Play: Educating Rita, by Willy Russell

Education provides unique experiences to everyone. These experiences are not depended on the individual’s personal backgrounds or social statuses. According to Jane Thompson, a scholar in education, the process of education can either be a restriction on creativity or a “practice of freedom.” In Willy Russell’s Educating Rita, the protagonist’s experience through the Open University is a practice of freedom as she is provided with the opportunities to express her thoughts and discover her own limits. There is an internal struggle within Rita as the new environment threatens to erase her past life. Rita is able to maintain her practice of freedom through the help of Frank, whom provides her with a welcoming and encouraging learning environment.

In the beginning of the play, Rita is introduced as a talkative woman who is very capable of expressing her thoughts in a straightforward fashion. Based on Rita’s casual dialect and her lack of discipline, it is clear that she has had limited education prior to this encounter. On the contrary, Frank is a “bona fide lecturer” who is knowledgeable in his field of study. (4) Ironically, Frank is very dissatisfied with his occupation, and the same negligent attitude can be found in Rita’s personality. (16) Their relationship flourishes immediately because of this similarity, establishing a welcoming environment for Rita. The office becomes Rita’s sanctuary as she slowly reveals her lack of confidence. Rita expresses her disbelief when she received her acceptance notice. In Rita’s mind, Open University must be an inferior college and they must have lacked applications this year. (4) For Rita, if it were any other tutor, she would have “packed in” and left. (9) Frank is the reaso...

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...d the freedom of pleasing herself instead of others. All of this is accomplished by the combined effort of Rita and Frank.

According to scholar Jane Thompson, the “practice of freedom” allows an individual to discover his or her own ways in this world. This is certainly a case with Rita as she goes through the Open University and establishes her own hidden potentials. With the help of Frank, Rita is able to conquer through the struggles opposed to her during her studies, and come out victorious. Without the help of Frank, Rita would not have been enrolled into the Open University, and her life would not have made this dramatic change for the better. The final product of their combined hard work comes to be a new Rita, an educated woman who is confident, independent and free-willed. It did not come easy for her, but for Rita, the efforts were certainly worth it.