Ruth DeWitt Bukater

**Ruth DeWitt Bukater** is the shrewd, society empress mother of Rose, ruling the household with an iron fist. She knew that. with her aristocratic name and the Hockley family fortune, arranging a marriage between her daughter and Cal would secure their future.

Ruth was every bit as intelligent as her daughter, she simply preferred to use her intellect to play a game of social politics to ensure her survival. A strategist, she did whatever was necessary -- even suppress her daughter’s happiness -- to see that she didn’t end up in the poor house.

After her husband died and left her and Rose completely bankrupt, Ruth's materialistic and gold-digging ways and snobby personality went to the extreme and targeted Cal for Rose so they could remain financially wealthy.

## **Personality and Traits**

Ruth adheres to what the social conventions of the time tell her is socially appropriate, and is eager to curtail her daughter’s driven behaviors by politely chastising her in public and reminding her of her own feelings on the matter (she tells Rose that she does not like her smoking and is a little offended when Rose defiantly refuses to put out her cigarette). She politely but firmly ostracizes Molly from her social group by turning her companions against her, because Molly is ‘new money’ and Ruth does not see her as desirable company (Molly is too loud, boisterous, and rude, in her mind). She judges Jack for going against the grain and having the lifestyle of a traveling artist with no roots or sense of belonging, and politely draws attention to this at the dinner table by informing everyone he is traveling in steerage. When her daughter protests at having to marry someone she does not love to save the family from ruin, Ruth uses emotional manipulation on her (“do you want to see all our fine things sold at auction? to see me working as a seamstress? ...We are women, we must do these things.”) In a strange show of detachment from reality, as the situation worsens on the *Titanic*, Ruth is more concerned with seating people according to class and utterly unrealistic about the boat sinking or that half the people on board are going to die. She willfully refuses to analyze the situation.

Ruth knows how the world works, and how to make her way in it; how you climb higher is through making an advantageous marriage, whether or not you love that person. She has a strong sense of social-class and status, which objects to Jack’s “rootless existence,” and wants him to remain in his place (and find a career and work, as men are *supposed* to do). She pulls on her own former experiences to explain what is happening in the present, showing a total detachment from reality in the midst of disaster (sending her maid back to her room to turn on the heater, worrying the lifeboats won’t be seated according to class, acting as if nothing has happened). Ruth implies she married without love for financial security, and expects her daughter will do the same thing (“We’re women...” implication: it’s what we must do). Even though Cal shows signs of being a bully, Ruth refuses to examine him with an entirely critical eye, possibly writing off his behavior as being typical of an upper-class aristocrat in that he may change in time (seeking positive possibilities). She fails to see why so few lifeboats are important, or the repercussions of the disaster as it unfolds. Yet, she senses big trouble in Jack’s appearance in their lives, and, fearful of what damage it might do, “tries to squash the bug.”

A desire to maintain her social standing and current high standard of life motivates all Ruth’s decisions, from pressuring her only daughter into a marriage she does not want to her underhanded tactics in trying to drive a wedge between her and Jack. She is fundamentally aware of her own high status and desperate to keep it, looking down on Jack for his lowborn life and also shunning Molly Brown, whose company she fears will make her seem more common, since she is *new money*. Ruth was able to put aside personal feelings to marry for status and security and expects Rose to do the same. She has a polite way of drawing attention to others’ low status, such as when she announced to the entire table that Jack is visiting them from Steerage this evening. Ruth can be manipulative, and angry that Rose is not generous to her in return for her kindnesses. (She resents the fact that Rose chose lavender, which she detests, for the bridesmaid dresses.)

## **Biography**

### **Early Life**

Ruth was born around the 1860s. Not much else is known about Ruth's early life, but it is known that she was born in high-society Pennsylvania. It is not known who her parents were, but they were most likely well off or extremely wealthy, because Ruth inherited much of their wealth as well as her husband's.

It is also unknown who Ruth's husband was, but it is known that she gave birth to his only daughter, Rose. When her husband died when Rose was still a child; Ruth claimed that he left them with nothing but a legacy of bad debts hidden by a good name. Rose and Ruth did not develop a very good, close relationship, however; when Rose was about 16, Ruth introduced her to Cal. And at 17, forced Rose into an arrange. Marriage for his money so Ruth could continue living the pampered life of luxury she was so used to.

### **Life On *Titanic***

In 1912, Cal and Rose boarded the RMS Titanic with Ruth. "*So this is the ship they say is unsinkable*," Ruth remarked as she boarded.

Ruth is seen numerous amounts of times throughout the movie pushing Rose around, forbidding her to smoke or even giving her a cold glare when she sees her spitting or displaying bad-manners and being un-ladylike.

At the dinner scene, Ruth attempts to humiliate Jack and viciously exposes him in a disguised manner as a steerage passenger in hopes of having him shunned by the other first class dinner guests who dined at the same table (though he dodges the insult with humor and avoids being offended by replying back to it with a joke) and even forbidding Rose from seeing him again after Rose was caught sneaking away to the third class section of the ship with Jake to a party to drink beer, dance and smoke (in case she runs off with him and leaves her penniless and poor).

The next day she severely scolds Rose, disapproving of her associating with Jack ever again, reminding Rose that Cal is a fine match for her, and that the money they once had is long gone and she must marry Cal to secure their future.

Once the ship accidentally hit an iceberg, Ruth was reluctant to get on a lifeboat, not realizing what great peril she was in. She said to Rose that she 'hoped there were first class seats' on the lifeboats, so she wouldn't have to sit next to any steerage, believing them to be inferior to her. Rose is angered by this comment, shouting at her mother that there are not enough life boats on the Titanic, and that half the people on this ship will die, and that she is behaving disgustingly in such unfortunate circumstances. Realizing the truth that Rose speaks, Ruth says nothing.

When Ruth gets on Lifeboat 6 she is seen to be shocked and scared when Rose runs away from the lifeboat to be with Jack instead (Rose simply telling Ruth goodbye mother, and never looking back). Ruth calls out for Rose to come back, but Rose either doesn't hear her or doesn't care anymore.

In the lifeboat, Ruth puts her hands over her ears to block out all the screams and shouts of the frightened people still stuck onboard, dying and freezing to death as the Titanic breaks in half and plunders into the ocean. In a deleted scene, she was last seen boarding the Carpathia. She has survived the disaster, but is led to believe that Rose is dead. A clearly heartbroken Ruth is seen looking for her daughter, likely realising she cared about her too late. Her character isn't seen again after this scene that didn't make the cut.

### **Aftermath**

It is unknown what happened to Ruth after the disaster. She is never shown or even heard of reuniting with her daughter. Although uncertain, it is highly possible that Ruth most likey never saw Rose again, due to Rose's hatred of her (which had intensified while aboard Titanic) and her changing her name to "Rose Dawson," likely to avoid being found by her or Cal (whom had also survived the Titanic sinking). This possibly led Ruth to believe that her daughter had died on the Titanic during its disaster, which was what everyone else also believed until the old Rose revealed herself as the girl who wore the diamond necklace in the drawing found nearly a century later.

Most fans speculate that she became a poor and penniless seamstress and lived out her life working in a factory. With is very *possible*, without the financial security of the arranged marriage between Cal and Rose.

It is, however, also just as possible that she re-married into wealth. However, since Ruth does not make an appearance after her survival, nor is mentioned again, her fate is left unknown.