Character Analysis
In 1997-1998, every girl wanted to be Rose Dawson.
Sure, a lot of that had to do with the Leomania that was sweeping the nation. Rose Dawson was a (fictional) girl who got to lock lips with Leo and canoodle with him in the back of a Model T.
But even after the phenomenon of Leomania died down, new generations of girls watching Titanic for the first time still wanted to be just like Rose.
And we think that's fantastic. Because Rose is more multi-faceted than a blue diamond.
Part of the depth of her character comes from the fact that she changes more throughout the film than any other character. (Unless you're counting the Titanic as a character—it doesn't get more changetastic than the move from "fanciest ocean liner ever" to "hunk of creepy metal at the bottom of the ocean.")
When we get our first glimpse of her, we think we've got her figured out: she's wealthy and beautiful, and she's got a hot fiancé. In short, she has it all.
Or she would have it all, if being a bored housewife were all she aspired to. But Rose is no flower to be stuck in a vase and admired. She wants to write her own destiny.
Poor Little Rich Girl
In an early conversation with Jack, Rose half-jokingly calls herself a "poor little rich girl," acknowledging that her new friend might have trouble believing that she has any problems at all. (No one believed in the gospel of mo money mo problems back in 1912.)
However, she lets him in on the secret: she's freaking miserable. In fact, when she first met Jack, she was trying to get up the nerve to throw herself off the back of the boat—that's how desperate she was to escape her life.
ROSE: Look, I know what you must be thinking. "Poor little rich girl. What does she know about misery?"
JACK: No, no, that's not what I was thinking. What I was thinking was, "What could have happened to this girl to make her think she had no way out?"
ROSE: Well, I…It was everything. It was my whole world and all the people in it. And the inertia of my life. Plunging ahead and me powerless to stop it.
Okay, that sounds bad…but it also sounds a wee bit nebulous. What exactly are Rose's problems?
The drama in Titanic doesn't stop, not even in its backstory. Rose's father lost the family fortune and then died, leaving Rose and her mom with massive debts. As far as her mother is concerned, marrying Cal is the best way to solve that problem.
Unfortunately, Cal's personality ranges from "snob" to "sociopathic jerkface." Even on his good days, Cal's only interested in having Rose around as arm candy—he doesn't want her to be the thinking, feeling, dynamic person that she is. So, when the movie begins, Rose's best-case scenario is a life of dull conversation and sitting around.
No wonder she thinks that a deadly dip into the Atlantic sounds like a preferable option.
Lady in Red
The color red has a lot of romantic and sexual connotations (just walk into a CVS in the weeks before Valentine's Day), so it seems fitting that Rose is more red-iful than Melisandre.
Not only is Rose named Rose—subtle, James Cameron—but she would probably tie with Merida in a "Best Curly-Haired Fictional Ginger" contest.
But all of this fire is subdued until the night Rose meets Jack…and just happens to be wearing a flaming red dress. Jack brings all kinds of passion—sexual and otherwise—into Rose's life.
Sure, she's resistant at first. She wants to be a good girl and do her part to rescue the family from poverty…but before you know it, she's running around the ship with Jack learning to spit like a man, having sex in cars, dancing, drinking, and speaking her mind to Cal.
Oh, and she also has Jack draw her naked wearing only a necklace that Cal gave her, and leaves the picture and necklace in the safe, accompanied with a sick burn:
ROSE'S NOTE: Darling, now you can keep us both locked up in your safe.
The message is clear: nobody puts Baby in a safe.
Unfortunately, Rose's new spunky attitude gets only the briefest of test drives before some bigger problems come down the pike. Pretty soon after she and Jack cement their romance with a little backseat lovemaking, the Titanic hits an iceberg.
Lady in the Water
With the crisis, we really get to see how much Rose has grown in the short time she's known Jack. When Cal and Lovejoy cook up some bogus charges to get Jack arrested, it doesn't take Rose long to realize—without being told—that Jack was not guilty.
She seems to come to this realization while watching Cal and her mother being unbearable snobs while trying to make their way into lifeboats:
RUTH: Will the lifeboats be seated according to class? I hope they're not too crowded.
ROSE: Oh, Mother. Shut up. Don't you understand? The water is freezing and there aren't enough boats...not enough by half. Half the people on this ship are going to die.
CAL: Not the better half.
MOLLY: Come on, Ruth, get in the boat. First class seats are right up here.
CAL: You know, it's a pity I didn't keep that drawing. It'll be worth a lot more by morning.
ROSE: You unimaginable bastard.
She leaves them to go find Jack, and puts herself at great risk going below deck to save him.
Unfortunately, Rose and Jack spend the rest of the movie trying to rescue each other/themselves, but both eventually go down with the ship. Rose ends up clinging to a floating door, while Jack dangles in the water.
Jack takes the opportunity to remind Rose of the importance of not giving up (remember how they met?):
JACK: You must do me this honor. You must promise me that you'll survive. That you won't give up, no matter what happens, no matter how hopeless. Promise me now, Rose, and never let go of that promise.
ROSE: I promise.
JACK: Never let go.
ROSE: I will never let go, Jack. I'll never let go.
Ugh. We still know that there was room on that door.
But it's a good thing that Jack gives Rose a pep talk, because Rose is about to face another huge challenge, this time solo. When Jack turns into a Jacksicle, Rose is devastated. Even though there's a lifeboat nearby, it seems like Rose is so plunged into grief that she can't think about rescuing herself.
But she comes to her senses, repeats her vow to Jack as she releases his body into the water, and gets the attention of the passing lifeboat. She is saved.
Apparently, she never talks about Jack to anyone again—even the man she later marries.
At the end of the film, we see Rose asleep in her bed as the camera pans over a series of photos. The display shows us that Rose lived the full, adventurous life that Jack had wanted for her—she "made it count," to use his words. It actually appears that she dies in that moment, as warm and cozy in her bed as Jack predicted.
Lady in White
The film ends with a P.O.V. shot roaming through the halls of the Titanic, which has been magically restored to its former self. The view is revealed as Rose's perspective, and we see her dressed all in white as she approaches Jack through throngs of other lost Titanic passengers.
The other passengers watch and applaud as Jack and Rose kiss. Given the white dress, it's almost like it's Rose's wedding…
Rose's Timeline