Michael Albert

Answer: According to the traditions of Anglo-Saxon cultures, a double surname is heritable, and mostly taken in order to preserve a family name which would have become extinct due to the absence of male descendants bearing the name. This is often connected to the inheritance of a family estate. In the case of Rose Dewitt Bukater, Dewitt is likely a name handed down from previous generations, and was probably the surname (sometimes referred to as a "double barreled" surname) shared by her father. Other notable people with double-barreled surnames include Kristen Scott Thomas, Helena Bonham Carter, and Sacha Baron Cohen.

Michael Albert

Answer: The wealthiest members of society, in 1912 and still today, are simply treated differently. It is a certainty that creditors would give a good measure of leeway to the recent widow of a man with a certain position in society, particularly a member of an "old money" family. It is entirely possible that collection on debts had been attempted, and Ruth Dewitt Bukater was able to delay and obfuscate. Her desperation to marry off Rose to Caledon Hockley suggests the wolves may very well have been at the door, or were getting close.

Michael Albert

Chosen answer: The corpse of the woman in a white flowing dress appears to be floating under the great dome (the light behind her) that was above the grand staircase of the first class foyer. This is the same area Rose and Jack meet at the clock after dinner and before the party below decks. It is also the same area where we see the spirits of Jack and Rose meet at the end of the film, near the clock. There's a chance it might be the 1st class lounge. The room where Rose was watching the little girl have tea and her mother talked about the invitations for the wedding. You can see the room once more when the passengers retreat back to it instead of getting into the boats because it was too loud and cold outside. I don't believe we are meant to know, specifically, who the woman was, nor did she seem to have any significance but to create an artistic shot of the calm of death juxtaposed with the panic of those still alive above deck just before the ship splits into two pieces.

Michael Albert

Chosen answer: Even though Rose repeatedly spurned Cal's affections in favor of Jack, Cal still maintained feelings of love and devotion for her. Cal did, with Jack's help, encourage Rose into a lifeboat in order that she might be saved. In the process, he told her that he had an arrangement with a ship's officer for another boat in another part of the ship which he and Jack could board. But that was a lie. He never had any intention of helping Jack. Jack had already surmised that Cal was lying, but played along in order to help convince Rose to save herself. Cal revealed the truth to Jack as the boat was being lowered. It seems Cal believed (or hoped) that once Jack was out of the picture, Rose would become the kind of wife he desired. However, after Rose abandons the lifeboat, and returns to the Titanic, Jack runs after her so they can live or die together. At that point, it finally becomes obvious to Cal that he will never have her. In his rage and jealousy, he lays chase, and unsuccessfully attempts to shoot them with his manservant's gun as they disappear into the flooding dining room.

Michael Albert

Answer: I believe the chase was also an ingenious way for Cameron to show flooding in various parts of the luxury areas that had previously been shown in its opulence, a good juxtaposition.

Answer: Jack's arm wasn't actually attached to the door. His hand and Rose's hand were frozen in a grasp. In order to swim to the dead officer to extract the whistle from his mouth, Rose had to pry her hand and Jack's hand apart. She releases him to the water, promising to "never let go" [of life] as she, ironically, lets go [of Jack]. Had she not done so, she never could have saved herself swimming with Jack's dead body in tow.

Michael Albert

Chosen answer: Because she is considered, in a minor sense, a "villain" in this film for forcing her daughter into a loveless arranged marriage to satisfy her personal wants, most fans probably speculate that she became a poor and penniless seamstress and lived out her life working in a factory. Of course, this is possible, without the financial security of the arranged marriage between Cal and Rose. However, it is difficult to believe that a woman of such status, and who has so many wealthy and powerful friends, would be allowed to languish in abject poverty doing menial labors. I would tend to believe that she probably sold a number of her possessions for money (she did mention that as part of the humiliation she would face if Rose were to refuse Cal's affections), and probably lived off the kindness of others. Given that her daughter was betrothed to a Hockley, his family might have felt an obligation to assist her in finding a suitable living arrangement and a situation for employment. It is also possible that she re-married into wealth. However, this is more unlikely, mainly because back in 1912, it was considered scandalous to re-marry, especially at Ruth's age. However, since Ruth does not make an appearance after surviving the sinking of the Titanic in a lifeboat number 6 (next to Molly Brown), nor is she mentioned again, her fate is left unknown and subject only to speculation.

Michael Albert

Answer: I've wondered that too. I think it was easier to find out what happened to Cal because she said "it was in all the papers." As for her mother, it likely would have only been in the papers local to where she lived when she passed away. This was in an era before television and of course way before the internet. So I think the only way Rose would have been able to keep track of her mom would have been to live in the area or do some investigation. It seems unlikely she wanted to do either one, especially since it would have 'given it away" that Rose had survived in the first place. I agree with the other statements that Cal would have felt obligated to take care of her, and that the people she owed money to would have tried to collect on it as it would have been in "bad form" under the circumstances.

Answer: Her mother's big problem was a heap of debts. It would have looked badly on the debt collectors to go hovering around her after what was assumed to have happened, and in a society where one's reputation was valued highly. They probably simply gave her a degree of debt forgiveness in her bereavement, then Cal, insurance, and even her Mother herself taking a second (rich) husband could've taken care of what was left.

dizzyd

Answer: Though not a requirement of maritime law, it was a matter of historical codes of chivalry that, in life threatening situations where limited numbers of life-saving resources were available, the lives of women and children were to be saved first. That was captain Smith's order the night the RMS Titanic sank. Some of the crew interpreted this to mean "women and children only." Thus, several of the lifeboats were launched only partially full, as men were prevented from occupying empty seats even when all nearby women and children had been boarded. The rescue efforts on the Titanic were further hampered by the fact that, initially, many of the passengers thought that the launching of lifeboats was unnecessary precaution, as the Titanic was thought unsinkable. The night air was cold. The lifeboats seemed uncomfortable. Thus, many preferred to stay on board the ship until reality of the magnitude of the situation became more evident and panic began to set in. Many of the men who survived in lifeboats, like White Star Line chairman Bruce Ismay, were branded cowards upon return to shore, even though many of them occupied seats that would have otherwise gone unused.

Michael Albert

Answer: Furthermore, the "Code of Conduct" would put many boats in the water without anybody being able to row them.

Answer: Mr. Lovett and his crew on the salvage ship "Keldysh" would have no rights to the necklace. The rightful owner of the jewelry would be whichever insurance company paid out on the financial claim filed by Cal Hockley, unless their money was returned. A case could be made that Rose DeWitt Bukater Dawson Calvert is, in a sense, guilty of a crime since she knowingly allowed a false claim to be made. However, prosecution would be moot as she ultimately profited nothing from the claim, nor ownership of the diamond. And Hockley filed the insurance claim in good faith, unaware the necklace was on dry land, as he presumed Rose and the diamond went down with the ship. I do thank you for your question, though. It finally presents me with a logical reason why Rose would keep the diamond's existence a secret all of these years.

Michael Albert

Answer: Even though one might say she should have sold it to support herself, if you think it through, she knew if she tried to do so she would have been hunted down and Can then would know she had lived and thereafter never let her go. Also, the diamond was so rare and valuable even on the black market it would have been next to impossible to find a buyer who would touch it, knowing they would be implicated, and Rose knew it would have led straight back to her.

Answer: There are several on-line references to the recovery of musical instruments salvaged in a steamer trunk belonging to one Howard Irwin, in addition to some playing cards, a diary, and a bundle of letters from his girlfriend Pearl Shuttle, who had died of pneumonia one year earlier. It was first thought that Irwin, a musician and professional gambler, had boarded the ship under a false identity. There was no record of him being among the passengers, even though a ticket had been purchased for him. It turned out that he had stayed ashore but his trunk had been brought aboard the ship by his friend Henry Sutehall, who was among the victims of Titanic v. Iceberg. I have searched extensively (because you piqued my interest) for more detail regarding exactly what instruments were said to have been found, but I have uncovered no specifics.

Michael Albert

Chosen answer: The primary reason for the question is to prove to Brock that she is, in fact, Rose DeWitt Bukater. The insurance claim for the Heart of the Ocean diamond was paid under strict secrecy. As such, few people, including Rose, would even know of its existence. Another underlying reason might be as a private taunt. Rose sees Brock Lovett for who he is - an opportunist plundering the Titanic for riches. I imagine she finds him somewhat distasteful, so she amuses herself by asking a question to which (we all later discover) she knows the answer.

Michael Albert

Answer: "Valse Septembre" by Felix Godin.

Michael Albert

Answer: It was just a succinct, aspirational and poetic way of saying, "I will go wherever you take me, as long as we're together, an it's anywhere away from my hopelessly bleak and loveless existence." It's one of a few references they make to being together, wherever they go (with apologies to "Gypsy"). They sing the ditty "Up We Go." They say, "you jump, I jump." It also provides kind of an interesting foreshadowing and counterpoint to where they end up, souls knit, spending eternity together at the bottom of the sea. Obviously, it isn't literal.

Michael Albert

Chosen answer: "The Blue Danube Waltz" by Johann Strauss II.

Michael Albert