Frank- “You are”?
Rita- “What am I”?
This shows us immediately that Rita isn’t familiar of Frank’s language due to of being a lower class thank Frank.
Rita seems to be quite different compared to frank as she is very open minded she expresses her thoughts and feelings out loud, she don’t seem to speak whatever’s on her mind she’s just very loud by nature. Rita doesn’t know what to expect when meeting frank, she becomes very nervous and uptight although she attempts to hide this by talking a lot and making jokes to ease the tension.
The first time I picked upon how nervous Rita was when she desperately goes through her bag for her cigarettes before asking Frank if he approves, she offers Frank one as she says “I hate smoking on me own” which conveyed to me that she feels insecure and lonely.
I have the impression that Rita was very nervous when first meeting Frank because she has no idea of what to expect although she wants to make a good impression. I think the whole new scene has made her nervous. The other students also make her feel insecure especially as she doesn’t understand something they feel is unbelievable as she passes some students one says “he didn’t even know what assonance meant” neither does Rita by her expression giving her the impression her tutor will be a “snobby know it all” who shows his instant dislike to her.
By reading the text dialogue we can discover a lot about the characters. Rita’s dialect is known as scouse which is very chatty and loud and seems to ramble on a lot this may be to hide her nervousness.
In the play Rita uses a lot of bad language “So y’ switch it off an’ say, that’s fuckin’ rubbish” plus “Oh I’m really fucked” which gives me the impression that she doesn’t care what people think of her sometimes. But she is very bothered about her impression around Frank. This makes it easy to see that Frank is a much higher class of person than Rita although he is also seen as ignorant due to his dinking at University before class’s problems.
Frank knows that he is clever and therefore has noting to prove to anyone. We are also told at the beginning of the play that although Frank drinks a lot he does not slur his words “We should recognize the voice of a man who shifts a lot of booze”, we also notice his answers are usually direct short and simple.
Willy Russell wrote the play when the shipyards were closed down in Liverpool along with there being a high unemployment rate so there was a drastic rise in the crime rate as people became desperately poor and depressed. Riots stated in place called Toxteh. Margaret Thatcher decided to close the docks and shipyards which caused most of the population to dislike her along with Willy Russell who much disliked her and her actions.
Frank hides his bottles of dink behind his books as he try’s not to show how much he drinks although most people have already know, also the phone rings while he is searching for a bottle and it shocks him as he looks as he’s doing something secretive. He also promised he to someone he would never smoke again he is confused if she should take a cigarette from Rita as she offers him one.
Tension plays a big part of the play Rita is “the first breath of fresh air” she’s a young good looking vibrant woman and she is different to Franks other students which he has got bored with, Rita wakes him up as she is always really in his face at the point. Franks shows some sexual attraction to Rita however I would imagine Rita is more attracted to Franks mind and knowledge and what he can offer her. I believe there is hidden sexual tension. Frank invites her around to dinner but she becomes afraid as she expects the people and the surroundings to be a much higher class than to accept her. She expects other high class people at Frank’s level will see her differently than Frank but as a stereotypical young blonde girl.
There is some humor in the play made by Frank and Rita to help break the ice and ease the tension between them, the couple makes small jokes which are often unnoticeable.
Frank: “Would you – erm - would you like to sit down?”
Rita: “No! Can I smoke?”
Frank: “Tobacco”
Rite: “Yeh. Was that a joke?”
This shows how Rita is scared to move and even sit down however she is very anxious to ask Frank if she can smoke but she waits for him to break the silence first.
Rita’s personality changes throughout the play unlike Frank she is going out not caring what people think of her.
Rita: “That’s what it is, bloody borin’ This Forster, honest to God he doesn’t half get on my tits”…
Frank: “Good. You should show me the evidence”
Rita: “Y’ dirty sod”
This shows Frank approaching Rita testing there friendship to see how Rita would react towards him, Rita and Frank have a rare student and tutor relationship, This also shows us how they are both becoming more at ease and comfortable with each other.
Frank and Rita have much to offer each other as Frank provides much knowledge for Rita’s education which she takes much advantage of. Rita is able to provide Frank with an approach to life which he could follow to finally realize there’s more to life other than Drinking and Education.
He could also benefit by stopping his moaning about his poems as his ex-wife disliked them.
They both have much to give and learn from each other to make themselves better people.
