Education is important for both Frank and Rita. Rita wants to become educated and tries to put off having a baby yet, admitting that this is what society deems to be her designated path when she says, “ I should have had a baby by now, people expect it”. However she wants to get a better job first, as her current job is no longer as interesting as it once was. She does not want to be hairdresser anymore as she finds it boring and lacking in intellectual stimulation. On the other hand, Frank works in the academic world sought by Rita but he wants to leave his job. Russell shows that Frank wants to leave his job, this shows us that, by telling Rita: “there are other tutors”, this shows that he has lost the joy for teaching that he had once had, and also that he wants to avoid teaching Rita in every way possible, so much that that he even tries to get her another tutor, however Rita insists that she must have Frank as her tutor.
Frank used to write poetry, and enjoyed writing it so much but he has become disillusioned about life, and resorted to alcohol to solve his problems, lost everything that he had once valued.
Language is of key importance to the audience, as Willy Russell shows the difference of Frank and Rita through the way that they communicate. Rita has a broad Liverpudlian accent, and also a very limited vocabulary, due to her lack of education, she also swears a lot when she cannot think of something to say; “I’m really F*****”, this vocabulary sets Rita apart from Frank, and emphasises her lower social background. One good reason why she uses slang and taboo language is that she does not have an advanced enough vocabulary, because of her working class background. Whereas Frank talks with a strong English accent “I shall go to the pub”, the word “shall” in the sentence brings attention to his upper class background. However Frank also mentions that he never stops swearing, “Never stop,” this could indicate that when Frank is away from the university, he swears all the time and never stops.
Russell shows that Rita reads a less academic book like “Ruby-fruit Jungle”. This is the only book that she refers to, whereas Frank mentions very well known books by Charles Dickens, and she has very little idea who Frank is talking about. When she mentions Elliot, he automatically thinks of the author T.S. Elliot, when she is actually talking about the cousin of the man who shot Al Capone.
Her idea of Frank is that he eats healthily “like Flora margarine” because in her eyes, that is what the upper class people eat, and that is all she has seen them eat, along with “pebble dashed bread”. Frank however makes no first judgement on Rita, apart from the fact from when he called her “a liability” at ladies hairdressing, but Rita makes numerous judgements about Frank and his Upper class lifestyle. Frank’s whole life has revolved around literature, which all changes when he meets Rita, who reads un-educated books and knows very little about literature. Frank sees Rita who has the potential to change, and become a university student, however, he does not judge her in the way that she judges him.
In “Educating Rita”, Willy Russell shows many escape routes for Rita and Frank in Franks office, like the broken door: “it’s that bleedin’ handle, you ought to get it fixed” that symbolises that Rita cannot escape once she inside, whereas Frank cannot escape from his lifestyle as an educator, and his well educated lifestyle. When Rita looks outside the window, she can see students sat on the grass, but the glass is stopping her, from reaching her dream, but at that point the perspective changes, as Rita became more confident, as she believed that she could reach this potential.
When Rita enters Franks office, she never stands still and is on edge all the time “she goes to the window” this quote shows that Willy Russell is trying to show that Rita is nervous, and interested in everything she sees, and also that she is eager to start a new life. However Frank sits in his chair for most of the scene, this shows that he is avoiding Rita, as she moves around the room a great deal, “sitting in swivel chair”. Until he gets up to pour himself a drink which also shows that Rita is uninteresting to him, as she is asking lots of important question, whilst all Frank is interested in is alcohol “pouring himself a drink” this shows that Frank is uninterested in teaching Rita. And that he is stuck in his life, and addicted to alcohol, as he gets up to pour himself another drink 3 times.
Willy Russell is showing in “Educating Rita” that women are starting to take bigger roles in society, due to Margaret Thatcher, who was a strong role model for women all over England. At a time when unemployment was high, and many people were losing their jobs, Rita showed that people did not have to accept their lot, and could still dream of bettering themselves. Frank sees women as housewives, who stay at home with the children, and men as the dominant “bacon bringer” of the household. But Rita doesn’t want to be a housewife with screaming children “I should have had a baby by now, everyone expects it”; she wants to have a successful career and a life, instead of being stuck at home being a housewife. Russell shows Rita at the beginning as a ladies hairdresser, this is a job that requires no qualifications, and she doesn’t want to do it, whereas Frank has a high standard university job and still is not happy; he wants a better life too.
Russell has been effective and successful in showing the differences between Rita and Frank. Rita and Frank have completely different lives and look at education in a different ways, Rita sees it as a window of opportunity and her passport to a better life, whereas Frank sees the university as a prison, where his sentence will not end until he quits his job. They probably have these views because of their different backgrounds, being from different classes and having completely different attitudes to life.
By Olivia Harriman
