Asa Wootton
Is Rita trying to discover herself or is she trying to escape her background?
Rita is a middle class woman in her early twenties. She feels her life is at a standstill. She is currently a beautician and works part time while attending university to study English literature. She is married to a man named Denny who has no aspirations and a dead end job, the only thing he desires is a child to keep the family name going. From Rita's point of view this is a trivial matter in which she does not wish to pursue at the present moment in time and to emend the problem she takes contraceptive pills but hides them from her husband.
Rita meets a university lecturer named Frank who becomes her personal tutor. She takes an immediate liking to him because he is witty and humorous in his style of teaching. She believes that in order to find her true self, she needs to read into literature. Rita's interest in literature can be perceived in two ways. One way to appreciate it is to think that she is doing it for the sake of finding her true self. Through reading and understanding literature she believes that she will ascertain a new part of herself that she never knew. She conceives that she has a deeper true self than what is presented. Many people in the university demarcate her from others because she is older than they are and they think that she does not deserve to be there. The students think she is obtuse minded but discover that there is more to her than the fatuous front that she presents. Once she starts to learn and understand the literature she becomes somewhat more intelligent and the students respect her for this and openly ask for her advice. Looking at her from this point of view shows us that she is substantially more intellectual than is first reckoned. Through attending university she associates herself with the upper class and realises that she has become one of them. This is apparent when she moves in with her flatmate, Trish, who is very much so from the upper class, or likes to be distinguished in this light. She shows Rita what she is capable of and brings her into the world of the upper class. She even gets Rita a new vocation at a capricious restaurant. Through Trish she discovers her true self. She mixes with the more intellectual students and becomes enlightened by their deep conversations. This all adds to her newly bountiful knowledge. To Rita this is how she conceives life should be and that it is far superior to that of the life that she once led with Denny and her employment as a beautician. Through meeting her new friends and colleagues and an understanding of life, Rita has become what she always wanted to be and through going to university she has achieved peace with herself. She believes that she has sincerely found what she was looking for in herself and from this point of view one would presume that she has found herself and is not trying to escape what she was once used to.
Is Rita trying to discover herself or is she trying to escape her background?
Rita is a middle class woman in her early twenties. She feels her life is at a standstill. She is currently a beautician and works part time while attending university to study English literature. She is married to a man named Denny who has no aspirations and a dead end job, the only thing he desires is a child to keep the family name going. From Rita's point of view this is a trivial matter in which she does not wish to pursue at the present moment in time and to emend the problem she takes contraceptive pills but hides them from her husband.
Rita meets a university lecturer named Frank who becomes her personal tutor. She takes an immediate liking to him because he is witty and humorous in his style of teaching. She believes that in order to find her true self, she needs to read into literature. Rita's interest in literature can be perceived in two ways. One way to appreciate it is to think that she is doing it for the sake of finding her true self. Through reading and understanding literature she believes that she will ascertain a new part of herself that she never knew. She conceives that she has a deeper true self than what is presented. Many people in the university demarcate her from others because she is older than they are and they think that she does not deserve to be there. The students think she is obtuse minded but discover that there is more to her than the fatuous front that she presents. Once she starts to learn and understand the literature she becomes somewhat more intelligent and the students respect her for this and openly ask for her advice. Looking at her from this point of view shows us that she is substantially more intellectual than is first reckoned. Through attending university she associates herself with the upper class and realises that she has become one of them. This is apparent when she moves in with her flatmate, Trish, who is very much so from the upper class, or likes to be distinguished in this light. She shows Rita what she is capable of and brings her into the world of the upper class. She even gets Rita a new vocation at a capricious restaurant. Through Trish she discovers her true self. She mixes with the more intellectual students and becomes enlightened by their deep conversations. This all adds to her newly bountiful knowledge. To Rita this is how she conceives life should be and that it is far superior to that of the life that she once led with Denny and her employment as a beautician. Through meeting her new friends and colleagues and an understanding of life, Rita has become what she always wanted to be and through going to university she has achieved peace with herself. She believes that she has sincerely found what she was looking for in herself and from this point of view one would presume that she has found herself and is not trying to escape what she was once used to.
