How the Key Characters change as the play progresses? How do their relationship progress?

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Amish Gandhi 09.10.2001

How the Key Characters change

as the play progresses?

How does their relationship progress?

"You are?-Frank

What am I?-Rita

FRANK (looking for administration pictures) Now you are?-Frank

I'm a what?-Rita

FRANK LOOKS UP AND THEN RETURNS TO THE PAPERS..."

This is the start of the relationship, which leads to the witty yet serious story of two opposites, written by Willy Russell. The play "Educating Rita" depicts the integration of two societies, with Rita who is a dissatisfied hairdresser, who comes to Frank (a middle-aged tutor), in search of educational enlightenment.

Rita enters the play as a typical young, working class girl, with a deep desire to change her life. Not to merely make new friends, or become educated, she wants to leave most of her entire past life behind and make a completely fresh start. Rita explains that before she just carried on with life and if anything was getting too much of the same, she would just go out and buy another dress.

She has now realised however, that she is twenty-six years old, married and yet has no real meaning to her life. In an effort to change herself she has enrolled in an English literature course and promised herself that she will not buy a new dress until she passes her first exam.

Rita is prepared to do anything to reach her goal to therefore enhance her social status. She has changed her name to Rita (from Susan) in an effort to be acknowledged as a different person and to be likened to her idol, Rita Mae Brown. This demonstrates that she has clear goals. Her admiration for Rita Mae Brown leads her to read the works of her favourite author, for example, Rubyfruit Jungle.

" I'm not a Susan no more. I've called meself Rita...

...Y'know, Rita Mae Brown who wrote Rubyfruit Jungle"

When Rita first meets Frank she automatically assumes a deep admiration for him. Rita considers Frank to be an educated man but her likening for him is increased by the fact that she perceives him to have a grasp on reality.

Frank however, is not perfect. Frank seems to be a middle-aged alcoholic; he is like this pretty much throughout the whole play. In one scene where he explains to his girlfriend why he has taken on Rita, he says:

"Yes...Yes I suppose I did take it on to pay for the drink"

However, before condemning Frank as pitiful alcoholic it is important to consider the circumstances surrounding his addiction. The reasons may not be dissimilar to Rita's, he is dissatisfied with his life, everything is the same day in and day out. However, he is not completely like Rita as he is unwilling to change and instead drowns his sorrows in drink.

This is one of the reasons that his wife has left him. When Rita asks him why they had spilt up, he tells her that they spilt up because of poetry and that his wife wanted him to have something to write about. His relationship with his girlfriend Julia is not going too well either because Frank does not believe he is good enough for her.

One may automatically assume that Rita and Frank will be a social mismatch, but it could be suggested that it is these differences that draw them together. They both come from two societies that are polar opposites. Their culture is entirely different inside and out.

There are many examples of this; a memorable moment is when Rita refers to a television actor on ITV

"...Y'know like Farrah Fawcett Majors"

"Who?"

"It's a telly programme on ITV"

"Ah"

"You wouldn't watch ITV though would y'? It's all BBC with you, isn't it?"

Differences like these add up to their unique lifestyle. Although a difference in television channels is hardly significant, all these small features add up to make totally different people. Another example is when Rita calls Frank a "Flora man", depicting her impression of middle-class life. Her perception of middle-class people is of them using no cholesterol margarine and pebble-dashed bread.
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The way they talk, their accent, speech and grammar is very different as well. At the start, Frank is somewhat shocked by Rita's common accent and her dialogue as she barges through his door. Frank does however, become accustomed to her speech and dialogue but she still confuses Frank throughout the play with her slang:

"What in the name of God is being off ones cake?"

"Soft. Y'know mental"

Perhaps it is the fact that they both idolise each other's way of life, and the way they compose themselves that draws them to each other. ...

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