This is a play that makes us think about class and culture- how different they are for people and also their impact on people’s lives and opportunities.
Rita comes from an uneducated working class background.. Frank belongs to the educated middle classes with a totally different culture. Actually, when Rita says that her background has no culture she is wrong – but it is a different culture. Rita’s culture is based on pulp fiction, popular songs and television whereas Frank’s culture is based on quality literature and academic knowledge. They really come from very different worlds and cultures yet the strange thing is that each envies the other and sees the other as being more ‘free’ Rita sees her class as a trap, holding her back from knowing what the world has to offer and believes that through education she will ‘dicover herself’ and gain happiness.
Speaking of her culture she says ‘ I just see everyone pissed or on the valium, tryin’ to get from one day to the next’ She believes that the working class is encouraged to pursue money and possessions to divert them from what their lives lack. ‘ The Unions tell them to go out an’ get more money’ Basically, Rita wants something that will give her life meaning. Through education she believes she will find it.This is really asking a lot of education – to give your life meaning.
Denny fears her involvement in education –probably because deep down he senses – correctly – that it will separate them in many senses. It is made clear that it is difficult for Rita to be educated and still be working class as we see increasingly her new understanding moves her away from what family and friends think is all- important in life. In Denny’s case this is a baby and a nice home.
Therefore in Act 1 in culture, language and accent it is as if Rita and Frank belong to different worlds. This is a play about a character’s journey from one class and culture to another – but very much it is about all that Rita learns by the end about life and happiness.
Education, Literature and Snobbery
This is also a play about the snobbishness that often surrounds education and literature. The play is set in the 80’s so it is very possible that education now is very different – it being far more widely available to all from every class. Perhaps everyone may not see it like this. What do you think?
The insight Rita gives us into her school years is very telling. Education was seen by her peers as being unimportant and peer pressure meant that to be interested excluded you from your friends. The same really happens to Rita as an adult struggling for education. She is forced by Denny to choose between his world and the world of education and a different culture.
Frank is no snob but has come to see that his poetry was snobbish or elitist, appealing only to people with a depth of literary knowledge. Frank feels that that kind of writing is inferior and he values what he sees in Rita when he first met her – honesty, sincerity, a naturalness,passion. He sees these qualities in Rita and that is why he is so drawn to her. (
for worse, moving into the world requires change’ How are the consequences of these changes represented in your prescribed text and one other text? Individuals face both negative and positive consequences, physical and psychological. Rita, in ‘Educating Rita’ faces both physical and psychological barriers in her journey for change she faces consequences such as not belonging, broken relationships and a need to become more self-confidence are some of Rita’s barriers to change from a working class…
Educating Rita. Dramatic techniques Title: ambiguous and ironic Two hander play Level one: Rita gains an education Level two Franks education is both internal and external Although he is the teacher, he as person gets life lessons about himself RITA As she is determined to succeed she grows intellectually and socially as a person Academically and personally, Rita exceeds Franks teaching, and she no longer needs Frank’s assistance. She becomes more independent as her intellect grows The window and…
are the end result. Educating Rita was first performed in 1980; it reflects a previous decade of great change in Western thinking about boundaries imposed by established institutions. Accepted practices were being challenged and exposed as controlling. Patriotism, material roles, social divisions, assumption about race, gender and sexuality all come under attack and led into new ways of being in the world. Russell uses the word ‘educating’ ironically, as the education that Rita receives is academic…
Examine the ways Russell uses humour to create an effective opening scene in ‘Educating Rita’ Educating Rita is a humorous play written by Willy Russell in 1980. The play is set in Liverpool and shows the perseverance of a working class 29 year old hairdresser, called Susan, although she is called ‘Rita’ throughout the play. Even though Rita has no qualifications she is determined to enrol in an Open University course and discover herself by takingEnglish Literature.She regrets not taking the opportunity…
Analysis of opening ‘Rita’- Act 1.1 The act starts of in an academic setting. The book-lined tutorial room on the first floor of a Victorian- built University in the North of England implies it is traditional, upper class University which has strict rules. The books in the tutorial room symbolise Frank’s intelligence and class. For example, he reads a large range of traditional, old fashioned books by Eliot, Emerson, Euripides, and Dickens. These are all well-known authors implying that Frank has…
where one identifies what they truly want and breaks the mould and expectations of society to do this. Examining texts such as ‘Educating Rita’ and ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ in addition to my own personal experience will bring forth an understanding of how society affects growing up and transition into new phases of life into a larger world. The text ‘Educating Rita’ is set Britain in the 1970’s, where a woman’s role was to have a family and look after it by staying at home and in the kitchen…
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…
Rita says, after failing to attend Frank's dinner party that she doesn't want to play the role of 'court jester'. Could Rita’s character, in Educating Rita, be interpreted as a comedy clown or jester figure? When Rita first enters at the beginning of the play, we see a woman come in clumsily and loudly. In the screenplay for the film, completely written by Willy Russell, she walks in wobbling on high heels in bright, eighties -style clothing. This links Rita immediately to ‘Jesters in medieval…
meaningful self-connections can brighten one's road to belonging whereas negative view towards oneself can undermine their sense of belonging. Willy Russell’s humorous play: Educating Rita depicts protagonist Rita's attempt to escape her working class life and fulfil her ambition to discover herself more through education. Rita forms strong desire to change her-self through education as she perceives her life has no meaning and wishes to belong to a better self. Rita's urge to have a "better way…
2 Rita and Peter Trosack received great news that they were finally pregnant after two years of trying to conceive. Rita, 43 years old went to her first prenatal visit with Dr. Zimmerly where he recommended that due to her advanced maternal age, she should have a chorionic villus sampling performed. When the test results came back, the Trosack’s were devastated to find out that their unborn child was affected by the Tay-Sachs disease. When interviewing the family, Rita blames herself…
