Jack & Rose met and fell in love and had a relationship which lasted less than 5 days. Jack had no money, drifted around the world without a care, living off his earnings from his paintings. Rose was raised in affluent surroundings, wanted for nothing and was used to the finer things in life. My question. Rose obviously did all the things that she and Jack talked about, but would this still have happened, had he survived?

-- Peter Edmead (peter.edmead@employment.gov.au), February 05, 1998

Answers

Peter

I love the romanticism of the movie, but that's just what it is - romanticism. I'd like to think that Jack & Rose would live happily ever after but realistically I doubt it. To quote from another movie "Relationships based on intense experiences, never last". I'd have to agree with that analogy.

-- Jennifer Reynolds (jenny.reynolds@deetya.gov.au), February 05, 1998.

Was it just romanticism? or did Jack and Rose have something that went deeper than that?

To go through what they went through that night would (had they both survived) only have made their relationship stronger. Also were they 'in love' or did they have an understanding that took their relationship beyond this 'the ultimate love' perhaps? Remember that Jack 'sees people for who they are' couple this with Rose's strong character and it is possible that their relationship would have lasted.

I appreciate the problems in answering this question though, especially when you start asking yourself whether Rose did all these things she did during her life in memory of Jack or for her own sake? and whether her memories were built on Jack's ultimate sacrifice for her such that she wanted to live her life as Jack would have lived it - to make it count? Maybe she felt she had to and could do the things she did because when Jack died his spirit for life passed over to Rose right there on that piece of wood (they were frozen together if memory serves) strengthening and galvanising her character?

I think in our collective hearts of hearts, the question 'Do you want Jack and Rose to live happily ever after' would be so misplaced as to be an absurdity. But whether this could have happened is another question altogether.

On this basis, I am not really able to come to a conclusion, it's the classic lawyer's paradox: I know what I want, and I know what the people want to believe, but does the evidence support it?

-- Simon (ia501060@ntu.ac.uk), February 05, 1998.

What a wonderful answer, Simon! I'd like to think that Rose lived for both of them. For her because that was her dream. For Jack because that was what he wanted her to do.

-- Rose (rose364@earthlink.net), February 05, 1998.

Jack taught Rose the meaning of personal freedom, and the thing is once you give someone freedom they are free even from you if they want to be. Rose did what Rose wanted from the moment she was rescued and living life on your own terms is a life well lived. I don't know if they would have been together forever, but nothing is forever, and life experience is what counts. The love between them however, would have continued, in some form, no matter what.

-- Lianne (liannegraham@one.net.au), February 06, 1998.

Lianne, I agree with you. I think that Jack was exactly what Rose needed. Rose had an independent spirit which rebelled against the nothion that she had to do what was expected of her. Having to marry to satisfy her mother, because she was a women, was anathema to her. Jack's death, coupled with her awakening of what Cal was really like, cut all those obligatory ties, and she did exactly what she wanted to do. I seem to recall that Cal had put quite a few bundles of 20 pound notes in his jacket pocket together with the Diamond before he put it on her shoulders. Rose would have had the cash to do what she wanted. As for living happily ever after, who knows? They both had independant spirits, but I would like to think that they would have survived.

-- Peter Edmead (peter.edmead@employment.gov.au), February 06, 1998.

I think it really depends on several factors. It depends on how much Rose has been really changed by her love to Jack. They had no money at all, but she had a good name to put it to some use. It was 1912 and WWI was coming 5 years ahead. Jack could have died in the war. Or return handicaped. They could have changed in time. But it also depends how you are willing to approach this question, whether you do it with your mind or with your heart. Considering that Rose already took such a great risk of separating (escaping) from her world, she might have gone all the way. Which means that, given some luck, they could have ended happy, but probably poor. I can see her fighting to adjust herself to a new life she never knew, while Jack working like hell to support her (and some babies). I hope it would not have been as in "Jude", if you've seen that powerful drama.

-- Dan Draghici (ddraghic@ccs.carleton.ca), February 06, 1998.

Something no one seems to have taken into account is that at that time in history, couples who married usually stayed together the rest of their lives. (Likely that they would have married shortly after the disaster, no?) Sure, they would have had their problems as most do. But I think they had demonstrated a potential for a lasting bond. They both loved art and craved adventure, each risked his/her life saving the other, and it was also clear that neither seemed like the unfaithful type. Yes, the circumstances under which they met are unlikely, but they had perhaps the most convincing chemistry I've seen in a movie romance.

-- Bob Gregorio (rgregori@pacbell.net), February 08, 1998.

I'd like to think that Jack and Rose would have lived happily ever after, but it's doubtful. Sure they most likely would hae stayed together always, but the ways they were brought up were so drastically different. But maybe Rose could have learned to live with less money than she was used to. ;)

-- Allison (allisonelizabeth@mb.sympatico.ca), February 08, 1998.

I too believe that Jack and Rose would have lived happily ever after (call me a hopeless romantic), but I feel that these two people were not just "drawn" to each other to have a short affair on the Titanic, and for it to even end, had they got to New York without the ship sinking. I believe that Jack and Rose were "drawn" together because they were "souls mates" and they knew it. Rose told Jack that she was leaving with him when the got to New York, because "it feels right", I don't think she was the kind to just act spontaneous and deal with the consequences later. She "knew" that Jack was the one for her. If that were not true, she would not have lived for the next 84 years FOR JACK and his memory. She would not have kept her "promise", her secrets and the diamond till her death. I think the commitment she shows to LIVE A FULL LIFE FOR BOTH OF THEM, shows the kind of commitment she would have given him if he would have lived. This girl wasn't just leaving with anybody. She was smart, and she "knew" that she had been missing something her whole life, and she found it on Titanic....JACK.

-- Caron (bianchi@iserv.net), February 08, 1998.

If Jack had survived, he would have been facing charges of theft. Hockley no doubt had the means to see that Jack would go to prison. I could see where Jack would get a long stretch in the pen, while Rose becomes increasingly impatient waiting for him to get out. The final result could have been a permanent estrangement. Not very romantic, I'm afraid. :( Then again, they could have escaped Cal and simply vanished, to live (hopefully) happily ever after.

-- Bobby (bfugitt@muw.edu), February 13, 1998.

I'm also a hopeless romantic, and I really like to believe Jack and Rose would have lived happily ever after. I love all your answers, and the thing I believe is that Jack and Rose where in fact soul mates, like some of you already said. 'When you jump, I jump', remember? Some people are just made for each other. Sure, it wouldn't be easy for them, I don't say it would, but I know they would make it through alright, with passion, love and understanding. Jack and Rose let me see a part of live that I never knew before. And I'm thankfull for that. I'm thankfull for getting a ticket into the Titanic and their lives...

-- Robin Cordes (Robje_Writer@hotmail.com), September 03, 2004.

No matter what happened, nothing on earth would have been able to come between them and their love. That love was all they needed to be happy. Even if they had to beg thier bread, they still would have been happy, and Rose knew that when she said "when this ship docks, im getting off with you." Jack was her whole world, and nothing else mattered.

-- Rachel Walker (mfwalker@erols.com), September 04, 2004.