J I Cohen

25th Apr 2004

Titanic (1997)

Question: One person asked about Rose and Cal's "love life" which was answered with something about it being "active". Surely, Rose should have been pregnant by then if they had slept together quite a few times?

Answer: Condoms have been in use since the 1850's. Assuming Cal and Rose practiced safe sex there's no reason to believe she should have become pregnant.

Answer: The dialogue implies that they had not had sex yet. Cal tells her "There is nothing I would deny you, if you would not deny me." So it sounds like Cal is trying to convince Rose to have sex prior to their marriage. But Rose does not lose her virginity until she and Jack get busy in the car. However, IF they had been engaging in pre-marital sex, condoms were widely available in 1912, as were diaphragms; and there were other methods that, while maybe not as effective as modern methods, were better than nothing: Withdrawal before ejaculation, and intercourse at infertile times in a woman's cycle (see http://www.plannedparenthood.org/library/birthcontrol/020709_bchistory.html). Also, she could have just been lucky.

J I Cohen

There are implications that Rose and Cal were intimate, such as when Cal says, "I had hoped you would come to me last night," and "You are my wife my practice if not yet by law."

When Cal says, "if you would not deny me," I think he means her melancholy attitude toward the wedding. He knows that she is not totally enthusiastic.

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