Frank and Rita in the First Scene of the Play
To explore how Russell presents the characters of Frank and Rita
during the first scene of the play.
Russell’s play has been created to stretch out and grab the audiences
attention, feelings and emotions right from the beginning of the play.
In my essay I will aim to explore how he establishes the characters
roles and how they interact with each other during the first scene of
the play.
Firstly, with the quote “he manages a gulp at the whisky.” Russell
presents Frank as an alcoholic, this is because he is able to take a
gulp of whisky without gasping or coughing so this shows that he is
used to taking such large amounts. This may then lead to the audience
feeling that Frank maybe an insecure person, as he has to turn to
drink for comfort and security.
Then when Rita first appears, with the quote “Its that bleedin’ handle
on that door, you wanna get it fixed!” Russell is establishing the
character of the play and their attitudes and distinctive
personalities. With Rita she is shown as a boisterous person. This is
clearly exposed with the words “Bleed’n…You wanna get it fixed” as
these words are commanding techniques and it shows to the audience in
a short amount of time that Rita is in control. This would shock them
as Rita is speaking improperly towards the teacher.
Also with “I think your marvellous…you’re the first breath of fresh
air that has been in this room for ages.” Russell now presents Frank
as a flirtatious person who is attempting to chat up Rita. With the
words “first breath of fresh air” this show s that Frank doesn’t have
many young “fresh” minds in his office to teach. The audience may feel
sorry for Frank as he seems to have a lonely life in his darkened
office and also how he seems to have given up on life.
Following on from this with the quote “look at those tits.” Russell
uses the word “tits” to show to emphasise even more to the audience
that Rita is different to the other students. She is an open minded
and loud person who unintentionally makes herself out to be a person
who is not afraid to say what she believes. So as a consequence the
audience may be startled as Rita is not acting in the normal pupil to
teacher register. Also they may feel that Rita is a loud person who is
trying to cover up for being nervous one.
To add to this, “Wait a minute listen to me…you’re gonna bleedin’ well
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they're too young for that. And I like to be with them." It would seem
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