Maria (West Side Story)

Maria is the leading female character in the film, West Side Story, the award winning adaptation of William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet. She was also played by the late Natalie Wood.

Maria is in her late teens when she arrives on the US mainland in NYC. Her older brother Bernardo is the leader of the Puerto Rican gang, the Sharks. He has a girlfriend, Anita, who Maria is friends with and looks up to. Maria is eager to start a new life in New York, but Bernardo is protective and keeps a close eye on her. He intends for Maria to marry his friend Chino, but Maria is uninterested. She meets Tony who used to be part of the Sharks’ enemy gang, the Jets, at a community dance at the gym. They immediately fall in love. The couple meet several times after (on her balcony, at Anita’s shop, and at Doc’s, Tony’s workplace) before deciding to run away together after the rumble. They are about to leave when Chino shoots Tony for killing Bernardo. Whatever happens to Maria after Tony dies is left a mystery.

Maria is based on Shakespeare’s Juliet, who falls in love with Romeo after their first encounter, just like Maria did with Tony.