Summary
- Rose's mother, Ruth, likely spent the rest of her life thinking her daughter was dead after the sinking of the Titanic.
- Ruth's future after the events of Titanic is uncertain, but she may have lived a lower-class lifestyle or found a way to sustain her status.
- It is possible that Ruth realized Rose was alive after the Titanic, but they may have chosen not to reunite due to their troubled relationship.
Rose DeWitt Bukater and her mother, Ruth, part ways in Titanic as the ship is sinking, but the movie never addresses what happens to Ruth later on. Rose and Ruth's relationship throughout the film is complicated. Rose's father is no longer in the picture, and as Ruth reminds her daughter while she's lacing her corset, all their money is gone. In an attempt to maintain their status in their upper-class circle, Ruth is set on Rose marrying Cal. Kate Winslet and Frances Fisher do an impeccable job bringing the tension between the characters to life, which leaves viewers rooting for Rose to break free.
Winslet cleverly delivers the line, "Goodbye mother," as Ruth is lowered into her lifeboat. Rose runs off to free Jack from being handcuffed to a pipe, and the film never sees Rose and Ruth reuniting. The present-day Titanic scenes let audiences know where Rose ends up, and the final moments of the film pan across images of all the things she does after the sinking of the Titanic. According to the photos, Rose honors Jack by going horseback riding at the Santa Monica pier. She also becomes an actress. Ruth's future is a little more uncertain — though it's pretty easy to predict where she ends up.
An Unused Titanic Scene Revealed Some Of Ruth's Fate
With Titanic's three-hour-plus run time, it's understandable that a few scenes had to be cut to prevent the movie from being any longer. However, one scene from the original script would have offered a little more insight into Ruth's fate. In the final cut of the film, Cal looks for Rose, but she hides away. He eventually gives up, and the two never see each other again. James Cameron's original script (via IMDb) reportedly sees Cal finding Rose. When he does, she tells him she doesn't want to be a part of his life.
Rose demands that Cal lie to her mother and tell her that Rose died on Titanic. While this still doesn't explain what Ruth's life is like after the sinking, it lets the audience know that she spends the rest of it believing her daughter is dead. This undoubtedly has a massive impact on her. Ruth likely lives in deep sorrow, wishing she had been kinder to Rose or that she had pulled her onto the lifeboat instead of watching her run off.
Ruth's Life After Titanic Would Be Very Different
In the Titanic scene where Ruth is lacing Rose's corset, she warns Rose that if she doesn't marry Cal, they will be poor. Ruth goes as far as to guilt-trip Rose by suggesting that if she doesn't follow the plan, she'll be left working as a seamstress. Unless Ruth is able to find a wealthy man of her own to marry, this fear very likely does become her future. In 1912, most lower-class women worked domestic jobs, becoming seamstresses or maids.
Ruth, who has Trudy Bolt cleaning up after Rose on the Titanic, likely finds herself in her shoes once Carpathia docks in New York. Ruth's desperation and hopelessness are evident in Titanic, meaning once she returns to land, she may give up and accept a lower-class lifestyle. However, Ruth is also pretty calculated. With that in mind, she may come up with a plan to sustain her lifestyle. While Ruth initially looks down on Molly Brown for being new money, she may wind up begging for the other woman's help when her plan to marry off Rose falls through.
Why Rose's Mother Must Have Realized She Was Alive After Titanic
While Cameron's 11-time Oscar-winning film flows beautifully from start to finish, Titanic isn't immune to plot holes. One of them involves Rose becoming an actress later in life, meaning Ruth would likely see her daughter in a film or two and realize she's alive. However, Titanic doesn't elaborate on how successful Rose's acting career is. Considering that Brock Lovett and Lewis Bodine don't know of her, she certainly doesn't become the next Marilyn Monroe.
She also changes her name to Rose Dawson after Titanic sinks. So, even if Ruth reads her name somewhere, she might not realize it's her daughter. Since Titanic doesn't offer every detail of Rose's post-Titanic life, it's possible they do reunite at some point. However, Rose makes the decision not to be in her mother's life because of how terribly she treats her as a young woman. Unfortunately, Titanic never confirms what really happens to Ruth — but without the knowledge of what happens to her daughter that fateful night, it's unlikely she lives a happy life.
Source: IMDb