Frank is highly amused by this. This suggests that he is not used to seeing this behaviour and he usually does not associate with people like Rita, and since company is closely tied to one's culture, this is an important indicator of Frank's culture.
We can see from some of Rita's speech that she has a very stereotypical view of upper class people. She and Frank have a conversation about Rita's childhood desire to attend boarding school:
" I always thought they sounded great, schools like that, y' know
with a tuck-shop an' a prep. An' a pair of of kids called Jones minor an'
Jones major."
This is a highly prejudicial view of upper class life, most of it untrue,this shows her ignorance towards those who she does not usually associate with. This comes across as very humorous in the play. Willy Russell's skills as a dramatist are shown here, as if people find things funny, they can more easily decipher the more subtle messages he implants into his script.
Rta has a very colloquial manner of speech, in her accent, dialect and phrases. She uses terms like "dead affected" and "bleedin'", which are not usually used by the middle class. She has an accent typical of someone who comes from Liverpool, and misses the ends off of her words alot, like "oilin'" and "y' know". All of these things make her appear to be uneducated and not middle class, although this stereotype is much more easily conveyed in the film production, as you can actually hear her speak. The film has an additional advantage in determining her culture as you can see her appearance. She has a tall, blonde haircut with a pink streak in it, and an absurdly brightly coloured dress, which makes her seem quite uneducated, because educated women usually dress in second-hand, slightly bland clothing. The fact that she is going to Open University also suggests that her education is somewhat lacking.
Frank's reactions to Rita's unique phrases give an insight into his attitudes too:
"She said I was off me cake",
and Frank says:
"Aha. I must remember that. The next student to ask me if Isabel Archer
was guilty of protestant masochism shall be told that one is obviously very
off one's cake"
This is a very sarcastic comment to make against Rita, showing that Frank is more ignorant than our first impressions of his class might suggest, although, I suspect there may be a grain of admiration for her style of language, because he is constantly surrounded by people who talk in a proper manner, which would grow monotonous to anyone, and Rita's relaxed attitude must be a breath of fresh air for him.
Rita goes into great detail about her school life, making several bold remarks about the quality of her education:
" ripped-up books, broken glass everywhere, knives an' fights. An' that was just
in the staffroom.", "studyin' was just for the whimps", and " there was always somethin'
in me head, tappin' away, telling me I might have got it all wrong. But I'd just play another
record or buy another dress an' stop worryin'. There's alwats somethin' to make you forget
about it. So y' do, an' y' keep goin', tellin' yourself life's great."
These attitudes show the appaling standards of education in Rita's school, and how valueable education was seen at this school. It also shows how intelligent Rita was, and is, if she is able to see through these hollow beliefs and see how vital it is to have an education. Her intelligence shows that she has the potential which needs to be unlocked, and this is why she needs Frank's help.
After this conversation, Rita encourages the lesson to begin, and in the next conversation, the culture divide becomes even more evident. Rita refers to her essay as, "crap", which a cultured woman would not do. Frank gives Rita a lecture about how important it is to remain objective not subjective when attempting literary criticism and asks her what she thought of the book and she replies:"I thought it was crap!", again suggesting that she does not know quite how literary criticism works, unlike Frank, who fully appreciates the art of literary criticism, and education is very important in culture.
When Rita inquires about wy Frank's previous relationship went wrong, Frank uses very subtle and convincing lies to conceal the real reasons for the break up:
"To give me something to write about, she left. Very noble my wife.
She left me for the the good of literature".
Rita seems to be under the impression that he is being serious, replying with, "are you takin' the piss?", showing she is clearly not very perceptive.
Rita makes a very sarcastic comment at the end of the scene:
"Does Forster's repeated use of the phrase 'only connect' suggest
that he was really a frustrated electrician"
This makes her seem quite stupid, although it does allow the audience to endeer to Rita's sense of humour, which is a testament to Wily Russell's skills as a dramatist, as he can persuade his audience to like certain characters.
In Act Two Scene One, Rita returns from a week at summer school. The education away from Frank, interactions with other students, very hard work and being away from home have a remarkable effect on Rita.
In the reported incidents at the beginning of the scene, we are told that Frank has returned to writing poetry. This shows that Frank is much happier, because he seems to stop writing poetry when he is depressed. This is undetectable in the film, however.
We are also informed in the initial reported incidents that Rita has purchased a new, second-hand dress. This shows she now believes she feels she deserves a new dress because she has been studying hard. The change in fashion change shows a change in her culture, as choice of fashion has implications in this area.
Rita says to Frank, "a crowd of us stuck together all week", which shows she is no longer nervous to be around students as she once was, marking a change in attitude on her part..
Rita has also learned to supress her instinctive sarcastic nature. She says to Frank, "he (a teacher) said 'are you a fan of Ferlinghetti?' It was right on the tip of my tongue to say 'Only when it's served with Parmesan cheese', but Frank, I didn't." This too shows that she has further cultivated her culture as she is able to hold adequate conversation with a teacher, without coming across ignorant, which is the impression we all are guilty of forming about her, in the opening scenes.
Frank offers her a cigarette and Rita turns it down. This shows that not only has Frank given up quitting, but Rita has given up, which she said she would never do. Frank seems to be picking up more slovenly habits, while Rita discards them. Quite a cultural role reversal.
Rita seems to be alot more philosophical. She claims, "a room is like a plant", which would be quite a strange remark for the ?"old Rita" to make. Frank seems rather hostile to this as he replies with a slightly snide remark, "and water, too, presumably? If you're going to make an analagy why don't we take it the whole way? Let's get a watering-can and water the carpet; bring in two tons of soil and a bag of fertilizer. Maybe we could take cuttings and germinate other little rooms." This is a shockingly hostile thing to say. He is clearly very uneasy with a cultured Rita.
Rita and Frank get in an argument about his drinking. She gives him a lecture about how his drinking will kill him, however, she had no problem with his drinking when they first met. Her culture has reformed to the state that she deplores all intoxicating substances like tobacco and alcohol, when she used to be so open-minded. Such subtle changes in attitude really show Willy Russell's skills as a dramatist, as they are not too concealed but not too obvious, allowing the piece to be greatly layered, allowing the reader or viewer to delve into the story as deeply as they want to go and still receive the same sintilation from his work.
At the end of the scene, Frank tells Rita that they are to work on the poet Blake, and Rita tells him that she has already done him and begins to flaunt about her expertise on Frank saying, "you don't do Blake without covering the songs of innocence and experience do y'?". This is an exceedingly conceited remark to make and quite an inconsiderate thing to say to a man like Frank with an obvious inferiority complex. The early Rita would not have made such an insensitive comment.
This scene was not done very differently in the film to the book. This scene, however, was filmed in the park, which i felt was very effective as a change in Frank becuase in the earlier chapters, he claims he has an aversion to light, which shows a change in his opinions.
