West Side Story Vs. Ragtime

Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story and Stephen Sondheim's Ragtime have similar and relating themes intertwined throughout each of their storylines. Each play portrays different ethnic groups that have immigrated into America and how these ethnic groups are treated and accepted by the dominate race, the Whites. Both Ragtime and West Side Story depict the initial idealistic view that the immigrants have of America. It is not until the immigrants in each play are actually experiencing their lives in America that they realize it is not solely a land of endless opportunities of freedom and…