Educating Rita Essay

The Metamorphosis of Rita in Willy Russell's Educating Rita

Educating Rita by Willy Russell tells the story of 'Rita' White a twenty six year old hairdresser, who is trying to gain an education at the Open University. Russell has written the whole story as a play with only two characters, Frank and Rita. All scenes are in Frank's study and follow the dialogue between Frank and Rita. Russell wrote the play in the 1980s and it is somewhat autobiographical, it explores the structure of society and its link with education at a time when education was becoming available for all classes. In this essay, I will explore these issues by looking at the relationship of the two characters and the personal fulfilment

Russell immediately creates these two characters as the antithesis of each other, Frank, the tutor, is a very intelligent, well-educated man. Rita is not as intelligent or intellectual as Frank; she comes across as very blunt and colloquial. She does not act as someone is expected to in the company of a stranger and she does not feel at all inferior to Frank. As soon as she enters the room, she takes a commanding role and is telling Frank what to do. Frank is shocked and surprised by this apparent role reversal with the student dominating the teacher. He immediately tries to regain his position of authority "You are?" This is a very upper class phrase and Rita, unused to such language takes this phrase literally, "What am I?" Frank gets confused and so it continues until Frank gives up and studies the admission papers. This confusion is comical, and importantly Russell has already shown us that it is useless for Frank to try to gain any authority over Rita, she is at the college because she wants to be and she is going to do things in her own way. Also, we are shown that Rita does not understand the principals of politeness and she does not yet see the clues

At the end of scene six Russell stages a very awkward conversation between Rita and Frank. Frank is asking Rita to a dinner party. The dialogue between them is very short and almost monosyllabic, "will you come?" "If y' want." This scene shows there is still an awkwardness between these two characters, Rita is seen as inadequate, they are not equal in their relationship. In the end Rita does not turn up for Frank's dinner party. Rita argues that she wants to study and learn at the university, however Rita sees the middle class as totally different from herself, and although doesn't want to be working class, doesn't feel she will be accepted as middle class either. She has the idea that all middle class individuals are free, and stereotypes them, making sweeping generalisations. She assumes they all eat wholemeal bread, flora, and watch the BBC, as this is seen as more intellectually stimulating than ITV, the channel that many of the working class watch. This shows that she stereotypes certain groups of people from what she has heard, instead of her