Adaptation

On a sunny day in the West Side’s Lincoln Square neighborhood in Manhattan, tension seems to be building between two gangs, one of which appears to be made up of young Caucasian men and the other made up of young men of Puerto Rican descent. The obvious hostility between the gangs escalates with each perceived threat and attack until violence erupts. The local police intervene before disaster sets in, but the two gangs agree to meet again for a rumble at an upcoming local dance.

Thirty-five years later, a female news anchor reports the news of the day while images of violence play out behind her. She recites to the audience the details of a recent tragedy, intoning the words,

"Two households, both alike in dignity in Fair Verona, where we lay our scene. From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life. “

Since its original publication in the late 1500s, William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet has seen dozens of adaptations in nearly every medium imaginable. The scenes described above come from two of those adaptations, both for the screen. The first is from the 1961 musical West Side Story and the second is from the 1996 movie Romeo + Juliet starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.

Adaptation is the translation of a text from one medium to another. Sometimes, those adaptations are completely faithful to the original and do little to change the meaning of the original text. Other times, adaptations take the text in completely new directions and the meaning may change altogether.

Shakespeare’s play tells the tragic love story of two young teenagers from warring families. Emotions are expressed through poetic language and characters engage in several sword fights. West Side Story is a musical in which emotions are expressed through song and dance and the main source of conflict is related to race and the experience of immigrants living in New York City in the 1950s. Romeo + Juliet preserves Shakespeare’s original language but has the look and feel of a 1990s music video and characters fight with guns instead of swords.

You may wonder why the directors and writers of West Side Story and Romeo + Juliet bothered to adapt the original play if they were going to make so many changes. Wouldn’t it be easier just to create something original?

There are many reasons why someone might adapt and make changes to an original text. Often, twists on a familiar story are a way of drawing audiences in and adding new commentary. West Side Story’s social commentary on immigrant life and gang violence in twentieth century New York City would not have been possible in a strictly faithful adaptation of the original Shakespeare play, but audience’s familiarity with the play may have been part of what attracted them to the adaptation in the first place. The same goes for the commentary about contemporary youth present in Romeo + Juliet.

All of this may lead to the age-old debate about which is better: the book or the movie. Which is to say, not all adaptations are movies and not all works from which they are adapted are books, but it is worthwhile to consider whether there is a way to decide whether one might be “better” than the other.

Adaptation studies, an area of study where scholars seek to analyze texts and their adaptations, have long grappled with the question of whether it’s possible to judge if the original version of something is inherently better than its adaptation. Many scholars in this area focus on the conversation between the two, including not only how the adaptation can change one’s interpretation of the original but also how the original can change one’s interpretation of the adaptation. Each enhances the other.

Shakespeare scholars have had a range of reactions to adaptations such as West Side Story and Romeo + Juliet. Some might be tempted to dismiss the value of either since they are “just adaptations.” Those that do might want to consider this:

Romeo and Juliet is itself an adaptation of an earlier text, which was also an adaptation of an even earlier poem.

Everything had to come from somewhere.

Choose one of the following options to complete this quest.

OPTION #1:

When adapting a text from one medium to another, in what ways might it be most important to be faithful to the original text? In what ways is it less important to be faithful?

OPTION #2:

Discuss a text you have adapted from its original form to a new medium. What changes did you make and why?

OPTION #3:

Briefly describe a creative project you have worked on in the past. If someone were to adapt this project from its original form to a new medium, what changes would you be okay with and what changes would you want to prevent them from making?