Willy Russel tries to demonstrate that Rita is a ‘half-caste’, Rita appears very nervous in Frank’s office at the beginning of the play yet she frequently mentions how much she dislikes working in the hairdressing salon,
“I am when I wanna be. Most of the time I don’t want to though. They get on me nerves.”
To the audience it appears that Rita is unsure of whether she really wants to learn, but she is willing to give it a go.
The playwright shows us the extent to which Rita goes to in order to appear educated, even changing her name from ‘Susan’ to ‘Rita.’ Willy Russel creates irony here as Rita later mentions, “…if you want to change you have to do it from the inside…” From this quote the audience can tell that Rita knows what she must do to become educated but she does not know how to do it, this is why she comes to the ‘Open University’ for assistance.
Willy Russel delineates Rita’s new found determination when in Act 1 Scene 5 Rita’s husband destroys all her books, “No I wanna…/…can’t touch it.” (Pg 53) This new found determination marks an important stage in Rita’s metamorphosis.
Another important change in Rita’s metamorphosis is in Act 1 Scene 7 when, “Rita enters, goes straight to the desk and slings her bag on the back of the chair.” Willy Russel uses stage direction here to show that Rita no longer wants to waste time talking but would prefer to set to work. The fact that Rita sets straight to work may also mean that Rita is no longer disconcerted by the Frank’s office, a sign that she is beginning to fit in with the educated class. Rita notes her own metamorphosis when she says she is a “…half-cast,” and that she couldn’t come to Frank’s house because she wouldn’t fit in yet she also notes how she has changed so much that she, “…can’t talk to the people I live with anymore…”
The playwright goes on to depict further changes in Rita, Rita mentions what her mother said at the pub, “…we could sing better songs than those.” Willy Russel uses this phrase as it describes the way Rita feels about her current lifestyle, this phrase is what gives Rita the final push in her quest to educate herself, “And that’s why I’m staying.” It is because of this that Willy Russel puts so much emphasis on this scene, scene 7 is short which makes it seem to the audience to be an important step in Rita’s metamorphosis.
Willy Russel uses the change from Act 1 to Act 2 to depict the greatest changes in Rita. Rita returns from summer school with new found confidence and new friends. The playwright shows how much Rita has changed by reversing the roles of Frank and Rita, it now seems to the audience that Rita no longer needs Frank in the way she does at the beginning of the play, “Of course; you don’t do Blake without doing innocence and experience, do y’?”
In Act 2 Scene 2 the playwright delineates Rita as a fake, Rita enters Frank’s office talking in a peculiar voice, “Nothing is wrong…/…in an ugly voice.” (Pg83) To the audience it would appear that Rita is trying to change how she appears from the outside therefore contradicting her belief that, “…if you want to change you have to do it from the inside…”
By Act 2 Scene 3 Frank realises how much Rita has changed, he notices that Rita is no longer herself but a phony, “…But Rita these aren’t your views.” Willy Russel illustrates that Rita is now at a higher level of education when she mentions that ‘Rubyfruit Jungle’ is, “…hardly excellence.”
Rita no longer works in the hairdressing salon but in a bistro, the playwright uses this change in profession to demonstrate the fake side to Rita, to the audience working in a bistro is a more educated job than being a hairdresser. Rita does not mention this change in profession to Frank, “You didn’t tell me.” Russel uses this to demonstrate how distant Frank and Rita have become, also to note that Rita no longer needs Frank to lean on as she has other ‘educated’ friends.
Willy Russel often uses Frank to depict Rita’s metamorphosis; Frank believes that he has turned Rita into a monster, when he insists on her being known as “Mary Shelley,” “She wrote a little gothic number called ‘Frankenstein.’” The playwright uses Frank to emphasise the pretentious side to Rita when Frank questions what Rita has now changed her name to, “…Charlotte? Or Jane? Or Emily?” Frank specifically uses these names as they are all those of famous authors, thus mocking Rita’s phony idolism.
The beginning of Act 2 Scene 7 marks the end of Rita’s exam; the playwright uses this scene to depict Rita as secure and self-sufficient. Willy Russel shows that now Rita is secure of who she is and what she wants she now has choice as to what she wants to do, “Yeh. An’ it might…/…that y’ a good teacher.” Frank gives Rita a dress at the end of the play, “…for an educated woman friend of mine…” The playwright, Willy Russel, uses the dress to show that Rita has now come the full circle, from being insecure in the working class to a secure educated woman. Had Frank given the dress to Rita in the middle of the play Rita would have been insulted by it and would have thought Frank underestimated her intelligence, whereas at the end of the play Rita is secure and no longer has to act like someone else.
At the beginning of the play Willy Russel delineates Rita as nervous and pessimistic, Rita finds sitting down almost impossible, cannot stop talking and she regularly refers to the ‘Proper Students.’ As The play progresses Rita shows less signs of nervousness and begins to interact with other students. To the audience it would seem that the pivotal point of the play is when Rita returns from Summer school, the playwright makes this change all the more apparent with the change from Act 1 to Act 2. On return from summer school Rita no longer needs Frank as she once did and the playwright shows that the relationship between Rita and Frank is disintegrating as Rita succumbs to a fake lifestyle. Willy Russel uses Frank’s image of Rita as ‘Frankenstein’ and Rita’s peculiar voice to show the audience that Rita is in a stage of ‘pretentious crap.’ Rita marks the end of her phony phase in the last scene when she begins smoking again and tells Frank of the choice she now has. Willy Russel depicts Rita’s metamorphosis by developing different aspects of her character, for example, at the beginning of the play Rita is shown to be nervous, as the play unfolds the playwright shows Rita to be more confident, thus illustrating the ways in which she changes. Willy Russel also develops Rita’s language, her choice of books, her relationships with family, friends and Frank, and her knowledge of literature, in order to depict her metamorphosis.
