When Frank invites Rita to his dinner party, she accepts him on the spot. Later, when she has had the chance to think and worry about it, “all day in the shop I was thinkin’ what to wear”, “An’ all the time I’m trying to think of things I can say, what I can talk about. An’ I can’t remember anythin’. Its all jumbled up in me head”, she is trying to be someone else. She feels that if she just came as herself, she would “play the court jester”. This shows that still, she has not the confidence in herself that we see in her, at the end of the play. She is still discovering herself, “Me? What’s me?” and doesn’t feel that she will ever fit in among people like Frank’s friends.
When Frank first meets Rita, she is so different from the other students that he teaches that she is like a “breath of fresh air”. Frank values her for her individuality, but what Rita wants is to be just like the “proper students”. She has very fixed ideas about what a teacher and a student should be. At the start of every lesson, she takes out “her note-pad, ruler and pencil-case, placing them methodically on the desk in front of her”. She also feels that the teacher should sit behind the desk. She sharpens each one of her pencils into a perfect point, before putting them in their place along with the rest of her stationery. Rita didn’t go to university when she was 18 because at the school she went to, “studying was just for wimps”. She grew up in a society where an education is of little value and “what you’ve got to be into is music an’ clothes an’ looking for a feller”. These are the expectations of her family and friends. If Rita had sought an education then, and even as she does now, she feels that “I would have had to become different from me mates, an’ that’s not allowed”. In fact, this is what has happened to Rita.
Because she joined the course, she has broken away from the close-knit community in which she was brought up. While she has taken this step away from her past, as we see in reference to Frank’s dinner party, Rita still feels that she can’t converse and join the “educated classes”. Because of this she feels that she is a “half caste”, not fitting into either society. This marks a development from the start of the play, when she still was accepted by her family and friends as the same as them. Now, she no longer fits in. after the community singing in the pub, her mother thinks that they “could sing better songs than these. Her mother is very like Rita in that, unlike Denny, she can see how life could be better, but it is too late for her. Rita goes back to the lessons because she doesn’t want to end up like her mother, with no choice but to join in the singing.
As the relationship between Rita and Frank develops, it is only him that she feels supports and understands her. After she goes to see the play of Macbeth, it is Frank that she rushes to tell, “I just had to tell someone who’d understand”. This shows their increasing closeness and her deference for his opinion. She describes Lady Macbeth as "a cow", and the conversation that she has with Frank illustrates that she is able to talk on the same level as Frank, but doesn't have the language and enough knowledge to express her views in a more advanced manor.
In the beginning of the play, Rita knows nothing about literature. Her essays are very short and contain brief and sometimes inaccurate answers to the questions set. Gradually, under Frank’s tutorage, her answers develop into full essays, but still show that she is someone with only a superficial knowledge of the subject. The essay she writes after seeing the play Macbeth is very sentimental. Rita finds it very hard to be subjective and her essay is very honest, showing her real delight in the play. Despite this, she still has a lot to learn because in the terms of passing exams, “its worthless. It shouldn’t be, but it is; in it’s own terms it’s – it’s wonderful”.
This essay also marks a turning point in the relationship between Rita and Frank. Frank admires and values Rita’s honest and “moving” style of expressing her opinion, but as he says in the above quote, in terms of passing exams this is worthless. This means that “[she is] going to have to suppress, perhaps even abandon [her] uniqueness. I’m going to have to change you”. This presents a problem as Rita doesn’t wants to be able to write exam-style essays but Frank doesn’t “know that I want to teach you” because what she already has is “valuable”.
So far in the play, we see how Rita is totally dependent on Frank’s opinion. She cannot recognise the merit or errors in her own work and therefore needs Frank to identify them. He is never dismissive of her work, in fact, it is Rita that says “here, it’s crap. Right. So we dump that in the bin, an’ we start again”. He is always positive, encourages her and appreciates the value of her work, even if, in exam terms it is “worthless”. Rita’s writing shows us a great deal about her character. Her Macbeth essay conveys a passion for the play that is rare. It is an “unashamedly emotional statement”, demonstrating her openness and unspoilt character.
Having just split up with Denny, Rita still attends her lesson that day and even though Frank tells her to “sod Macbeth” because of the “circumstances”, Rita knows that “in the circumstances I need to go on”. This plainly shows her determination to succeed. Especially now she no longer has Denny, “the only thing [she] value[s] is here, comin’ here once a week”.
The first major change that we see in Rita is on her return from summer camp. The fact that she even went shows us how much more confidence she has in herself and her knowledge. This is the first scene in Act two, so now not only have the audience had a short break from watching the show, Rita has had a short break from coming to her lessons with Frank. She has much to acquaint him with and is honest and communicative in her reply. Everything she says about her trip emphasises how much she has grown in confidence. Rita still has her determination to succeed but her new-found confidence in herself means that even though they were "lashin'" them with work, "it was dead good though". She admits to Frank that at first she was "dead scared. I didn't know anyone. I was gonna come home". This shows that much of her new self-assurance has stemmed from her time at summer school.
We also see how Rita is much more independent and less like the Rita that we saw in Act One. An example of this is when a tutor asked her about the poet Ferlinghetti. The old Rita would have instantly replied with a flippant comment and she tells us that it "was on the tip of me tongue" to make a remark about Parmesan cheese, but instead, she thinks before she speaks and makes an educated and sensible reply. She demonstrates that Frank still has a lot of influence over her, as she knows that he would have been "dead proud of me". Not only does Rita now think before she speaks and no longer needs to use flippant remarks to cover up her ignorance, she was willing to stand up in front of 2000 people and ask a question after a lecture. The old Rita would not leave the shelter of Frank's study and have her tutorial outside, and here she is standing up in front of all these other students. After that first experience, "I was askin' questions all week". Once Rita had overcome her shyness and belief in her ignorance, "y' couldn't keep me down". Rita sums this change in her by saying that she feels "young, you know like them down there". Finally she has got over her feeling of being inferior to the "proper students" and is likening herself to them. She also feels ready to leave the shelter and safety of Frank's study and go and have the tutorial "down there" on the grass with the other students. She is able to make an analogy that "a room is like a plant". Under Frank's argument, her analogy breaks down but the fact that she can now make educated conversation is a sign of how both her character and knowledge have developed.
She also is no longer telling Frank everything that happens to her, outside the classes. Even though Rita and Trish moved into a flat before she went to summer school, Rita only tells Frank on her return. This shows that after experiencing summer school, Rita is less dependent on Frank.
Frank had been saving Blake for Rita to do after summer school, knowing that she would "understand him", but Rita had already done Blake at summer school. This is a great disappointment for Frank as he had been saving him for ages. It is another example of how Frank's influence is lessening and Rita's independence is growing. Her knowledge has also developed and the off-hand way in which she says "of course; you don't do Blake without doing innocence and experience" shows her beginning to really understand the literature she is studying.
Before her next tutorial, Rita is outside talking to some students. She engages herself in a debate about Lady Chatterley and Sons and Lovers. When Frank sounds surprised at this behaviour, she tells him that "I can talk now y' know". This demonstrates that not only do we notice the difference in her, Rita notices it herself. Her self-confidence has increased so much that she feels that she is now able to talk with students, on the same level. When Frank points out that she "used to be quite wary of them", Rita declares that "God knows why". She really has got over her fear of displaying her ignorance and is no longer in awe of them as "for students they don't half come out with some rubbish". She is cured of her former shyness and the fact that she knows this, shows that her level of knowledge has also improved. Rita enjoyed the fact that "there's this heated discussion, with me right in the middle of it". At the start of the course, she would have been terrified at such an opportunity to reveal her ignorance instead of displaying her knowledge. She also manages to maintain her side of the debate, showing that she now has the knowledge to do this. Her essays have now advanced so much from the one sentence, "do it on the radio" to such a standard that they "wouldn't look out of place" among the essays that Frank's full-time students write.
From here, the next time we see Rita and Frank, there is something different in their relationship. Frank is very drunk and as Rita no longer hangs off his every word, she disapproves of his behaviour. The essay in question is one about Blake and it doesn't contain the views they discussed. Instead, Rita has included a perspective that her and Trish decided added depth to the poem. Frank doesn't like it because "there's nothing of you in here", this means that Rita has finally lost her individuality and written the type of essays that are needed to pass examinations. Frank didn't want to teach her to do this, but now that she can, Rita sees that what he means by there is nothing of her in there, is that there is "nothing of [frank's] views in there". He is disappointed in that he no longer has this influence over her, now that she has "a mind of her own", she "doesn't have to go along one hundred per cent with [Frank's] views". This causes a breakdown in their relationship. Rita doesn't "have to come runnin' to" Frank to explain things to her and to "hold me hand as much ". Frank resents not being needed by Rita as he enjoyed the power he had over her and the importance she placed on his opinion. Rita feels that Frank is still treating her the same way as he did when she was "still hung up on Rubyfruit Jungle". The fact that she not longer likes this book indicates how her taste in literature has changed. She now appreciates that "it's hardly excellence".
Another cause of the breakdown in their relationship is that Rita no longer tells Frank every detail about her life. In fact, she didn't tell him that she quit her job at the hairdressers. This shows that she has removed herself even more from the community in which she grew up. Frank also feels left out of her life. Rita has become irregular in her attendance at her tutorials with Frank. This means that they are no longer the only thing that she values.
Rita left her job because she doesn't want to hear about "irrelevant rubbish anymore". She has immersed herself in literature; it is her whole life and doesn't want to listen to anything but the finest literature. Frank asks her whether she is "capable of recognising what does or does not matter?". At this stage in her development, it is possible that she is basing her life too much around literature and has still to learn that there is more to life than literature.
Their relationship by scene 5 has deteriorated so much that they argue. Frank likens himself to Mary Shelly in having created a monster in Rita, but Rita tells him that what he can't stand is that "I'm, educated now". She has finally achieved her aim and is no longer a "peasant". Rita tells Frank that "I don't need you" and she is correct. Frank doesn't like it and is bitter because he helped become what she is. It is what she wanted, but now he finds that he liked her the way she was, when she needed him. He doesn't think that she has found a better song, only a "different" one. He thinks that "on your lips it's shrill and hollow and tuneless", meaning that she is out of place. She doesn't belong among the educated and the lifestyle doesn't suit her.
Rita has now changed her name back to Susan, showing that she no longer needs to hide in the shadow of another. She can stand on her own feet and be herself. She sees the name Rita as "pretentious crap" and now sees it for what it is, illustrating that she feels enlightened and has tried to segregate herself from her past.
Frank enters Rita for the exam, but has to ring her to tell her the details, showing that she no longer comes to tutorials with him. This indicates a total breakdown in their relationship. When Rita is in the exam, she think about writing, "Frank knows all the answers", showing that she is still bitter about their argument. The exam question is the one to which she answered "do it on the radio". She thinks about writing this, but she chooses no to. This is what she has been hankering after- the choice and she "did the exam". She "chose, me", and she only had the choice because "of what [frank had] given [her]". She appreciates this and "wanted to come back an' tell y". Rita has become the educated woman she wanted to be, with the ability to make wise and informed choices about the direction her life will take. Rita has several options of things to do now, one of them is to have a baby, but "I'll make a decision, I'll choose. I dunno". This is what she wanted. She wasn't against having a baby at the start of the play, but what she wanted was the choice to have the baby, rather than just getting pregnant because it was what was expected for someone her age.
Frank gives Rita a dress for an "educated women" and Rita feels really grateful. She feels that "all I've ever done is take from you I've never given anything". Because of this, she gives him the only thing she knows how to, and as she promised at the start of the course, she cuts his hair. This marks the start of an improvement in their relationship, but this happens just as Frank is packing to leave for Australia.
Rita finally makes the decision to study and doing so changes her life completely. Culture and literature, as her knowledge and understanding increases gradually absorb her. It is only her flatmate's attempted suicide that makes her realise that literature alone cannot fulfil your life and provide all the answers. Despite this, she continues studying and finally passes her examination. Throughout this time, her character undergoes several major changes, from having a clever mind but no education, to acquiring a little superficial knowledge of literature, to the end of the play when she has become a fully educated and capable woman, able to make her own choices. Her relationship with Frank also goes through several different stages. At the start, she hangs off his every word and needs him to explain everything. After her return from summer camp, Rita has become more independent and self-confident. As this confidence increases, Frank is disappointed because he has created a woman who no longer needs him, and he had enjoyed being relied upon so much. By the end of the play, their relationship improves again now Rita has succeeded in her aim to have a "choice" and Frank appreciates what she was trying to accomplish.
