Forbidden Love Transcending Through the Ages
William Shakespeare’s renowned play Romeo and Juliet has served as an inspiration and template for many works of art that have followed. One such piece was the 1997 film version of The Titanic. Romeo and Juliet are star crossed lovers who are forbidden to see each other because of a family feud between their respective families, the Montagues and the Capulets. After much deceit and grief, their story ends tragically with their deaths. The film The Titanic tells the story of a couple, Jack and Rose, who are similar to Romeo and Juliet. Jack and Rose are on board the maiden voyage of the ship the Titanic across the Atlantic Ocean. While on board, they fall in love but are separated by their social and economic classes. Both Romeo and Juliet and The Titanic tell the tale of two forbidden lovers who struggle to maintain their love even under great stress and consequences placed upon them by their families and position in society. Although these works of art have many similar themes such as forbidden love, they are told in different forms with different variables.
Both Romeo and Juliet and The Titanic used banishment as an attempt to keep the lovers away from each other. In an act of revenge, Romeo killed Tybalt who was Juliet’s cousin. As both a form of punishment, but more importantly a tool to keep peace amongst the citizens of Verona, Romeo is banished by the Prince. Juliet shows her sadness with, “It presses to my memory, like damned guilty deeds to sinners’ minds: ‘Tybalt is dead and Romeo banished.’ That ‘banished,’ that one word ‘banished,’ hath slain ten thousand Tybalts. Tybalt’s death was woe enough if it had ended there” (3.2 121–126). Juliet is admitting how tragic Tybalt’s death was, but even more tragic was having her lover banished for his acts. The fact that there is no possible way for her to see her lover is striking a chord and making her even more anxious and angry about their separation than before. Similarly, Rose’s lover Jack was also banished, but due to very different circumstances. It had recently been discovered that Jack and Rose were lovers and Rose’s current fiance Caledon was very displeased that Rose wanted to marry someone who was in a lower social class than himself. In an attempt to hurt Jack and keep him away from Rose, Caledon framed Jack for jewelry theft. Jack was punished by being handcuffed and locked in the bottom of the boat. As Jack is being handcuffed and pulled away from the one he loves he yells, “ You know I didn’t do it Rose, you know it! They must have put it in my pocket.” Upon Cal’s request Jack is searched and the necklace is found in his pocket. While being forcibly removed from the scene and led to his “prison” Jack is pleading with Rose to believe him. Although the reasons for each character’s banishment was different, the result was the same. The lovers were separated and drama was heightened.
Most people involved in both Juliet’s and Rose’s lives believed that each woman should be married to a man other than the one they wanted. In the case of Juliet, she was set up with Paris by her family because they thought he would be a good influence on her and had money as well.
PARIS, Happily met, my lady and my wife.
JULIET, That may be, sir, when I may be a wife.
PARIS, That “may be” must be, love, on Thursday next.
JULIET, What must be shall be. (4.1 18–44)
This exchange between Paris and Juliet shows her ever lasting love for Romeo and her rejection for Paris. Furthermore, the fact that Juliet rejects Paris defies typical gender roles of the time. It was highly unusual for a woman to reject any man, especially a Prince. Her clear rejection proves her solid belief that love is more important than popularity. This exchange between Paris and Juliet shows her ever lasting love for Romeo and her rejection for Paris. Meanwhile on the Titanic, Rose and her family were in need of money and it was thought that the best way to ensure her future was for her to marry Caledon. Caledon was a rich man who believed he was better than everyone because of his money. Rose was being forced to marry someone she did not love because her family is in financial trouble. However, once she meets Jack who has nothing but love to offer her, she realizes that love is more important than money. Even though everyone wanted Rose to marry Caledon to provide economic stability, she made her own choice and went with love instead. Similar to Juliet, Rose also defied gender roles by standing up for her independence and not relying on a man to save her. These two scenarios both show that the women want to fight for real love, rather than settling for money or what their families or society think is best.
Both of the relationships between the star-crossed lovers end tragically. In the death scene in Romeo and Juliet both lovers would rather die than be without each other.
JULIET What’s here? A cup, closed in my true love’s hand? Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end. — O churl, drunk all, and left no friendly drop To help me after! I will kiss thy lips. Haply some poison yet doth hang on them, To make die with a restorative. (5.3 166–171)
Juliet is killing herself because she has found her lover Romeo dead and she just cannot bear life without him. This shows how deep their love for eachother is and how tragic it was for them to be kept apart. The death scene in The Titanic has one drastic difference than the one in Romeo and Juliet. Jack dies and Rose lives on without him. The Titanic crashes and everyone is forced to jump ship. Jack finds Rose on a piece of wood floating in the freezing water and sits with her until he dies. Jack loves Rose so he sacrifices his own life so that his lover can live. It is true that he made the ultimate decision to sacrifice himself for Rose, but had he been an upper- class citizen he would have survived. Although there were deaths in both pieces of art, the deaths in Romeo and Juliet were self-inflicted while Jack’s death in The Titanic was caused by an outside force.
Romeo and Juliet and The Titanic illuminate how the theme of love, especially forbidden love, transcends time and is universal in any type of society. The only difference in these pieces are the way these themes are presented. Romeo and Juliet was first made in the 16th century and The Titanic is proof that this storyline is still applicable in modern day society. They are both proof that love has no boundaries and crosses over lines that society has drawn. Although the lines drawn by society in each piece are different, the lovers still break through them in order to experience true love. Love is clearly a universal theme that can be shown in different forms throughout time.
Citations
Shakespeare, William, and Alan Durband. Romeo and Juliet. Woodbury, N.Y: Barron’s, 1985. Print.
Titanic. Dir. James Cameron. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, 1997. Film.
