Equally important is education. Frank, has already been educated and has achieved a slight success as a poet. He works as a university lecturer in English Literature. This job bores him a great deal, and because of his drinking behaviour, by the end of the play he has been dismissed. Whereas Rita, who comes from a lower-class, has decided she wants to become more educated at an Open University. Subsequently she changes her life completely and gradually becomes absorbed by culture and literature. Only after her flatmate attempts suicide, that she realizes that art and literature cannot provide every answer. However, she decides to continue as a student and finally passes her examinations. She also went to a University Summer School for further awareness.
In addition I will write about self-esteem. Frank’s self-esteem is very low throughout the whole play whilst we only see signs of low self esteem in Rita once. This is when she is telling Frank why she didn’t go to his party. It was because she felt intimidated, and she thought she was worth nothing. In the following quote Rita explains to Frank how she felt. (Act1, Scene 7-p.67) I’m all right with you, here in this room; but when I saw those people you were with I couldn’t come in. I would have seized up. Because I’m a freak. I can’t talk to the people I live with anymore. An’ I can’t talk to the likes of them on Saturday, or them out there, because I can’t learn language. I’m a half-caste. I went back to the pub where Denny was, an me mother, an’ our Sandra, an’ her mates. I think she felt this way because everything (the argument with Denny, the essays that unsatisfied Frank, she had no job so she didn’t have enough money…) happened at the same time and pretty fast so she couldn’t affront the whole lot.
Talking about Frank’s self-esteem, at the beginning of the play he is disillusioned and cynical and the only progress he makes is downhill. By the end of the play Frank has been dismissed, sent away to Australia and Julia has left him. Put another way Frank is not fond of himself at all and he is not having a successful career or personal relation. Frank says the following quote to Rita. (Scene 2- p.36) I like her enormously; it’s myself I’m not too fond of. (…) A vote of confidence; thank you. But, I’m afraid , Rita, that you’ll find there’s less to me than meets the eye. I think this low self-esteem is caused by some sort of hopelessness due to his unsuccessful and unpleasant life. Including his failed marriage, his boring job and social life.
As a result of Frank’s low self esteem, another serious matter appears. This one is alcoholism. Frank has a serious drinking problem which could have been caused due to his low self-esteem. Throughout the hole play we see many scenes in which frank is either drinking or drunk. For instance, as soon as the play starts we see Frank searching for a bottle which is hidden behind a book. (Act 1, Scene 1-p.13) (looking along the shelves) Where the hell…? Eliot? (He pulls out some books and looks into the bookshelf) No. (He replaces the books) ‘E’ (He thinks for a moment) ‘E’, ‘e’ ‘e’ … (Suddenly he remembers) Dickens. (Jubilantly he moves to the Dickens section and pulls out a pile of books to reveal a bottle of whisky. He takes the bottle from the shelf and goes to the small table by the door and pours himself a large slug into the mug in his hand). This is the very first thing we see as soon as the curtain rises. Also in this scene while Frank and Rita are speaking for first time, Frank has about four drinks of Scotch even though Rita told him several times it would kill all his brain cells. Later on, Frank tells us that he loves drinking and that previously he didn’t drink as much as he did then. (Act 1, Scene 5- p.54) RITA: Do you actually like drinking?
FRANK: Oh yes. I love it. Absolutely no guilt at all about it.
RITA: Know when you were a poet, Frank, did y’ drink then?
FRANK: Some. Not as much as now. (he takes a drink) You see, the great thing about booze is that it makes one believe that under all the talk one is actually saying something.
This serious drinking problem has caused Frank many troubles. An example is, to repeat, that Frank has been sent away to Australia by the end of the play because of his drinking behaviour.
To conclude with the serious issues I will discuss the clash of cultures and classes. This is one of the major themes that Willy Russell deals with in the play. Frank lives in a middle class academic society. In which, even though Frank has grown tired of it himself, art and literature appear to be very important. On the other hand, Rita comes from a working-class society which knows and cares little about literature. However, Rita is decisive to obtain middle-class culture and she sees education as the resource to reach this intend, even though Frank tried to convince Rita that there is nothing wrong with her culture and that his culture wasn’t better but different. He says so in a small argument they have by the end of scene 5 in Act 2 (p.98) FRANK: Found a culture have you, Rita? Found a better song to sing have you? No – you’ve found a different song, that’s all-and on your lips it’s shrill and hollow and tuneless. Oh, Rita, Rita… What he means with the word ‘song’ is culture.
Close to the end of the play, Rita believes she is educated, like Frank, and she thinks he can’t stand that and that he’d rather have her like before. The following quote is said by Rita to Frank (Act 2, Scene 5-p.98) I’m educated, I’ve got what you have an’ y’ don’t like it because you’d rather see me as the peasant I once was; you’re like the rest of them – you like to keep your natives thick, because that way they still look charming and delightful. I don’t need you. I’ve got a room full of books. I know what clothes to wear, what wine to buy, what plays to see, what papers and books to read. I can do without you. Rita was wrong and, to repeat, she realized this, only after Trish tried to kill herself. Consequently, she was able to take charge of her own life and to make decisions for herself.
In this second half of my essay I’ll write about why ‘Educating Rita’ is a funny play. In my opinion I think it is because of all the humour that Willy Russell puts into it, without this humour the play would be uninteresting and boring. Some of the things that Willy Russell includes in the play to make it interesting and entertaining are: character contrast (between Frank and Rita), Rita and Frank’s different ‘language’, Rita’s way of seeing things, jokes and swearwords.
To start with, I will comment on the character contrast. Rita is a working class, twenty-six year old hairdresser who has decided to enrol a literature course at the Open University. It has been a hard choice since it means that she has to split apart from the boundaries forced on her by her husband Denny and the neighbourhood in which she lives and works. This decision made Rita become more sophisticated and culturally aware, Rita changes her life completely, she slowly becomes absorbed by literature, only after her flatmate Trish attempts to kill herself, Rita realizes that art and literature cannot provide all the answers. However, Rita continues with her studies and after all passes her examinations.
Frank in contrary, is an university teacher in English Literature with a drinking problem. He’s had an unsuccessful marriage and his present one with Julia is not an easy one either. However it seems as if he has a comfortable middle-class lifestyle. Frank has had a slight success as a poet but his job bores him. By the end of the play he has been sent away to Australia by the university authorities because of his drinking behaviour. With the description written above of both, Frank and Rita, we can compare the two characters and find a big contrast between both we could say they come from different ‘worlds’. However this big contrast doesn’t affect their relation, they get along very well although they do argue with each other once or twice during the play.
Another funny feature of ‘Educating Rita’ is the different ways both characters talk. Rita speaks colloquially (in everyday, local language) and has a lower-class accent despite the fact that for a short time half way through the play she attempts to change it and to talk properly. (Act 2 Scene - p.83) RITA: (talking in a peculiar voice) hello, Frank.
FRANK: Hello Rita. You’re late.
RITA: I know, Frank. I’m terribly sorry. It was unavoidable.
FRANK: Was it really? What’s wrong with your voice?
RITA: Nothing is wrong with it, Frank. I have merely decided to talk properly. As Trish says there is not a lot of point in discussing beautiful literature in an ugly voice. However, she soon starts to speak again in her normal voice, which is as said before, quite colloquial. This is an example of a sentence said by her in her normal voice: I’m comin’ in, aren’t I? it’s that stupid bleedin’ handle on the door. You wanna get it fixed! And the following quote is another example. I wanted to find out. But listen, it wasn’t borin’, it was bleedin’ great, honest, ogh, it done me in, it was fantastic. I’m gonna do an essay on it. This energetic and inappropriate speech is a source of humour. Frank, in comparison, speaks properly, like a middle-class person, in other words, in standard English. That we know he speaks with no noticeable accent He also uses many sophisticated words in his vocabulary. For example, the following quote is a sentence said by him. Look if you’re trying to induce some feeling of guilt in me over the prospect of a burnt dinner you should have prepared something other than lamb and ratatouille. Willy Russell makes the discussions between Frank and Rita, even of the most serious issues, engaging and amusing. This is one of the reasons why the play is not boring.
Thirdly, I’ll write about the many jokes or funny phrases that we find throughout the whole play. As said before without these it would be monotonous and dull. Both Rita and Frank say funny phrases or jokes, moreover, they both have a sense of humour although it seems as if Rita makes fun of things more than Frank. Following on I will write a few examples of something humorous that each one of them said. The first quote is said by Rita, she is talking about a painting that was on the wall of Frank’s tutorial room. (Act 1, Scene 1- p.15) RITA: (noticing the picture) That’s a nice picture, isn’t it? (She goes up to it)
FRANK: Erm – yes, I suppose it is – nice…
RITA: (studying the picture) it’s very erotic.
FRANK: (looking up) Actually I don’t think I’ve looked at it for about ten years, but yes, I suppose it is.
RITA: There’s no suppose bout it. Look at those tits. Is it supposed to be erotic? I mean when he painted it do y’ think he wanted to turn people on?
FRANK: Erm – probably.
RITA: I’ll bet he did y’ know. Y’ don’t paint pictures like that just so that people can admire the brush strokes, do y’? I thought this was funny because of the way Rita expressed herself and because she doesn’t know Frank at all and she acts confidently. Usually, people want to give a good impression of themselves but it seems as if Rita doesn’t care about that, in other words she is speaking to Frank as if she had met him long ago and they were close friends. Many of Rita’s humour has got to do with perverted ideas. Likewise, the following quote also has perverted thinking. (Act 1, Scene 3 – p.42) RITA: I read the Harold Robbins an’ this dead fantastic book, what was it called? Erm – ogh what was it? It sounded like somethin’ dead perverted, it was by that English feller…
FRANK: Which English Feller?
RITA: You know, the one who was like Noël Coward – erm. Oh, I know – Somerset Maugham.
FRANK: A perverted book by Somerset Maugham?
RITA: No, it wasn’t perverted it was great – the title sounds perverted …
He starts to laugh Don’t laugh.
FRANK: Do you mean ‘Of Human Bondage’? Those were two examples of humorous things said by Rita.
Frank’s sense of humour is generally not as perverted as Rita’s. However. he does say perverted jokes. For instance, at the beginning of Scene 3 in Act 1 he says a perverted joke. (Act 1, Scene 3 – p.41) RITA: God, I’ve had enough of this. It’s borin’, that’s what it is, bloody borin’. This Forster, honest to God he doesn’t half get on my tits.
FRANK: Good. You must show me the evidence. These kind of jokes don’t bother Rita. During the course of the play Frank says a few compliments (some perverted) and none bother Rita she just goes along with his jokes. Frank also says many jokes about education and students, like the following one were he says that sometimes he has an urge to throw students through his window. (Act 1, Scene 1 – p.19) RITA: I love that window. Do you like it?
FRANK: I don’t often consider it actually. I sometimes get an urge to throw something through it.
RITA: What?
FRANK: A student usually. This quote shows that he dislikes his students like in the next quote. The next quote is a sentence said by Frank, making fun of the students. Rita saw the lawn through the window and asked Frank if students sat there in summer and this is what he answered … (Act 1, Scene 2 – p.30) FRANK: Yes. First glimmer of sun and they’re all out there.
RITA: Readin’ an’ studyin’?
FRANK: Reading and Studying? What do you think they are, human? Proper students don’t read and study.
RITA: Y’ what?
FRANK: A joke, a joke.
Another source of humour that Willy Russell adds to his play are swearwords or bad language. Rita is the one that swears the most because of her informal speech. As she said, sometimes she swears in front of the people that are in the hairdresser’s - were she worked – just to cause a fuss between them. In the fist scene, when Rita is talking about the ballet and the opera she says a few swearwords. Then she asks Frank if she minds her swearing. Frank doesn’t mind, this is one of the reasons why Rita only wanted Frank as her tutor. This is the quote I just wrote about: (Act 1, Scene 1 – p.18) RITA: (…) So y’ switch off an’ say, that’s fuckin’ rubbish.
FRANK: Do you?
RITA: I do. But I don’t want to. I wanna see. Y’ don’t mind me swearin’, do y’?
FRANK: Not at all.
RITA: Do you swear?
FRANK: Never stop.
In conclusion, I agree with the statement that says ‘Educating Rita’ by Willy Russell is a funny play dealing with serious issues because we can find both of them within the play. There are many serious issues like the break down of relationships, suicide or alcoholism. We can also find humorous things like the different way both characters talk, jokes or character contrast. In some occasions Willy Russell puts both, funny and serious issues together. For example he makes the discussions between Frank and Rita, even of the most serious issues, engaging and amusing. Without the humorous parts the play would be boring and monotonous but if it didn’t have any serious issues it wouldn’t have an argument, therefore it would be a comedy.
