Educating Rita was a play written by Willy Russell in 1980. Willy Russell was born in Whiston near Liverpool and left school at 15. He then decided to take 'O' and 'A' levels and became a teacher.
However, once he saw John McGrath's play 'Unruly Elements' he wanted to become a playwright. He has written plays and musicals like Stags and Hens, Blood Brothers and Educating Rita.Russell's mother then suggested that he should become a ladies hairdresser. This makes him use his experiences of hairdressing and teaching in the play.
Educating Rita is a play about a 26 year old working class woman (Rita) wanting to be educated literature as she enjoys reading. Her teacher (Frank) is an alcoholic smoker and has lost the love of teaching until Rita tries to change him.The working class in the 1970's expected people to leave school at fifteen and become a lower class occupation like hairdressing or building. Women were expected to have a baby as soon as possible and were expected to stay at home and look after the family while the man worked. Rita broke away from the restrictions and expectations of her husband by doing the Open University course.
Rita also tried to change this by using contraception when she was meant to be having a baby. The upper class were expected to do the high paid jobs like law and teaching.At the start of the play, we see a young, lower class woman trying to find her way around the university looking very out of place with her loud character, hair and clothes. She meets Frank in his office and Frank does not know what to make of Rita as he has never seen anyone like her before.
Rita isn't even her real name. Frank finds this out when he reads her application form. "That's s for Susan. It's just me real name. I've changed it to Rita, though. I'm not a Susan any more.
" Rita has changed her name after her favourite author, Rita Mae Brown. I think this is because she is inspired by her and wants to be just like her, a person who understands literature.However she has very low self confidence and self esteem. I think this is because she does not have any support at home as her family thinks she should be staying at home having a baby.
As well as her low self confidence she is very blunt, "You won't hurt me feelings y' know. If I do something that's crap, tell me that it's crap." She has no belief that she can do something well. This also shows that she likes people to be honest with her. This is ironic as she is not honest about not wanting a baby to her husband, Denny.
Rita is a hairdresser. She tells Frank about her experiences at work, "They walk in the hairdressers an a hour later they wanna walk out a different person." As people expect Rita to help them to be a different person after getting their hair done, Rita wants to try to be a different person. This is also ironic as she expects to be a different person by doing the Open University course.Rita has a very strong liverpudlian accent.
"I wanna discover meself first." This is a sharp contrast to Frank's accent. This shows the differences in their education. Her language gets more formal throughout the play.
This shows Frank's influence on Rita.Rita is from the back streets of Liverpool. Because of her background, Rita uses a lot of strong language, "I'll say something like Oh I'm really fucked you know, dead loud." She uses bad language for an effect and to get a reaction. I think she uses bad language a lot as she is not getting much attention at home as her family have been pressuring her to have a baby. This emphasises her working class roots and that she experiments with words like Frank.
Frank has lost the love of teaching and does not want to teach Rita. However, Rita is determined to have Frank as her teacher, "Listen, I'm on this course you are my teacher, an you're gonna bleeding well teach me." She is very committed to the course. However, this also emphasises her threatening nature. Even though she wants to be taught she is easily distracted, "That's a nice picture, isn't it.
"At the start of the play we see a man sitting in an office having a secret drink of whisky. He is talking to his girlfriend about what time he'll be going home, "Because I've got this Open University woman coming in, haven't I." Frank does not want to teach Rita and he even tells this to Rita, "They expect us to teach when the pubs are open." Frank would rather be at the pub where he can do his hobbies, drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco.
He wallows in self pity and hides himself in his office and beer.Frank doesn't think that he has anything to offer as a teacher, "I'm actually an appalling teacher, most of the time it doesn't matter - appalling teaching is quite in order for most of my appalling students." Frank has lost the love of teaching as he teaches people who think they know everything about literature. He thinks that some of his students would do a better job of teaching than he does and he is probably right.
Frank is a well educated and cultured upper class man. However, the snob is out of touch with anything other than in the literary world.Frank finds Rita quite attractive and different to the people that he normally has relationships with. "Right now there is a thousand things I'd rather do than teach, most of them with you young lady." Whilst he is pursuing Rita he is stupid enough not to know that his partner was having an affair.
Rita reads Frank's poetry and finds it very interesting and tells him that it is very good. However, Frank does not have a good opinion of his work, "This clever pyrotechnical pile of self conscious allusion is worthless, talentless shit." He has no confidence in his work. I think this is because he spends every day marking work from know-it-all students whose work is probably better than the Frank could have produced as he spends most of his time drowning his sorrows in the pub.Frank feels abandoned in his life as the teacher in his forties has no goals and ambitions whereas Rita has her full life in front of her and he doesn't know why she would want to be educated, "Perhaps you don't want to waste your time coming here any more.
"Frank's appearance is dishevelled - he doesn't care about himself anymore. However, Rita feels that if his appearance changed that his inner self would also change. "I'll bring my scissors, your getting y' hair cut." Rita wants to give Frank something back for Frank teaching her.Despite losing the love of teaching, Frank still loves the English language and loves messing about with words.
"What do you mean am I determined to go to the pub? I don't need determination to go to the pub." He has used the real meaning of the word "determination" to make Rita feel inadequate and lowers her self-esteem.Rita has changed a lot by the end of the play. She is now single, having left her husband Denny after he kicked her out after finding out that she didn't want a baby.
She now lives with her flat mate, Trish and has sampled many different jobs to find what she likes best. She has given up hairdressing. I think this is because she worries that she could end up like Frank if she stays in the same job and she feels that hairdressing is a lower class job and she wants something better and a bit more intellectual. She is now very busy, "What time have I got for an affair? I'm busy enough finding myself let alone finding someone else. I've begun to find me and it is great." She is really pleased that she has changed her life and has not battled through her relationship with her husband.
Rita has been inspired by her education. "I wanted it all so much that I didn't want it to be questioned." She didn't want anything to get in the way of her education as she found it very enjoyable and interesting.Rita has gone through a transformation with her language. She now speaks with a slightly better accent using long and elaborate words.
This shows her education and that she has changed what she has read to more deep novels. She has gone through various fashions trying to find which one matches her new personality. She has made new friends with her fellow younger students and has been accepted even to the point where they value her opinion.She is now at another crossroads with her life.
She has passed her exams with distinction. She can now do anything with her life. She has fulfilled her dreams and now has the ability to choose and follow her own choice of destiny. "It might be worthless in the end. But I had a choice. Because of what you've given me I had a choice.
"She is now turned her attention to helping frank change his life. She has told Frank to stop wasting his life and wallowing in self pity and throwing his life away. She is angry that she has changed and that Frank has not bothered to try himself. "It's little to you who squanders every opportunity and mocks and takes it for granted."Frank has also changed his life. Like Rita, he has ended his relationship and is now single.
The university is sending him to Australia for a fresh start. He is now writing poetry again and has a new enthusiasm for life. I think this is because he is going to Australia where he won't teach students who think they are better than him.Frank asks Rita to go with him to Australia, even though he knows there is no hope of romance.
"It'd be good for us to leave a place that's just finishing for one that's just beginning." He has seen Rita change her life and wants to see what happens in the next chapter of their lives.I think Rita has changed the most. She has put the most effort in. She has risked her marriage by doing the course that none of her family agreed with.
She has changed her job, her lifestyle and her name back to Susan.However, I think Rita had the most impact on Frank. If someone else had walked in to do the Open University course, Frank would probably be lying in a ditch, unemployed and drinking his life away. However, Rita was someone different. Rita gave Frank the will to change.
