4 he says he will fight Tybalt for Romeo).
Finally, I guess it is always dependant on the staging, but whenever I visualize the killing of Mercutio, I see it being under Romeo's arm. Whenever I visualize the killing of Riff, I see Tony holding Riff back and Bernardo running at Riff and stabbing him. This difference in my visualization makes me think that Mercutio's death is much more personal to Romeo as the blade could have killed him instead.
It is a very interesting parallel in my mind because it shows the difference between the male protagonists - the lover and the gang member turned lover.