Rose DeWitt Bukater

Rose Dawson Calvert (née DeWitt Bukater, born April 5, 1895) is the protagonist in the film Titanic. She is a socialite who had a planned arranged marriage with her demanding ex-fiancé Cal Hockley under the request of her mother Ruth DeWitt Bukater, simply for the wealth. She is also the love interest of Jack Dawson and widow of Mr. Calvert. In the film, she is portrayed by two actresses, Kate Winslet portrays a young Rose while Gloria Stuart portrays an elderly Rose.

Personality[]

Rose was very pessimistic about her life due to the first-class life she was being pulled into by Cal and Ruth. She had also convinced herself that committing suicide by jumping off of the ship was the only way to save herself from her torturous first-class life.

She was also polite (most of the time; there were a few incidents in which she refused to be polite), mainly because she was forced to be. She was very intelligent and well-educated. She was also very passionate.

Rose also wasn't afraid to get violent as shown when she ruthlessly broke a man's nose with a single punch when he wouldn't let her go save Jack and when she forcefully pushed a man against the wall and ordered him to take her down.

Rose was incredibly brave and was an extremely talented actress. During her elderly life, Rose began to forget certain things. However, she still was the same kind-hearted woman that she used to be.

She could hardly walk, too. She did very little of it and was often wheeled around in a wheelchair.

Appearance[]

Rose has a head full of long and wavy hair that is a chestnut-ginger, a fair-skinned complexion, blue eyes with full lashes, full pink lips, and perfect eyebrows. She also has a slender but curvaceous figure such as being well-endowed in the bust.

The first dress Rose appears in is a cream wool jacket with purple velvet trim (US size 4); a black silk charmeuse tie; a cream cotton shirt with lace trim (US size 6); and a cream wool skirt (US size 4). Also included are four extra covered buttons attached to the jacket's inner tag.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Rose was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1895; her exact birthdate is unknown. Tragically, her father passed away which resulted in a series of bad debts that left her family crippled in financial issues. At some point, she met Caledon Hockley and prior to the Maiden Voyage, she became engaged to him. The goal of her mother was to have Rose marry him, and stay in their wealthy lifestyle.

Boarded the Titanic[]

She is 17 years old during her First Class passage aboard the RMS Titanic. Rose boards with her fiancé Caledon Hockley and her mother Ruth DeWitt Bukater. Although Rose does not love him, she is being forced to marry him by her mother. Since her father's death, according to Ruth, she was left with nothing. Rose was to marry into money.

Depression and suicide attempt[]

Tired of the repetitive lifestyle she leads as a First Class lady in which people get involved in treating her as if she is a helpless child, Rose tries to commit suicide by throwing herself overboard.

Meeting Jack Dawson[]

However, she is convinced to save herself by a young artist from Third Class named Jack Dawson. On the way up, Rose's foot slips from the railing and she begins to scream for help. Even with Jack's assistance, Rose's screams are heard by three of the ship's crew members, who rush to her aid. Instead, they find her and Jack sprawled out in a compromising position on the deck. After being berated by Cal, Jack is slapped in handcuffs and nearly taken to the Master-At-Arms Office until Rose convinces her husband-to-be that Jack saved her life. After offering him $20, which Rose considers an insult, Cal invites Jack to dine with him and the rest of his acquaintances in the First Class Dining Room.

Befriends with Jack Dawson[]

The next day, Rose seeks Jack out to thank him for what he did. They talk on the boat deck for hours about their lives, and in particular, Rose's hopes and dreams, that for the time being, she knows she will never be able to achieve. Rose learns that Jack is a very talented artist after flipping through his sketchbook. She is shocked to learn that someone of Jack's poor standing was able to go to Paris, France. Rose also assumes that Jack has had a love affair with one of the subjects of his sketches; he denies the accusation, sarcastically replying that he only had a love affair "just with her hands."

Later, Jack teaches Rose how to spit "correctly" off the side of the ship, until the two are caught by her mother, the Countess of Rothes, and the feisty Margaret Brown. After the rest of the ladies dress for dinner, Molly takes Jack under her wing and dresses him in a black tuxedo that she had initially purchased for her son. While at dinner, Jack charms the entire table by explaining his way of life. Just before he returns to the lower decks, Jack leaves a note in Rose's hand saying, "Make it count. Meet me at the clock." In foreshadowing the film's ending, Jack stands at the top of the Grand Staircase beside "Honour and Glory Crowning Time," in wait for Rose. They meet there and sneak off to the steerage decks for a "real party."

Party in Steerage[]

At the party, they dance while not seeing Cal's manservant Spicer Lovejoy spying on them. The next morning, as they had breakfast together, Cal complains that Rose "didn't come by that evening" (implying that they regularly sleep together); Rose states that she was too tired. Cal complains that her conduct the night before must have worn her out, implying that her behavior was not that of a first-class lady. Cal loses his temper, explaining to Rose that even if she is not yet his wife by law, she is in practice and that she must honor him. In the midst of his anger, Cal yells at her, throws their breakfast table aside, and tells her not to behave like that again.

Feel Trapped[]

Then, while Rose's maid, Trudy Bolt, is fastening her corset in preparation for the church service, her mother interrupts and dismisses her. Ruth tells her daughter that she cannot see Jack again, for both their sakes, reminding Rose of all the debts left to them by her father.

That afternoon on April 14, she is walking on the boat deck with her mother, Cal and Thomas Andrews, the builder of the ship, when Jack grabs her and takes her into the gymnasium. He tries to convince her that she is nothing like the rest of her family and that she must break free of their oppression or she'll be miserable for the rest of her life. But Rose, as stubborn as she is, reluctantly refuses to see Jack's reasoning and returns to Cal's side.

Make her own choices[]

Later, while having tea, she realizes that Jack was right after watching a little girl being corrected by her mother and finds him at the bow of the ship. They share a special moment and have their first kiss as the sun goes down. Rose then takes Jack to the sitting room of her suite and asks him to draw her nude wearing only the Heart of the Ocean necklace. When Jack is finished, she puts the diamond necklace in Cal's safe along with the sketch and a taunting note for him. However, Lovejoy finds them and chases them all the way down to the boiler room of the ship, where they lock the door on him.

They then venture into the cargo hold, finding William Carter's brand new Renault travelling car. A few minutes later, the two make love in the back seat.

The Sinking of the Titanic[]

It's 11:38 P.M. when they come back up to the bow of the ship and share another passionate kiss, much to the amusement of the lookouts. fred fleet

Suddenly, when lookout Frederick Fleet looks back up again, he has spotted an iceberg directly in the ship's path, yelling "bugger me!", Ringing the alarm bell three times, he telephones the bridge. They try everything in their power to slow the ship and turn around the obstacle in front of them, but she swings too late, the ship scrapes along the iceberg against the starboard side, popping the rivets and creating openings just below the waterline. Jack, Rose and even Thomas Andrews who is in his suite feel the deathblow to the Titanic. Unbeknownst to anyone at this point, the ship is doomed.

Jack and Rose would later inspect the damage from the forward Well Deck, and Jack could not see anything. As he was leaning over the side Rose pulled at his hair, causing him to retaliate with another prank

Knowing the fate of the ship[]

A few minutes later, Captain Smith, Chief Officer Henry Tingle Wilde, First Officer William Murdoch, Carpenter John Hall Hutchinson, joiner John Maxwell, passenger and Chief Designer Thomas Andrews, and passenger and ship's owner Bruce Ismay, ran to go inspect the damage. Jack believes it is bad and Rose suggests telling her mother and Cal about the collision. When they do, Jack is framed for stealing the diamond as Lovejoy puts it in his pocket and is taken to the master-at-arms' office below decks. Rose and Cal were left alone in their suite. Cal slapped Rose violently in the face and called her a slut; he had just grabbed her and start to shake her hard when a crew member knocked and entered, telling them they needed to put on lifejackets and proceed to the boat deck. When told to leave by Cal, he firmly stated that it was "[the] Captain's orders." , Andrews quietly told her that the ship would sink, much to Rose's horror. Andrews urged her to get to a boat immediately and reminded her that there were not enough for all of the passengers. and Rose is taken to a lifeboat with her mother. Upon realizing that Cal is nothing more than a self-involved jerk and her mother a typical first-class woman only concerned for herself, Rose leaves, determined to save Jack.

Saving Jack Dawson[]

After receiving instructions from Andrews, she finds Jack in a rapidly flooding room on E Deck, under lock and key. In knee-deep water, she goes to look for help, but only finds a steward who urges her to go the deck. Eventually, she takes a fire axe and returns to the Master-at-Arms Office in waist deep water, having to discard her coat. Shortly after 1:15 A.M., she dismembers Jack's handcuffs from the pole with the axe, freeing him.

The saga of the Bostwick Gates[]

Eventually, Jack and Rose were forced to kick down a door from the inside and they end up on Scotland Road. As they ran down it they were scolded by a steward for damaging White Star Line property, but they rebutted him.

Later, Jack and Rose tried to find a way to the boat deck. A steward had ran away from one of the locked gates, thus blocking the stairwell entrance. An Irish woman gave Rose a blanket for modesty, and her husband gave her a flask of Whiskey. Her and Jack said "cheers" and downed the glasses before Jack tried one last time to get the steward to open the gate. With no way out, they continued down the corridor.

They then wound up at the Third Class Main Stairwell which was flooded and swarmed with people. At the top of the gates, a steward and his assistants were blocking the gates with axes and guns. They yelled to bring forward the women and to unlock the gates, but the foreign men didn't understand and rushed through and confused why they were pushed back out. Only one man made it through. Tommy Ryan, at the top of the gate, yelled in anguish to let the women and children up so they could have a chance. Jack then found Helga, Fabrizio's friend, and asked where he was. He found Tommy too, and Fabrizio joined. They tried to discuss what to do.

Eventually they decided to leave, but Fabrizio tried to convince Helga and her parents to come along, to no avail. Helga and Fabrizio said goodbye and Tommy & Fabrizio followed Jack and Rose. Eventually, they made it to a crew stairwell which was guarded by yet another steward who asked the passengers to go back to the main stairwell. Jack cursed out the steward and thrashed the gate, then, with the help of Tommy & Fabrizio, ripped a bench from its flooring. Rose figured out what they were doing and cleared a path, getting everyone aside. The steward yelled for them to stop that, but they smashed the bench into the gate twice and tore it down. Rose, Jack, Fabrizio, Fang Lang, Tommy and the others escaped, with Tommy punching the steward and knocking him out.

To the Lifeboats[]

Rose, Jack, Tommy and Fabrizio make it to the boat deck right as Lifeboat 16 had finished lowering. As they ran, Rose bumped into Colonel Archibald Gracie IV who was escorting Edith Evans and Caroline Brown.

Jack led the group of three forwards without Gracie, who followed them. They passed the musicians who incredibly were still playing music, more specifically, the Can-Can. On the boat deck, they find Collapsible D, which is being loaded entirely with women and children, and Jack sends Tommy and Fabrizio to find another boat on the other side of the ship. Nearby, an Iowa Man asked Rose to get a letter to his wife in De Moines. While waiting on Collapsible D, they are found by Cal, who gives Rose his suit due to her "looking a fright". When Rose refuses to get on the boat and leave Jack, at around 1:45 A.M., Cal tells her that he has an arrangement for he and Jack to get off the ship with Murdoch. As the two men watch the boat being lowered, Cal tells Jack that there is an arrangement, but he would not be benefiting much from it.

Unwilling to Stay, unable to Leave[]

Not able to leave Jack, Rose jumps back onto the ship from the A Deck Promenade, which was only a few feet from the water, and runs to the Grand Staircase, where she embraces Jack. Although Jack is glad to see her, he is afraid for both of them, now that one of the last lifeboats has left. Meanwhile, an enraged Cal pistolwhips the gun from Lovejoy and chases the couple down the stairs, shooting at them down into Reception Room. When he runs out of bullets, he stands there watching them get away, until he realizes that he is standing in 28 degree fahrenheit water up to his waist, and yelled that he hoped they enjoyed their time together. When Cal came back upstairs, he starts laughing and told Lovejoy that he had put the diamond in the coat, and had put the coat on her. He then handed Lovejoy the gun and told him the diamond would be his, but only if he could get to it.

Jack and Lovejoy fight[]

Meanwhile, Jack and Rose ran through the First Class Dining Room but discovered the door to the galley was locked. They then heard the sloshing water Lovejoy was wading through to get to him, and ducked behind tables. Lovejoy entered, joined by the hundred-foot wide tide, at 1:50AM. To search the entire room would take too long, but Lovejoy knew that the water would chase Jack and Rose out of the room and he would find them, and told them that it was only a matter of time and he knew they were here. Carts of silverware began to roll down and the lights began to flicker out.

Jack told Rose to stay put, and moved to another table behind Lovejoy. The water had now filled half of the entire room and Rose was waist-deep in water. Anxious she heard a chair begin to float behind her, and it bumped her, and she made a splash. Lovejoy heard it and followed to her, but Jack tackled him and smashed his head into the window.

Fighting in knee-deep water, Jack got the upper hand, hit Lovejoy to a pillar, and punched him into the solar plexus, knocking him down with a smart rebuke. Jack and Rose ran into the pantry as Lovejoy followed. Rose was about to go upstairs into the Maids and Valets' Dining Saloon, but Jack pulled her down - a less obvious route.

Trapped on E-Deck[]

It was now 1:55AM. As they reached E-Deck, flooding with ankle deep water, they listened above to hear Lovejoy's footsteps recede. Meanwhile the ship is flooding ever faster. Then, Jack and Rose hear a little slovakian boy crying for his father in a rapidly flooding hallway, about 100 feet away. They hesitate, seeing water beginning to pour down their escape route. If they go there will be trouble, if they stay it will be double.

Jack and Rose run towards him and attempt to rescue and save him, seeing the forward door start to buckle, but his father finds them in that area and finally grabs his son, pushing Jack away, shouting angrily at him, not knowing the latter's good intentions. Jack and Rose try to warn the man not to go into the direction of a certain set of doors that is under pressure from a lot of water on the other side, and they also see the current of water sweeping down the stairs to the pantry.

Seconds later, the two doors burst open and water floods in a quick, powerful stream through the hallway, killing the Slovakians instantly. Jack and Rose stumbled into a side corridor, as Jack told her to run. Despite their efforts, the water was too fast, and knocked them down in the shoulder-deep water. Jack and Rose are thrown against yet another bostwick gate. They have to climb along the ceiling pipes and wall paneling to get to the next staircase up.

In neck-deep water, they escape E Deck; but cannot ascend to D Deck; due to yet another Bostwick gate. They call for help and see the water a mere three steps from where they are standing, rising rapidly. As water begins to flood where they are standing, they hear their only hope of escape - a terrified steward; with keys; who tries to move up, but then, feeling guilty, jumps back down into the knee-deep torrent to help.

The steward tries to open the gate, but he is too nervous and; with the wet water already submerging his hands, he slips drops the keys into the waist-deep rising water. Filled with fear, he apologizes and makes himself scarce, despite the pleas for help. Jack searches for them underwater and finds them, he struggles to open the gate with the keys not going on or becoming stuck. Right up against the ceiling, he finally manages to get it unlocked, seconds before the hallway floods completely. Jack and Rose make their way to C Deck, pulling up the half-submerged stairs. It is now past 2 A.M. and A Deck had begun to flood up ahead. As they climbed the many stairwells, Jack called for Rose to keep going up.

Goodbyes to Thomas Andrews[]

While on their way back, Jack and Rose run into a catatonic Mr. Andrews, alone in the deserted First Class Smoking Room, who has chosen to stay there and not save himself. He wishes her luck, apologizes for not building a stronger ship, gives her a life jacket, and they hug to say goodbye. By the time they reach the Aft Well Deck, nearly all lifeboats have been launched and the water has reached the forward Boat Deck, pushing the bridge underwater and forcing the stern to rise out of the water.

Final moments on Titanic[]

They decide to stay on the ship as long as possible and head to the Poop Deck. As they make their way "up" the stern, it continues to rise out of the water. There, they met the drunk head baker of the Titanic, Charles Joughlin, who pulled Rose up. Nearby was a priest giving absolutions. Another man was praying. A woman shushed her child. Helga was also nearby, as well as the Master at Arms. Eventually the ship is sticking out at such a steep angle that anyone not holding on to something slides down the deck. Jack and Rose hold onto the stern railing as the ship continues to rise out of the water. Soon, at 2:18 A.M., the lights go out and the pressure causes the ship to split into two pieces. The stern end shortly falls back, but moments later is pulled into the air, sticking out of the water at a ninety degree angle, and it sinks into the water at 2:20 A.M.

After the sinking[]

Promise to Jack Dawson[]

In the water, Jack finds Rose as a man tried to climb atop her to survive, and Jack punched him to death. Jack leads Rose to a floating piece of wreckage from the Lounge in the water that she floats on. As they do, a man begged for a spot on the raft.

While he freezes in the water, Jack makes Rose promise that she will survive, and never let go. Later, she sees the light of a flashlight from a lifeboat attempting to find survivors. She attempts to wake Jack, but soon realizes that he has died. At first she begins to cry and stays with him. However, she remembers the promise she made to Jack, and after forcing his frozen hand from hers and kissing him one last time, she says, "I'll never let go. I promise." She lets go of him and watches as he sinks into the abyss, then jumps into the ocean and swims over to the body of one of the officers. She uses the whistle to call the lifeboat to save her.

Rescued; by Harold Godfrey Lowe[]

Becoming Rose Dawson[]

She is one of the only six people picked up by the lifeboat, which was the only one to come back. While on the RMS Carpathia, she sees Cal, who is looking for her desperately. She hides her face in the blanket just as Cal looks over. He doesn't see her and walks away. That is the last time she ever sees him. In New York, a steward asked for her name, she gave it as Rose Dawson. She then discovered she still had the La Couer De La Mer in her pocket.

Later life[]

Marriage and happy life[]

On arriving in New York, she takes Jack's last name when asked by a steward by calling herself Rose Dawson. She goes on to do everything that she had promised Jack she would do (e.g. riding astride a horse on the beach, going to Santa Monica Pier, flying a plane) and so forth. Rose becomes an actress during the 1920's and gets married to Mr. Calvert by moving to Cedar Rapids and they have children, but she'll never forget Jack.

Recounting her story[]

Calling Brock Lovett[]

By 1996, she lives with her granddaughter Lizzy Calvert and her dog Freddy as well as her pet fish. When she sees a live news broadcast featuring Brock Lovett showcasing his discoveries from the Titanic's wreck, including her nude drawing on TV, Rose contacts him and informs him of the nude woman's identity. She and Lizzy are flown to the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh. The ship's crew give them a stateroom, where Lovett and his team return her possessions and the drawing. It is here where she tells her story to the crew of the research vessel.

Afterward, she goes to the stern of the ship and takes out the Heart of the Ocean, which she has kept all these years for Jack. Brock and Lizzie see her and rush over as well as Buell and Bodine. They try to reason with her as Rose drops it into the ocean, with Rose saying that Brock looks for treasure in the wrong places and it is important that he makes each day count. She lets Brock hold the diamond for a moment before Brock gives it back. Knowing that Jack is safe in her heart and that her heart will go on, she drops it into the water, with Bodine telling her that it really sucked. She walked back to her cabin as Brock laughed. The last shot of her as an old woman is seen while she is in her bed, supposedly sleeping.

Fate[]

At the very end of the movie, Rose is seen as a young woman of 17 again walking through the glorious ship and into the hallway where she is greeted by all the people who died on the ship and lastly with Jack himself, whom she kisses at the top of the staircase by giving way to thunderous applause.

Trivia[]

• Whether she is dreaming or has passed away at the end of the film, as Jack said she would remains unknown, as director, James Cameron comments, "it is to remain up to the viewer to decide whether Rose has passed away or is just dreaming".
• James Cameron based Rose DeWitt Bukater's socialite background and demeanor on a real person, the American artist Beatrice Wood. Some of the similarities with the movie character were the fact that Beatrice got very old, like Rose. Beatrice even was slightly older: no less than 105 years of age. Beatrice also never wanted to let a man control the way she lived her life. She had illustrated her autobiography in a book, "I Shock Myself". According to Cameron; Bill Paxton's wife had loaned him a copy of this book. As he had started reading it, he realized that; the first chapter describes almost literally the character that; he was already writing for "Older Rose".
• Coincidentally, a passenger on the real-life Titanic also bore the name Rose and was listed among the First Class passengers on the manifest. But unlike the film character, who was a socialite, the real Rose was named as Rose Amelie Icard and was a Frenchwoman serving as a maid to the Stone family, who were Americans and also traveling First Class. She and the Stones were counted as among the survivors of the disaster. Cameron possibly based the character's First Class travel on Rose Amelie Icard.

Gallery[]

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Media Films: Titanic (1953) • Titanic (1997) Characters Historical: Thomas Andrews • Captain Edward John Smith • Margaret Brown • William Murdoch • Charles Lightoller • James Moody • Henry Wilde • Robert Hichens • Frederick Fleet • Joseph Bell • Jack Phillips • Joseph Boxhall • Reginald Lee • J. Bruce Ismay • George Rowe • Frederick Barrett 1953 film: Richard Ward Sturges • Julia Sturges • Gifford "Giff" Rogers • Annette Sturges • Maude Young • George S. Healey • Earl Meeker • Sandy Comstock • Norman Sturges 1997 film: Rose DeWitt Bukater • Jack Dawson • Caledon Hockley • Fabrizio De Rossi • Thomas Ryan • Ruth DeWitt Bukater • Spicer Lovejoy • Helga Dahl • Olaf Dahl • Mrs. Dahl • Lizzy Calvert • Brock Lovett Transportations Titanic • Carpathia Locations Southampton Songs My Heart Will Go On Objects The Heart of the Ocean • Butterfly Hair Comb