Since Titanic is such a monster of a film containing so many pieces, I've decided to focus my analyzation on Rose's character and her attitude for that time period. Making this my focus I feel it's right to redefine my Pentad.
ACT: Rose's journey from snooty little rich girl to an actual person. Rose becomes a revolutionary woman for her time period. From the beginning of the film she bucks against the strict system she has been placed in since birth. Through the film we see her constantly breaking her family's rules and the strict upper-class societal roles of the time period by fraternizing with Jack. We see Rose fall in love with him as the movie goes on and by the end we witness Rose as a new woman. She gives up her wealthy background and lives life doing the things she spoke of but never dreamed of doing with jack. At the end of the movie we see all of Rose's pictures on her dresser giving the notion that Jack's presence in her life gave her the power to break away from her family and truly live.
SCENE: The scene takes place mostly on the R.M.S. Titanic. However, the movie changes from 1912 to 1997 periodically throughout the movie. The scene is Rose's life, starting on the Titanic and ending in her room in 1997.
AGENT: Many of the characters interact with Rose, however, since my focus is Rose's change, I would say the women of her life are the main people involved. Her mother, her mothers friends, as well as Cal her fiance and Jack her love interest. All of these people lead her to change her personality throughout the film. Rose's role starts out as being her family's only chance at keeping their wealthy name. She is to be married to Cal, a man with a very wealthy background and a good provider for rose and her family. Her role slowly moves into being her own woman and independent. By the end of the film she has captured that independence.
AGENCY: Rose's demeanor changes drastically throughout the film. In the beginning of the film she is proud and bratty. She talks down to others and assumes her status by being rude and upsetting to everyone she comes into contact with. She acts this way because she has been taught to. She starts to question the meaning of her life and realizes that she is a pawn being played to maintain her families wealth. She starts to rebel against her status and by meeting jack she lets her hair down so to speak and becomes a more laid back and understanding person.
PURPOSE: Rose's character and purpose is to show women that they don't have to be told what to do in any society. Women are capable of making their own decisions and not living just for the enjoyment of the men around them. Rose chooses love over money when the boat is sinking and she joins Jack instead of Cal. She risks her own life to express her love and the fact that she is not owned by anyone. For the time period her decision is groundbreaking and stands to show that women have choices and the ability to make the one they want.
I didn't define the themes of Transcendence, Mortification, or Victimage in my last post so I'll do that now as they are easily shown in the film.
TRANSCENDENCE: Rose transcends in the film by breaking all of her mother's and finace's rules. She also bucks aginst the societal role of being a woman in the time period by "hanging out" with Jack. I think the scene that most shows her transcendence is when her mother is asking her to get on the life boat and she decides instead to jump out of the boat and go with Jack. In this instance she is going against everything and everyone by defying everyone but herself. She chose to do what she wanted.
MORTIFICATION: One instance of Rose's mortification is well exemplified in the scene where she rescues Jack from the locked room. Cal and his body guard set Jack up by putting the diamond necklace into his coat pocket. They took him to a holding cell, handcuffed him to a pipe and hid the key. Rose, at first was shocked and believed that because of Jacks background and stolen coat that he was in fact guilty of committing the crime. When she arrives to get Jack out of his predicament she expresses how sorry she is for not believing him and how stupid she was for even considering he was what Cal and his guard had painted him to be.
VICTIMAGE: The only aspect of victimage I can identify from Rose's perspective is her mother. In the scene where Rose is at tea with the women and her mother she observes a little girl being taught how to sit straight in her chair. At this moment Rose realizes that her mother is to blame for her societal views and Rose could care less how much money her and her family have. She doesn't like the way people of wealth treat others and how they map out their childrens' life based on money. Life isn't monetary, it's life.
PAPER OUTLINE:
Introduction: 1. A few sentences on the Titanic.
2. Who made the film
3. What scale was the film made
4. About the film
5. Why was the film made?
6. What's the historical background
7. Thesis Statement (focus on Rose)
8. Pentad
Body:1. Act, topic sentence, examples
2. Scene, topic sentence, examples
3. Agent, topic sentence, examples
4. Agency, topic sentence, examples
5. Purpose, topic sentence, examples
Conclusion:
1. Restate why Rose is standing up for women
2. Restate the importance of her character
3. Restate what she does for the time period
4. State effects this has on audiences
5. Call to action, what does it tell you and what should you do about it?
INTRODUCTION:
The RMS Titanic was known mistakenly as the "unsinkable ship". The Titanic was the first ship of it's kind and exuded a majestic elegance to it's 2,223 passengers. Upon it's maiden voyage in April of 1912 the ship tragically struck an iceberg resulting in the death of 1,517 passengers. In 1997 James Cameron set off on attempting to make a visionary masterpiece which recalled the events of the evening almost 100 years ago. The storyline intermixed modern day with the memory of one of the passengers. This passenger came to be known as Rose Dewitt Bukater played by the lovely Kate Winslet. Her character fell in love with a Mr. Jack Dawson, the dreamy role of none other than Leonardo Dicaprio. The film took audiences back in time to the glorious magnitude that was aboard the RMS Titanic. None so glorious than the blossoming love story between Rose and Jack. While many assume the two characters were added into the Titanic's history for Hollywood reasons, I tend to disagree. Although many view Rose's character as the romantic counterpart to a fictional love story, through deep Burkian Theory and pedtadic analysis we can prove the director's painted her to be a voice to a generation as well as an active feminist woman for her time period.
