Context: Act 1, scene 5, pages 51-54
Re-read from the beginning of the scene up to: “Frank: We’ll talk about Chekhov and pretend this is a pub.”
What does this extract reveal about Rita’s relationship with her husband and how she is changing? Examine Frank’s responses and comment on them.
From this extract we can clearly see that Rita chose to follow the Literature course, even though the consequences are annihilating for her marital life. Denny and Rita become more distant. Their marriage entered the course that leads to calamity and they cannot alter to go back. But Rita evidently wasn’t aquatint with her own words when she said, “People don’t split up because of things like that. Because of literature.” This is ironic, since her marriage is being torn by literature. Rita is now discovering and getting to know her self through literature, and Frank is sustaining her in every way.
From the beginning of the scene we can sense the strain, due to the dramatic opening, which is unlike any other. Rita used to enter the room and talk but this time, instead, she just stares out of the window motionless. Then she elucidates why she does not have the essay by informing Frank about the argument she had with Denny. Her essay, together with all the Chekhov books Frank lent her, were burnt by Denny when he realized that Rita was on the pill, as he saw her prescription. This desperate action helps the audience to realize Denny’s frustration that reached its peak. He did not approve of her education so he resulted in that action. We can also see that there is lack of trust and sincerity between them. Rita is secretly on the pill, and Denny is jealous and thinks she is having an affair, “I wouldn’t put it past you to shack up with a foreigner.” This demonstrates Denny’s ignorance about literature and the gap of education between him and Rita since he implies that Rita is having an affair with Anton Chekhov. Accordingly it illustrates the division between the couple. Furthermore, we learn that Denny brings her presents sometimes. This highlights his desperation, since he results in this action by hoping that the old Rita, the “girl he married” will “come back” but we know that Rita’s change is irreversible, and no matter how many times he attempts to bring her back, he will fail, “But she cant, because she’s gone, an’ I’ve taken her place.” Moreover we can witness the deficiency of understanding between them. Rita strongly feels that literature is “providin’ [her] with life itself.” She believes that Denny is unjustified for not being to recognize and value that. She feels that he is depriving her, her life due to his selfish requirements. Additionally Rita wants to have a “choice” before she has a baby. A choice which will affect her spiritual being. She wants a choice of having a quality and cultural life. But Denny misinterprets and thinks that they do have a choice- a materialistic choice, “He thinks we’ve got choice because we can go into a pub that sells eight different kinds of lager.” This emphasizes the different levels of their views of life, due the difference in their education. It is implied that Rita does not love her husband when she avoided giving a direct answer to Frank’s question about whether she loves Denny or not.
