The playwright shows the change in Rita’s character when she says “But its not takin’ the place of life, it’s providin’ me with life itself.” The Open University course is the only thing Rita actually enjoys in life at the moment, whereas in the beginning of the play she said “I just might (pack it in). I might decide (the course) was a soft idea.” Rita has changed since the beginning of the play and now is determined to finish the course.
Rita is from a working class family and lives on an estate with her husband. The playwright lets us know that Rita is from a working class by writing bits like “they wouldn’t round our way. They’d think I was mental. I've tried to explain it to me husband but between you an’ me I think he's thick.” Rita wants to move out of the working class and the audience are made to realise this at the beginning of the play when Rita says “One day, y’own up to yourself an’ y’ say, is this it? Is this the absolute maximum I can expect from this livin’ lark? Although Rita wants to move up the social ladder, she finds it very difficult even when she is given the opportunity. She finds herself in a social ‘no-mans land’ “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 the language. I’m a half-caste.” The playwright tries to make the reader feel sorry for Rita in this situation. Rita’s state of affairs worsens when she begins to take notice of her flat mate Trish. Rita tries to change the way she talks “as Trish says, there is not a lot of point in discussing beautiful literature in an ugly voice.” Willy Russell still presents Rita with the need to fit in with her peers, even though she now has the ability to mix with ‘proper students’ it is not until the end of the play that Rita realises that she has reached her goal and by being herself is now accepted in any social class “Nobody calls me Rita but you. I dropped that pretentious crap as soon as I saw it for what it was.”
Rita’s husband Denny does not have much ambition and does not want Rita to have any either. Denny is quite happy to be a husband and a father and thinks that Rita is happy to do the same. When Rita tried to explain to him that she wanted more, he didn’t seem to understand “No, he’s not thick, he’s blind, he doesn’t want to see.” Rather than cause an argument, Rita lies to Denny and tells him she has come off the pill. As the play progresses, the audience realises that there will be some conflict between Denny and Rita. “He hates me comin’ here. It’s like drug addicts, isn’t it? They hate it when one of them tries to break away.” Although Rita is seen to be reasonably happy being married to Denny it soon becomes apparent that Rita will leave him behind. “It makes me stronger comin’ here. That’s what Denny’s frightened of.” Denny is so jealous of Rita having a life of her own, that he burns all her books that frank lent her. Its at this point in the play that Rita realises that she doesn’t really love Denny. Rita realises that Denny will never understand how she feels, “He thinks we’ve got choice because we can go into a pub that sells eight different kinds of lager.” The audience is made to realise that Rita has left Denny when she comes back from summer school, because she refers to her flat-mate Trish. This is an significant part in the play as Rita has finally got the courage to leave Denny and her working class life behind, from this point in the play Rita never mentions Denny again.
Although Rita is very eager to learn everything at the beginning of the play, she does not have the ability or social graces to interact with other students. She doesn’t consider herself to be a proper student, but she is determined to learn at any cost “if I do somethin’ that’s crap, I don’t want pity, you just tell me, that’s crap… So we dump that in the bin, an’ we start again. Unfortunately Rita doesn’t understand what is an what isn’t good literature, although she has decided to study literature to become middle class. As the play progresses, Rita’s character grows in confidence and ability, to the point where she can interact with `proper students`, “Excuse me, but I couldn’t help overhearin’ the rubbish you were spoutin’ about Lawrence.” Rita becomes quite articulate and finds her job in the hairdresser’s boring and tedious “I’ve had enough of that… I don’t wanna talk about irrelevant rubbish any more”. She takes a job in a bistro which is frequented by students and Rita can talk to them on their level. For a short period Rita’s new friends become more important than her tutorials but she still keeps coming because she wants to do her exam.
Frank is Rita's tutor. He is a failed poet and an alcoholic, who has become stifled by his life at the university. When frank an Rita first meet, Rita's openness is “the first breath of fresh air that’s been in this room for years.” At the beginning of the play, Rita is prepared to accept everything that Frank says. “You know what I learn from you, about art an’ literature, it feeds me, inside.” As Rita’s character becomes more developed and she begins to form her own ideas, she realises that she doesn’t have to accept everything frank says. “I don’t have to go along one hundred percent with your views on Blake y’ know. I can have a mind of my own can’t I.” Willy Russell develops this part of Rita’s character even more and she begins to criticise frank and his drinking. “if you stop pouring that junk down your throat…then it might be worth comin’ here.” Although Rita and Frank do have a big argument over the fact that Rita has become educated an no longer needs frank, they do reconcile at the end of the play. Rita tells Frank what a good teacher he has been and what he has done for her. “All I’ve ever done is take from you I’ve never given anything.”
The playwright shows the audience much of Rita's development in her way of speaking. She never really drops her way of speaking in slang, but she becomes more confident in speaking her mind. She also learns the language of literature and how to apply it. “it becomes a more rewarding poem when you see that is works on a number of levels.”
Rita’s character changes greatly from the beginning of the play, as she works her way out of her working class background, at the expense of her husband and her friends. She achieves her goal and realises she has freedom of choice, but not without some sacrifices along the way.
