At first we notice Rita coming across to us as a very nervous and timid character. The scene is set with Rita entering Frank’s office in the Open University. She enters the room very suddenly and abruptly as she has to forcefully open the door. This immediately reveals the sign that she is feeling very nervous. To hide this she begins talking non stop without even being spoken to, as this is the only way she knows her nerves could be controlled showing that she is not nervous. Contrary to this it could show that she is brave and outspoken. It is more likely that in this sort of situation Frank and Rita should exchange roles. Rita should be the one who is shy and polite as she is knew to the world to which she is about to enter. Frank should be more comfortable and confident as he knows the realm of English Literature well. Educating somebody is nothing new to him.
Rita “I’m comin’ in, aren’t I? It’s that stupid bleedin’ handle...You wanna get it fixed... Well there’s no good meanin’ to, is it...”
The use of the door is a device with many meanings, as physically the door prevents Rita from entering the room, but it is also symbolic as it is an object in Rita’s path to success and shows that she will have many barriers in here journey. It is also significant to how Rita changed as we can see from the way she replied to Frank’s answer. “Well there’s no good meanin’ to”, shows that she likes to do things immediately and not to drag things out. This is how her attitude to education is; she wants to learn everything about literature, now. On the other hand, Frank’s home, the study where the audience is constantly able to observe the growing relationship between Frank and Rita, represents the very nature of Frank himself. Although his broken door handle brings some humour to the play, it not only symbolises his lethargic nature but also that he is a rather lonely man. He rarely has any friends or visitors entering into his study and therefore has no need to fix his door handle. Once Rita enters his study she forces Frank to observe and consider the surroundings of which he has not paid any attention to in years. The way in which Rita notices and comments on everything which Frank takes for granted provides some stimulation for him.
There maybe only one pair in the play, but it is a very interesting one, because it is very symbolic of Frank’s emotions and personality. For example he hides whisky in his bookshelf this shows one of the main factors in the story is about Frank’s obsession with drinking. However he does hide the fact that he loves to drink but it is easily spotted by other students. He has a naked religious picture in his office. Rita’s reaction to the picture was different compared to Frank. Rita describes it as pornography and Frank just frankly replies by saying that he hasn’t seen it for so many years. From now on Frank starts to see everything through Rita’s eyes. Previously he had lost interest in things. Frank’s window is jammed shut this shows that he doesn’t open up himself. The lack of fresh air in his room represents the lack of freedom he lets into his life. This also applies to the fact that his door is sealed shut which shows that no one goes into his office and he does not open it to let fresh air in
In the second scene of the play Frank’s attitude and dialogue seems to be more confident and self – assured, but only when he is on the topic of education and Literature. When the conversation switches to other topics such as life, society and marriage, his shy and nervous nature returns and Rita once again dominates the scene. Rita also tells Frank what to do and what not to do, as if she has known him for a long time. It is easy for her to act like this, as her personality is very bubbly and outgoing with a sense of humour meaning that she does not and will not get embarrassed easily. By Act 1 Scene 3, she flounces into the room saying that she is bored and by now Frank and Rita’s bond as friends has grown stronger and they both understand each other as they can talk to each other nevertheless still keeping it professional.
Rita “God, I’ve had enough of this. It’s borin’ ...honest to God he doesn’t half get on my tits.”
Frank “Good... show me the evidence.”
Rita “Y’dirty sod.”
The conversation can be looked at as a pun. It can be looked at as Frank is acting professionally by asking Rita to support her opinion to finding “Howards End” boring, or Frank and Rita were enjoying each others company and taking what they say to each other in a more sexual way. An alternative way to look at the relationship between Frank and Rita is that there is a change in the balance of power between them. In fact, Rita compares their relationship to what a parent and a child has. While the child is still young and innocent the parent has a big influence on his/her life. The child relies and depends on the parent and as the child grows up he begins to discover things for himself and does not depend on the parent anymore.
“What’s up, Frank, don’t y’ like me now that the little girl’s grown up, now that y’ can no longer bounce me on daddy’s knee an’ watch me stare back in wonder at everything he has to say?” and Frank replies “Is that all you wanted. Have you come all this way for so very, very little?” These quotes show the different things that Rita and Frank value.
In Act 2 Scene 6, the impact of the fight is clear as Frank is alone without Rita which is a dramatic device used by Russell to show Frank’s vulnerability and how distant Rita and Frank have become. The structure of the scene was short and without it the audience would have lost the knowledge of how sour Frank and Rita’s friendship has turns. As Frank tries to contact Rita, it can be seen that Rita no longer need him and is fine while Frank is upset and lonely which makes the scene extremely poignant. Rita questions Frank “Have they sacked y?” Rita suggests that Frank has not done something worth while in the place and has done something wrong. Actually it shows that he has not achieved much. Willy Russell uses Frank as the lazy one who gives up everything and he ends up going to Australia. “If you give up, you can not achieve much in life. Rita has passes her education and is moving up in her life. She has got across all the barriers in her way to get to this stage.
‘Educating Rita’ greatly concentrates on the relationship between Frank and Rita. Rita comes to Frank in hope of fulfilling her ambition to change her character and lifestyle. Although Frank helps her in doing this he regrets the person he has made her into. At the end of the play we as an audience are able to learn more about their characters than they do themselves. We notice how Frank’s continuous drinking is driving Rita away. We also see how Rita overvalues and uses her education too superficially. All that Rita realises now that the middle class life is not all that good especially after her friend Trish’s near death experience. She realised that life is what you make it and not how it seems from the outside. Although both Frank and Rita warn each other they do not seem to realise what they are doing to themselves. She dropped her regional accent and has become more confident in revealing her views on particular topics.
The play appears to underline different messages about education. It is education which seems to almost destroy the true, good and unique character of Rita. It also leads to Frank almost regretting his own education. Rita idolised the concept of education but I think that the message Willy Russell was trying to portray through ‘Educating Rita’ is that education is not what life is all about. Education simply gives people power over their own lives. It did offer Rita some of the solutions which she had craved for when wanting to find a way out of what she believed to be an empty life. It did give her the freedom and choice which she had longed for even though it was in a different way to what she had expected. As Rita discovered towards the end of the lay education does not necessarily bring somebody into a new, better character and way of life, it just gives the person the freedom to choose which path to follow in the future.
