Теория языка | Филологический аспект №11 (31) Ноябрь, 2017

УДК 81

Дата публикации 06.11.2017

Лингвистические средства социокультурной харастеристики Роуз Доусон из кинофильма Дж. Камерона «Титаник»

Kalizhanova Anna Nikolaevna
1-year Magistrate of Bashkir and Turkic Philology Sterlitamak branch of BashGU, Sterlitamak, Russia, ESL/EFL Teacher of Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication Department, Private Institution «Bolashak» Academy, Kazakhstan, Karaganda
Maryshkina Taissiya Vladimirovna
Master of Humanitarian Sciences ESL Teacher of Philology and Translation Department, KGU named E.A. Buketov, Kazakhstan, Karaganda

Аннотация: This article analyzes the personality of Rose Dawson, the leading figure of James Cameron's famous movie Titanic, by the use of the script’s contextual analysis that allowed revealing the basic socio and cultural characteristics, and language facilities, composed the image of the heroine, her assumptions, and relationships with surrounded her reality. The authors of the article conclude that Rose’s egocentrism and psychological immaturity prompted her and related to her people’s destiny.
Ключевые слова: Titanic, script, contextual analysis, socio and cultural characteristics, language facilities, personality, image, Rose Dawson, immaturity, egocentrism

Language facilities of sociocultural characteristics of Rose Dawson from James Cameron’s Movie Titanic

Rose Dawson’s image is recognized as the most attracting and engaging one in the movie Titanic because it immediately draws the attention of viewers, captivating people by its authenticity, credibility, brightness, and dynamism. Perhaps, the plot of the movie itself can be considered as a delicate work, popular among researchers regarding its analysis from different viewpoints. This article aims at a substantial contribution to the general bank of works devoted to the movie in its part of one of the leading heroes’ personalities’ analysis.

Rose, the main character of the movie, turns into entirely another person on our watch, changing her viewpoints, integrity, and values. However, she is not as innocent and confident as it can seem at first glance. The qualities, such as immaturity, egocentrism, conceit and sincere desire for independence prevent Rose from being content with her position in the high class. This statement can be proved by lexical analysis of the movie’s script, which lexical material makes it possible to evaluate not only the speech of the characters but also the features and emotional implication of their actions and the motives for these activities.

Methods of component analysis, of entire sampling of linguistic material and commentary of the right components, were applied in this study. As a result, selected lexical units allowed to conduct the semantic analysis to consider Rose from a different perspective.

For the very first minute, we can see young Rose as an ordinary high-society girl, who is ‘beautiful, regal of bearing, with piercing eyes’ [1, p.13]. She behaves like a real representative of the nobility, despised by her, having her maid, hustles behind them, ‘laden with bags of her mistress’s most recent purchases… things too delicate for the baggage handlers’ [1, p.14]. It provides the picture of Rose as the one who has been not used to hear ‘No’ from her early childhood.

Conversely, Caledon Hockley, Rose’s groom, is next to her being ‘handsome, arrogant, and rich beyond meaning’ [1, p.13]. It seems that Rose’s choice of future husband for Cal, a young and ambitious wealthy businessman, is not random because he represents everything a girl would dream about: youth, support, power, wealth, and fame. Only later we learn that Rose did not make a choice. She’s only a highest-quality merchandise, an ‘Edwardian geisha’ [1, p.55], that her mother, Ruth, wants to exchange for all the Cal’s wealth, power, and reputation.

Gradually it becomes clear that Rose is not as dull as we think. Moreover, she is a beast, locked in a cage, who cannot break through and feels ‘like black,’ ‘screaming inside,’ ‘slave ship,’ ‘chains,’ and ‘sense of overwhelming dread’ [1, pp.15-16]. All these lexical units have a negative pattern as if Rose’s hands were bound. There is a simple explanation for this: despite her age, Rose is emotionally dependent on her mother Ruth, ‘a widow, who rules her household with an iron will’ [1, p.13]. Analyzing Ruth’s speech, her manner of behavior and habits, we seem to be accustomed to commanding and criticizing her daughter. ‘You know I don’t like that, Rose,’ ‘My God, Rose, what’s gotten into,’ ‘You find that sort of rootless existence appealing, do you?’ ‘I forbid it!’ ‘Rose, get in the boat!’ [1, pp.23-80] – all these phrases show how Ruth pushes her daughter. Furthermore, the Bukaters are bankrupt; therefore, Ruth shifts all responsibility for their future to Rose, urging her not to be considered by her feelings, but only to obey Ruth and Cal, who is even worse than her mother because he used to command and spend with a free hand.

Cal’s actions are described as ones of a real possessor: ‘grabs’, ‘caress her neck and throat’, ‘gripping’, ‘SLAPS her’, ‘grabs her shoulders roughly’, ‘takes her by the arm, refusing to let her go’, ‘catches up to Rose’, ‘pushes rudely’ [1, pp.29-81]. Cal’s speech consists of immediate impressions with no way for interrogative intonation: ‘We’ll both have the lamb.’ ‘Look at me, you filth!’ ‘And we are royalty.’ ‘There’s nothing I couldn’t give you.’ ‘Open your heart to me, Rose!’ ‘You will never behave like that again!’ [1, pp.23-31]. Thus, both Ruth and Cal administer Rose and believe that she must obey.

However, Rose hates and does not want to obey; it’s not her nature at all, and her passionate desire for freedom resembles a teenage riot. Rose does not know what she wants, but she furiously despises the surrounded her world. ‘I saw my whole life as if I’d already lived it… an endless parade of parties and cotillions, yachts and polo matches… always the same narrow people, the same mindless chatter’ [1, p.25]. Even her suicide attempt, based on the thought like ‘I’ll show them! They’ll be sorry!’ looks foolish [1, p.35]. Rose does not notice other people’s troubles and concerns, accusing surrounding nobles of their dependence on financial well-being. Rose says, ‘Why can’t I be like you, Jack? Just head out for the horizon whenever I feel like it’ [1, p.40]. However, she does not know what she would like to do and where her place is.

Rose values such things as money, comfort, position in the society, and her noble blood. For instance, while walking along on the promenade deck, Rose asks Jack how it was possible to be so free, travel, achieve goals, and dream without money. For her, Rose, it is entirely unacceptable because only money, according to her, can provide people with absolute freedom.

Every time Rose is oppressed or forced to obey, she moves abruptly and rudely: ‘She jerks her arm away,’ ‘She storms away’ [1, p.25]. Rose is egocentric; she is not used to denying herself. In fact, Rose is not ready to give up her high position for the sake of freedom. She does ask permission like a well-bred girl, but she behaves as if she does not need permission at all: ‘question is rhetorical because she has already grabbed the book’ [1, p.36].

Her viewpoints are eccentric and scandalous; Rose has a high need to shock people and does not care what they think. Therefore, she does not share Cal’s concern about her reputation among the public. She enjoys the impression that produces on the people of the lower classes: ‘feeling cocky,’  ‘showing off’ [1, p.48]. It can be assumed, that Rose feels number two in their tandem with Cal, and it makes her furious. She is too arrogant to allow Cal be the leader in their future family; she does not understand why to be equal to him; therefore, she feels depressed because Cal is not the one to blindly obey her.

Their relationships do not resemble the ones between Rose and Jack where Jack is a resource that feeds Rose’s ego so that she can break free. Unlike Cal, who decides for Rose even what she will eat and considers her to be ‘his’ as if she is a thing, not a person, Jack gives her all himself. Rose accepts his attention, but repeats his words this way: ‘I jump, you jump’ [1, p.70]. Here, leading ‘I’ is hers.

High-class up-bringing stops her from a riot, but she shows her real nature in front of the people of different origin. When Jack, “an impoverished American artist, who has wins his transatlantic passage back home” by playing poker [2], tries to save her, she orders without hesitation, she is rude and resolute; ‘Don’t presume to tell me what I will and will not do,’ ‘Go away’ [1, p.26]. She does not need to restrain herself, as in high society, and Rose’s affection can be explained by her obsession to be in the public eye and bask in popularity and glory.

An affair with Jack lets Rose kill two birds with one stone: be treated by Jack and his surroundings like a queen and shock her high society with her mother Ruth and her ambitious fiance Cal [3]. Jack supports Rose and says what she wants to hear. He indulges all her whims in sweeping all the boundaries for Rose: ‘If you let go I have to jump in after you,’ ‘you’re a strong, pure heart, and you’re the most amazingly astounding girl I’ve ever known’, ‘merge into one force of power and optimism, lifting her, buoying her forward on a magical journey’, ‘I’m sure we’re okay’, ‘We’re going to make it Rose’ [1, pp.26-68].

Unlike Cal, Jack lets her anything and chews her like a queen. With him, she dares to show rude gestures, yell at the mother and even quit everything. ‘Make it count’ [1, p.48] becomes the phrase of their rebellion. Jack encourages Rose to the very end: ‘Hold on just a little longer,’ ‘Keep swimming. Keep moving. Come one; you can do it’ [1, pp.109-110].

Apparently, Rose is like a vampire feeding on Jack’s love for her and his optimism. After Jack’s arrest, Rose loses his support and immediately weakens and stops resisting: ‘Rose is like a sleepwalker’ [1, p.75]. After seeing him dead, ‘all hope, will, and the spirit leaves her’ [1, p.114]. However, the memory of him fuels her assortment, and she survives.

In conclusion, Rose’s desire to steal the spotlight makes her somewhat cynical but charming character. Despite the tragic circumstances, she succeeds in the stage career and does not miss a chance to reveal the world her love story many years from Titanic shipwreck claiming that it was her conscious choice to live a life full of freedom [4]. Rose leaves her mother, not wanting to bear responsibility for their family. Has once tasted freedom with Jack, she prefers to be a beggar, rather than Cal’s ‘prize show horse’ [1, p.43]. Eventually, we see old Rose who manipulates people and almost ruins those who have invested in a project to investigate sunken Titanic just for a chance to tell her story and ‘to see my drawing’ [1, p.9]. How selfish of her!


Список литературы

1) Cameron. J. (1997). Titanic. A screenplay. Retrieved 2017, from http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Titanic.html
2) Depaoli, T. (2015). Did Rose Just imagine Things? Fan Theory Proposes that Titanic's Jack Wasn't Even Real. Retrieved 2017, from https://moviepilot.com/posts/2639676
3) Kelleher, E. (2004). Titanic. Retrieved 2017, from http://www.filmjournal.com/titanic
4) Roy, S. (2012) How I met the real Rose of Titanic. Retrieved 2017, from http://www.firstpost.com/living/how-i-met-the-real-rose-of-titanic-268159.html

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