How Shakespeare Might Have Written The Titanic Story-Opinion

As a big fan of William Shakespeare's works, I wonder what would have happened if he wrote Titanic. Shakespeare's works, especially his tragedies, usually have the tragic hero(es) as the title of the book. Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet are examples of tragedies written by the great William Shakespeare.

William is regarded in many quarters as the greatest English writer ever. When it comes to his tragedies, it is known that the title of the book/drama dies at the end of the story. Othello committed suicide. Hamlet is killed in a duel with his uncle. Romeo and Juliet both commit suicide. Macbeth is killed in a war. The question remains; what would have happened if William Shakespeare had written Titanic?

Bear it in mind that only the ship (Titanic) sinking story happened in reality, the year 1929. The movie was adapted from reality. William Shakespeare is known for fiction and tragedies. Titanic falls under fiction and Tragedy. The story of Jack and Rose was purely fictional. The death of Jack and several others make the movie fall under tragedy.

Looking at the Titanic movie, Jack meets Rose on the ship and falls in love with her. Rose leaves her betrothed, Cal and this does not spell any good omen for the new lovers. Cal attempts to separate Jack from his betrothed but he fails.

Jack survives many barriers just to meet up with Rose. Jack leaves Rose on a plank after learning the plank could only withstand only one person without sinking. Jack dies of an intense cold (insomnia). However, Rose survives. She goes on to raise a daughter. She narrates the whole Titanic incident many years later.

First of all, will the title remain Titanic? The Titanic sank after it hit the iceberg. One could say something tragic happened to the title of the story, Titanic. Is there a possibility that the title might have been Jack and Rose. A story of the coming of two lovers on a boat.

Secondly, there are thoughts in some quarters that the deaths in most of Shakespeare's stories have been harsh. Othello commits suicide while the villain, Iago is sent to prison. Hamlet is killed in a duel with his uncle. Romeo committed suicide because he thought Juliet was dead, the same as Juliet. If the Titanic was written by Shakespeare, would there be a repeat of the Romeo and Juliet ending? Or does Jack die alone? Or does Rose die without any knowledge of her pregnancy? I'll say both Rose and Jack die.

I'm not taking anything away from the Titanic movie. For me, it was one of the best movies in the late 90s. Also, I'm not taking anything away from William Shakespeare, arguably the greatest English writer of all time. I'm just thinking out loud. Rose surviving the Titanic helped in the storyline. She explained the post-Titanic events, including Cal's suicide. But won't Shakespeare have ended the story during the ship-sinking time? Perhaps, ending the story with the casualties dying. No epilogue/ prologue. Just thinking out loud.

What are your thoughts? I'm Tml, a storyteller that's interested in stories, movies, and so on. If you love this article, you can subscribe so that you'll see my next posts.