‘Educating Rita’ by Willy Russell Essay

Rita, blunt and their kind change throughout the dissipation. Ritas education and confidence both grow as the story progresses. Franks stance towards life lours dramatically en route for the diaphragm of the drama merely there is hint of improvement at the end. Their relationship undergoes many changes during the scarper. They grow apart, slowly and eventually reach a guide on where their separation is much needed and inevitable, although their feelings towards each other ar of affection once again.At the setoff of the childs play Rita is a stereotypical working frame girl, with little education and a lot of determination. She uses a lot of slang and colloquial language, stupid bleedin handle and by me cake, which shows her lack of education and her class.Rita appears ro be a confident girl, solely she uses sense of humour to cover up her nerves, thats what I do. Y know when Im nervous. Rita is also a lively, talkative person and very blunt and forthright. She shows t his when she takes the pencil from Frank and scribbles out the letter S.Rita has a particularly dictated character. At the start of the play she knows that she wants an improved life, with choices and she knows an education get out give her that. So she is making sure she is release to get it, even at the monetary value of her marriage. When Rita leaves Denny she unperturbed wants to learn and discuss her Macbeth essay immediately.At the beginning of Act 2 Scene 2 Rita is seen oiling Franks door. This shows her determination and that she follows through her word, does what she says she will.Russell uses acquaint directions to show Ritas energy, the door bursts open and Rita flies in. The words flies and burst convey bubbly, lively movements and therefore her energetic character.At the start of this play Frank is a stereotypical upper-middle-class man. He is apathetic sarcastic and relatively independent. Frank uses Standard incline and Received Pronunciation, showing his high class and goodeducation. He asks pardon? instead of what? and explains that the Open University is supposed to embrace a to a greater extent comprehensive studentship.Frank is non dependant on anyone, more(prenominal)over he drinks a lot and I think that he relies on alcohol a gravid deal. Therefore I would not say he is totally independent.Frank is very sarcastic and quick witted. He uses his sarcasm as a defence mechanism, or to incur a point. He doesnt use it nastily or to hurt anyone. I abouttimes get an urge to throw something through ita student usually. This shows him using sarcasm for humour but it also shows his dis arouse, lazy attitude to life. Frank is bored of his life but, unlike Rita, he corporationnot be bothered to change it. He finds himself dull and tells Rita that she is the basic breath of air thats been in this room for years. He does not want Rita as a student as he sees her as a lot of work, this shows his lazy attitude. However, the audience could al so see this as a selfless and considerate irregular. He does not want to take Rita on as a student as he does not think he is capable of teaching her.Frank is extremely clever and refers to high culture, such as T.S Elliot and Yeats, showing his high education and pinch.At the start of the play Frank is bored, funny, sarcastic, clever and shrewd.Frank and Rita get to know each other well and be very close, at the beginning of the play. They flirt and compliment each other, he doesnt half get on my tits/Frank Good. Youll rich person to show me some evidence/Rita Y dirty sod. And Right now theres a thousand things Id rather do than teach, most of them with you my dear.They blaspheme one another and show this through discussion of their personal issues, I live with a girl. Ex-student. Shes very caring, very tolerant, admires me tremendously and spends a great deal of time putting her head in the oven. They then go on to discuss Julia and Franks relationship. Their top executive t o talk freely to each other shows that they are at ease in eachothers company, relaxed and confident around one another.Nevertheless, their relationship is not always easy. It is hampered by their different frames of reference. At one point Frank thinks Rita is joking about T.S Elliot the poet, when in fact she is referring to Elliot Ness, y know, the famous Chicago copper who caught Al Capone. At another point Rita is calling Frank a Flora man from the advert for the butter flora. Frank assumes she means flora as in flowers.However, Frank and Rita meet a mutual understanding of each other, which helps them work through and get beyond their misunderstandings. Their differences intrigue and fascinate one another. This helps keep their relationship alive and fresh.In the middle of the play we see dramatic changes in Rita. Right at the beginning of Act 2 Russell indicates a change by Rita entering wearing innovative second hand clothes.Rita is at a very difficult point in her change. She has come so far and cannot go back to where she used to be, but she is finding it difficult to enthral on, she is half way and stuck in between two worlds. Rita chooses to persevere.Rita has much more confidence and is using humour to hide bunghole less. She is more educated and has been influenced by lots of people over the summer.Her confidence shows when she tells Frank about summer school. She explains how she asked a question even though everyone was feel at her and two thousand people had seen me stand up. She then goes on to say, after that I was askin questions all week. Before summer school Rita wouldnt turn out dared do something like that.As well as her confidence improving she is now using more Standard English, although still using colloquial language. pass has had some less positive effects on Rita, too. She has been very influenced by Trish and although she has now got a better understanding of literature she still does not have her own find outs. She has me rely swapped Franks opinions for Trishs opinions.Frank comes back from holiday even more fed-up with life than before. Rita asks him what France was like, marvelling at the opportunity to go abroad. Frank gives an uninterested answer of well it was rather hot. He is very dismissive, taking for granted the occasion of going abroad and his answer is slightly hostile and c archaic.He seems to be more apathetic and very low, not recognising that he has got so much going for him. it is indeed because I have got so much going for me that I do itI need the drink to help me step delicately through life. This comment shows that he is still using sarcasm, it shows his sad view on his life and he tells us that he needs drink. This informs us that he has break very reliant on drink. He is worse than he was before, turning up to lectures drunk and not taking anything seriously. He does not even bother to hide the drink anymore. He carries it, in his briefcase, to lectures. The briefcase symbol ises work, so to carry alcohol in it shows just how little he cares.Frank now chooses to ignore his education Rubyfruit Jungle is excellent. He is reverting to how Rita was. Whereas, Rita now has a view, shows her understanding and expresses it formally. They have echoed each other.Franks language has also changed. He is reiterating phrases from Rita, completely off me cake, and he has picked up some of her slang. He is still sarcastic, but sometimes in a hostile, jeering way, like when he shouts names at Rita Charlotte? Or Jane? Or Emily?At the mid-point in the play Frank is hopeless, he challenges Rita saying and well all live happily ever after? Saying this squashes dreams, is sarcastic and apathetic and takes a completely pessimistic outlook on life,his decline is continuous.Their relationship dwindles when they meet again after summer. The changes in Rita have a big role to play in the downward spiral of their relationship.Rita is becoming more independent, She needs Frank less , he begrudges her this and it causes tension. Dont y like me now that the little girls grown up, now that y can no longer bounce me on daddys knee an watch me stare back in wide eyed wonder at everything he has to say?They understand each other less and know little about each others lives. It struck me there was a time you told me everything, Frank is wistful and shows a sense of longing. He feels Rita slipping away, I cant bear you anymore, he tells her, you dont have to put in a visit out of sentimentality. They no longer have a close relationship and Frank misses and feels bitter about that.They become increasingly resentful towards each other. Frank start to get jealous and resentful of Trish, this feeling fuels further conflict. Will you kindly tell Trish that I am not giving a tutorial to a Dalek. This remark shows coldness in their relationship, the warmth, flirting and friendly banter has gone.At the end of the play Rita has more choices than before, she is educated, confid ent and able to think for herself.Rita is undecided what the next step in her life should be, but she now has a choice and this is what she set out for to be able to choose. I might go to France. I might go to my mothers. I might even have a baby. I dunno. Ill make a decision, Ill choose. I dunno.She is educated now and has passed her exam. Arguably more important is that she is no wise. She can think for herself, think logically and prepare her own opinions. You woulda loved it if Id written Frank knows all the answers across me paper, wouldnt y? However, Rita did not and this showsher education and thinking skills.She uses Standard English more now, such as scholarly neckline. Again showing her education.Rita is no longer hiding behind humour, but she is genuinely confident and still funny. in all probability the biggest change in Rita from beginning to end is that she now understands Franks views and realises he was and is on her side. She places a Christmas card with the others already there. The card is a nominal of friendship and signifies her realisation that what she had was not all that valuable. Her realisation shows how she has matured, changed her way of thinking and now feels more kindly for Frank.Frank is now sober and hints that he will make a change in his life. There is now some optimism. He is trying to think well of his move to Australia, things are just beginning there this implies he will take this as an opportunity to start fresh, itd be good for us to leave a place thats just finishing for one thats just beginning.Frank accepts the changes in Rita and shows his thoughtful side when he gives her the dress.He also has a realistic moment and says, I was rather pissed when I bought it. He is not pretending to be a reformed character and he is reminding the audience of his drinking and old habits.Frank is now using Standard English again, metaphorically. And as it was metaphorically the sentence was reduced from the sack to two years in Aus tralia.He is still humorous, Forsters lager they call it, and is sarcasm is still there, but it is no longer hostile.Although Frank is in a worse position than at the start of the play there is hint of improvement and a better life.Ritas response to Trishs suicide and Franks realisation of the need to change has resulted in a greater mutual understanding and a friendlier relationship. I knew how much it had come to mean to you. Frank did not like Rita in the middle of the play but understands why she was like that.They both accept the changes in each other. Rita now appreciates all the help Frank gave her, I came to tell you youre a good teacher. Frank realises her learnt a lot from Rita, too, all Ive ever done is taken from you. Ive never given anything/Frank thats not true. YouveThey understand that they have got to go their separate ways now, and move their lives on, but they part on good terms.Rita begins as a stereotypical working-class girl, with a poor education, who hid beh ind humour. She goes through a series of changes and ends the play as a confident, wise, educated young lady, ready to make her own choices and get on with her life.Frank begin as a upper-middle-class man, he was very sarcastic, had a poor attitude towards life and relied on drink. As the tidings progressed he developed a serious drinking problem, became more and more apathetic and finally reached a point where he was on the verge of being sack. He eventually starts to get things into perspective and hints at a brighter future. The relationship between Rita and Frank began well, they complimented and trusted one another. They drifted apart and argued in the middle, but reconciled their relationship and parted on good terms.I think the main change in Rita was that she started with no choices, she had a hunger for more and great determination, which resulted in her gaining the ability to choose, and to choose wisely. I think this change in Rita was conveyed very well because as the s tory progresses we saw her make many decisions along the way. We saw how the choices she had to make got biggerand bigger and how her ability to deal with the choices got better and better. The book finished with her thinking about the biggest choice whether to have a baby or not.I think Franks character was portrayed well via his language and through his drinking habits.I really enjoyed the book and thought Russell kept me interested by adding new details along the way, we learnt more about the characters private lives as the story continued and this was an added interest. I think that the book had a good ending, as it was realistic. It showed how what they had done throughout the book and what choices they had made affected their position at the end of the book. This emphasised the theme of choice again.