Rita has developed a small cultural background or is trying to behave as if she has. She uses ‘Parmesan cheese’ which is more upmarket than normal cheeses such as cheddar cheese. This shows us that Rita is developing not only in her English literature study, but also in a cultural sense. Earlier in the play, Rita would not have used this term. People like Frank who are a higher class use it. It can also be related to Frank, as it is similar to the ‘ratatouille’ that Frank spoke of in Act 1 Scene 1. It can also be shown as a development in Rita as it is better than the ‘Spanish plonk’ she brought for Franks dinner party.
Rita’s’ confidence has grown. This is a development from before because earlier in the play, she was nervous around other people. Like when she went to Frank’s dinner party and couldn’t go in. She has become more experienced as she ‘was askin’ questions all week.’
Rita has developed her knowledge of English literature. Although it can be said that she doesn’t know as much about it as she thinks. ‘I’m dead familiar with Chekov now’. This not only shows a development in her knowledge, but a development with her ego.
We can see that Rita’s ego has developed because she now thinks she is very clever. She thinks she is better than everyone else because she asked lots of questions. And she also thinks that she is good with English literature by saying ‘I’m dead familiar with Chekov now’. The Rita we saw earlier would not have done this. She would not have boasted about it.
An ego can also be seen near the end of the scene. This is shown when she thinks she is an authority on Blake. ‘Of course you don’t do Blake without doing innocence and experience do y’?’. She abbreviates Songs of Innocence and Experience, and uses ‘Of course’ to tell the audience that she is right and knows what she needs to be taught. Suggesting that thinks she is clever than most and even as clever as Frank, as she knows what to be taught.
Rita has not developed the culture she thinks she has. She thinks she is on the same cultural level as Frank, but does not get his cultural comments about ‘oeufs en cocotte’. This shows that she has developed a little culturally but not fully.
I will now discuss Franks’ development.
Frank is ‘typing poetry’ at the beginning of the scene, which is he said he gave up before. This shows a development in Frank as he has changed his mind about his poetry. And is writing it, even though later in the play he says it is rubbish.
Frank has also started to smoke again. This is another development in his character. He ‘stubs out a cigarette’. Frank said he gave up smoking earlier in the play, when he said ‘I made a promise not to smoke’. This shows the audience that something is different with Frank and suggests that it may not be the only different thing. This can be shown to be true as Frank is holding a ‘mug at his side’. From earlier in the play, we know that there this is probably alcohol in the mug. This is another development from before because he didn’t drink for a while.
Even though Frank is smoking now. He tries to hide this from Rita. ‘He puts the cigarettes on the table.’ This shows the audience that Frank may be ashamed of smoking and doesn’t want Rita to know. This is a development from the earlier Frank, because before he wouldn’t have cared what Rita thought, because she smokes herself. But now that she doesn’t smoke he doesn’t want to look he does, in fear of looking worse than Rita.
Another development in Frank is he is becoming more down to earth like Rita was at the start of the play. He seems to have more fun now. He even makes something Rita says into a joke. When he takes her analogy the whole way. ‘Lets get a watering can and water the carpet’. This creates humour for the audience and shows us a development in Frank from the one in the first scenes.
Willy Russell has made this scene dramatic and entertaining. Russell wants the audience to be confused about Rita’s newfound knowledge and attitude. And created sadness and humour for Frank.
Russell creates confusion for Rita because she is so different. The developments in Rita have been discussed and are part of what makes the audience confused and the scene entertaining. But the most confusing part is when Rita recites a Blake poem from memory. This must be very weird for the audience to watch, as Rita has never done anything like that before. And she isn’t very good with poetry. In the next scenes we see even more drastic changes in Rita, and Russell creates a feeling of hate towards. The foundation for that is laid down in this scene, when the audience are confused by the new Rita they have seen.
This scene is dramatic because we don’t know how Frank and Rita’s new developments will interact with each other. We don’t know how each will react to each other’s changes, and how they will get along. At beginning of the scene it is not very dramatic. Nearer the end of the scene things are more dramatic as the changes in Rita are shown more and Frank is reacting to them. This drama also adds to the scenes overall entertainment.
A small amount of sympathy is created for Frank we tell us that ‘Julia left’ him. But it turns out to be over something ridiculous and this creates humour for Frank. It is entertaining because it is something very trivial and was nothing to get into an argument about.
Frank also makes the scene entertaining when he makes fun of Rita. ‘If you’re going to make an analogy, why don’t we take it the whole way?’ Which he does. This is entertaining because Rita thinks she is very clever. Humour is created when Frank is being funny to prove her wrong.
Russell also uses comedy at the end of the scene when he makes Frank say something sarcastically. ‘No. Of course’ this is sarcastic because Rita now thinks she is an expert of Blake. And Frank disagrees. This sarcasm is also humorous and makes the scene more entertaining.
In conclusion we can see that Act 2 Scene 1 is very significant in the play. We see a number of developments in both Rita and Frank. Willy Russell has also made the scene dramatic and entertaining in a number of ways.
