Educating Rita

Good Morning S5!
• In today’s lesson…
• Act 1 Scene 5
• Characterisation – Rita and Frank
• Tragedy

Act 1 Scene 5
Summary
• Rita reveals that Denny has burned all her books. • Frank gives Rita the opportunity to end the course. • The audience is given a deeper insight into Frank’s drink problem and his inability to write poetry anymore.

Act 1 Scene 5
• “Denny found out I was on the pill again; it was my fault, I left my prescription out. He burnt all me books.”
• Read pages 51-53.
• Why is Rita’s marriage beginning to break down? • Do you have any sympathy for Denny?

Act 1 Scene 5
• Rita states that it is as if she is having an affair, when actually, all she is doing is
“finding herself.”
• She realises that this is the root of her marital problems – she has changed in her quest to find herself and Denny doesn’t recognise her.
• “…he’s wondering where the girl he married has gone to…she’s gone an’ I’ve taken her place.” Act 1 Scene 5
• There is a turning point for Rita in this scene.
• Frank offers her the chance to give up the course and she immediately responds, “No. No!”
• Page 52/53
• Rather than talk about her marriage problems,
Rita prefers to talk about Chekhov.
• She claims that it is literature that is “providin’ me with life.”

Act 1 Scene 5
Frank
• Read pages 54-57
• Why do you think Frank drinks heavily?
• How would you describe his relationship with Julia?

Act 1 Scene 5
• Alcohol gives Frank confidence;
• “The great thing about the booze is that it makes one believe that under all the talk, one is actually saying something.”
• His poetry was so finely crafted and academic in its style that it was devoid of life
– it was too dry and intellectual.
• “Instead of creating poetry, I spent years trying to create literature.”

Act 1 Scene 5
• There is a clear parallel between Frank’s criticism of his own poetry and the way he is educating Rita.
• Just as his poetry is emotionally barren, so he is pushing Rita in the same direction.
• The more educated she becomes, the less flamboyant her language and behaviour.
• Instead of responding to texts naturally and with honesty, from the heart, she learns to use her mind to analyse in a cold and characterless fashion. Act 1 Scene 6
Summary
• Rita talks excitedly about her visit to the theatre. • During the scene, Rita realises she has left a customer under the hairdryer.
• Frank invites Rita to his home for a party.

Act 1 Scene 6
• Read pages 59-63
• What is Rita’s reaction to Macbeth?
• What is Frank’s definition of tragedy?
• Can you find any more examples of Frank’s attraction to Rita?

Act 1 Scene 6
• Rita is excited and enthusiastic about the play – she has rushed to Frank’s office in her dinner hour to tell him about it.
• She still finds it difficult to express her ideas.
• “Wasn’t his wife a cow, eh?”
• The audience are reminded of her limitations – she lacks appropriate critical/academic vocabulary.

Act 1 Scene 6
TRAGEDY
• ‘A drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavourable circumstances.’
• In what ways does Frank have tragic flaws?

Act 1 Scene 7
Summary
• Rita explains why she couldn’t bring herself to attend the dinner party.
• She describes her Saturday evening in the pub with her family.
• She is briefly tempted back to her old way of life.

Act 1 Scene 7
• Read pages 65-68
• Why does Rita not go to the party?
• Why does her mother cry in the pub?
• Why does she ultimately decide to stick with the course?

Act 1 Scene 7
• This is a pivotal scene in Rita’s development.
• Russell undercuts the seriousness of the situation with humour; “It was Spanish.”
• Rita wants to become a different person, but at this stage in the play she is trapped between two worlds; • “I can’t talk to the people I live with anymore. An’ I can’t talk to the likes of them on Saturday, or them
out