Rita believes that The Open University (O.U) is her gateway to achieving her goal of class change, innocently unaware that reading will not automatically make her accepted by other students and the middle classes showing that she is extremely naïve and uninformed. Rita at this stage is in a fantasy world, where her belief in just reading books and changing her appearance will automatically gain her acceptance into the middle class society, this is poor judgement and misconception of reality. The Open University influences Rita in both good and bad ways, allowing Rita to achieve and gain the full benefits available to her. Her tutor, Frank, especially helps shape her into the model student that she so desperately desires to be. Frank unknowingly manipulates Rita into wearing the sophisticated class of clothes that he wears, the tone and style of his speech, and his body movements. Frank is basically demonstrating what can be achieved through education. Rita knows that she will never be a proper student, but eventually, due to ‘change’ and ‘education’, settles eventually on a balance between proper student and original Rita. The very first encounter of Rita and Frank meeting, is when Rita bursts into Franks office radically, completely as herself, cheerful and vivid. Immediately drawing attention to herself by shouting, swearing and generally acting normally, making herself appear like an everyday Liverpudlian, but deep down, a intelligent young woman trying to express herself in any means necessary “I’m comin’ in aren’t I? It’s that stupid bleedin’ handle on the door. You wanna get it fixed! ”. Rita says what she wants to and is very open minded, the picture on the wall for example. She inspects the picture very immensely on the wall and naively makes a judgement straight away. “That’s a nice picture, isn’t it?”.... “It’s very erotic“. This shows that her personality at the start of Educating Rita is simpleminded and plain compared to the middle/end where her personality and responses to Franks questions are now more thought out and sophisticatedly answered. Rita relies on Frank at the start for all of his knowledge, and latches onto him, like moss to a stone. Frank is the source of knowledge for Rita until she is able to disembark from him. Until then he continues to correct and share his data that he has collected over his lifetime. “I think you’ll find it was ‘J. Alfred Prufrock’, Rita. J. Arthur is something else altogether”.
Throughout Educating Rita, Rita becomes increasingly intelligent and knowledgeable as she progresses through the Open University. Her family and personal circumstances change drastically also. Rita’s marriage breaks down as her husband cannot cope with the ideal of Rita becoming better than him and as he thinks she is betraying him and their life together, ultimately deciding that they should split up. “I got home from work, he’d packed me case. He said either I stop comin’ here an’ come off the pill or I could get out altogether”. However, despite this, Rita carries on with her education, because she wants ‘choice’ in her life, giving her the inspiration to carry on. Her determination for social class acceptance is highly motivated when Rita’s mother is crying in the pub, “Because we could sing better songs than those”. Rita’s mother regrets not having a decent education and opportunities Rita has, but it is too late for her to change and she has to remain with the life choice she made, but she wants Rita to be a success and be happy, so encourages and supports her. Rita however is determined “Denny had her laughing and singing again, pretending she hadn’t said it. But she had. And that’s why I came back. And that’s why I’m staying”, regardless of what people think “It was an ultimatum. I explained to him. I didn’t get narked or anythin’. I just explained to him how I had to do this. He said it’s warped me. He said I’d betrayed him. I suppose I have.” And “He says there’s a time for education. An’ it’s not when y’ twenty-six an’ married”. Also, Rita’s language varies throughout, from everyday colloquial ‘slang’ at the start, “yeh. It’s like y’ sit there, don’t y’, watchin’ the ballet or the opera on the telly an’ – an’ y’ call it rubbish cos that’s what it looks like?”, to upper class English language, using urbane words yet with working class slang, with her Liverpudlian accent remaining the same right through till the end “Frank, you’ve got to start writing again. This is brilliant. They’re witty. They’re profound. Full of style”
In conclusion, education does give you choice, as education opens up more doorways to other opportunities in life that are otherwise unavailable for uneducated or less qualified people. Rita changes dramatically in Educating Rita thanks to education, and now is independent enough to decide how to deal with life’s problems by herself.
