Willy Russell writes that, "Education gives you a choice" Explore the ways he uses the character of Rita to portray this view of education.
In my opinion education means setting yourself up for life, giving you choices and letting you be independent. Education is about learning skills and having knowledge, and proving this by having qualifications. I have this opinion because my parents have a similar view, and also my teachers, who seem to point it out a lot. My opinion of education links into Willy Russell's view of "Education gives you a choice" Willy Russell shows this view with Rita by comparing her from the beginning of the play to the end. Rita's education is not restricted to scholastic learning alone; her transformation from the uneducated Rita to the educated Susan is all encompassing. Rita sees and understands the importance of being well educated, but for Rita, education helps her to overcome her background and break away from the traditional role expected of a woman in the 1970s. Rita has set herself on a course of self-discovery, she has a determination to control her own life and make her own choices. Rita believes it is education that will give her these choices. Rita knows that the value of education goes far beyond simple intellectual enlightenment. Education entirely changes Rita which, though she is prepared for a change, affects her life enormously.
The play is set in the 1980's when the equal pay act had only been running for 10 years. Women were only just beginning to be recognized as equal, but many people still thought they were meant to stay at home and raise children. The equal pay act makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate between men and women in terms of their pay, conditions and type/place of work.
Birth control was invented in 1939 and was available to all women in 1961. This gave women the choice whether they wanted children or not, it gave them independence.
The Open University opened in 1971 and was established in 1969. Its original idea was thought up in 1926. The Open University is for any aged people, and is for all people with all different backgrounds. It is easier to get into The Open University because the entry qualifications are lower than other universities, it is for undergraduates.
Before we even meet Rita we learn that she is a woman, and is attending the Open University with a tutor called Frank "I've got this Open University woman coming" we learn this from Frank's phone call with a ...
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The Open University opened in 1971 and was established in 1969. Its original idea was thought up in 1926. The Open University is for any aged people, and is for all people with all different backgrounds. It is easier to get into The Open University because the entry qualifications are lower than other universities, it is for undergraduates.
Before we even meet Rita we learn that she is a woman, and is attending the Open University with a tutor called Frank "I've got this Open University woman coming" we learn this from Frank's phone call with a woman names Julia, who is thought to be his wife. This shows that she is eager to learn because attending the Open University is her own choice. The fact that Rita is a women makes everything harder for her, because in the 1980's the equal pay act had only been running for 10 years and many people still thought that women should stay at home and raise a family. Willy Russell introduced Rita as being really active and ambitious. It shows clearly when Rita enters Frank's room by saying "I'm comin' in, aren't I? It's that stupid bleedin' handle on the door?" this clearly shows the audience that Rita can be pushy and also bossy. I think that this gives the audience some thought of what Rita might be like in the rest of the play.
At the beginning of the play when we meet Rita: a common and outspoken woman with no qualifications. She works as a hairdresser but wants more from her life. She turns up at the Open University and comes across as chatty "I talk too much, don't I? I know I talk a lot." And also seems slightly dim "All right. It'll probably have a job findin' my brain".
Rita is an initially narrow minded and socially naïve Liverpudlian trapped by her working class life. Rita thinks an increase in intelligence and worldly knowledge will change this, and set her "free". She strives to change classes, and although is different from her working class peers, she still isn't ready to be accepted as middle class. She aims to reach her goal through an Open University course, yet naively thinks knowing what books to read and clothes to wear will allow her to immediately become accepted as part of her chosen social strata. Change is a major part of the play, affecting Rita in both positive and negative ways. It shows how the influence of education helps to bring about these changes, and how eventually Rita is able to overcome and negative problems and settle on a happy balance. Rita is also molded by her tutor, Frank, and learns a great deal from him, whilst also teaching him in many ways.
At the beginning of the play you can see how different Rita's and Frank's social class is because they don't really understand what each other are saying, for example when Rita first arrives Frank says "You are?" to which Rita replies "What am I?" this shows the lack of education Rita has by not understanding what Frank means.
Rita didn't get a full education at school as she says, "See, if I'd started takin' school seriously, I would have had to become different from me mates, an' that's not allowed." This shows Rita felt she could never take education seriously because it was for the "wimps" and she didn't want to be different to her friends, and her family didn't regard education as being important. She goes to the Open University to further her education in English literature.
Rita is 26 and that she has been expected to have had a child by now "I'm twenty-six. I should have had a baby by now; everyone expects it, I'm sure my husband thinks I'm sterile" this shows that from her background, attending the Open University is not the seen thing to do. Rita really wants to learn though "I wanna discover myself first" she is determined to get some sort of qualifications before she settles down to have a family, this shows how dedicated she is, that she is going against what everyone expects of her.
When Rita is asked to write an essay on "Howards End" and did not act like an educated woman when writing it. She decided to stop reading because of what was wrote in the book "An' that's why I didn't go on readin' it" this shows her immaturity and inexperience of being educated, if she didn't like it, she should have wrote about why she didn't.
As the play progresses Rita gains the ability to speak Standard English, as appose to colloquial speech, "D' y' need the money?" Which improves to, "I have merely decided to talk properly." She has been educated to know how to do so; thus by extending her vocabulary and learning the correct grammar she now has a choice to speak as she pleases, this is an obvious change in Rita, showing she is educated.
When she comes back from summer school that is when you notice the big changes in Rita, firstly she is wearing new clothes "(She twirls round on the spot to show off her new clothes)"; this shows there has been a change in her view of how she looks. Another change in Rita is her ability to write essays to a good standard now because she was constantly doing them in summer school "Work? We never stopped. Lashin' us with it they were; another essay, lash, do it again, lash."
At the beginning of the play Rita drank and smoked, but after summer school she is encouraging Frank to stop drinking "It'll kill y', Frank" this shows she has grown up more and sees the consequences of her actions, she has given up smoking because she knows what it can cause. Her view of the other students has changed, she no longer sees herself as different to them, before she would rather be in the room alone with Frank, but after summer school she wants to be outside in and amongst the students "I started talking to some students down on the lawn." This shows she is no longer afraid of the other students and does not feel inferior to them.
After summer school Rita leaves her hairdresser's shop to work in a bistro "I haven't worked there for a long time. I work in a bistro now" this shows she has moved on with her life and put everything behind her. She even left Denny to move in with a flat mate Trish "It's like Trish, y' know me flat mate" this shows she is not letting anyone stand in her way of achieving her goals in life.
There are obvious financial and logistical reasons for making "Educating Rita" a two-handed play. The play is essentially about the impact of education on the lives of two people and it therefore does not need to distract the audience with Rita and Frank's other relationships and concerns. The depth and intensity of Rita and Frank's relationship is also highlighted by having them as the only characters on stage. It could be argued that the single room set does not give the audience enough of a sense of the social context of the two characters, but this is more than made up for by the incidents that they narrate about their lives outside Frank's study, for example when Denny burns all Rita's books.
The structure of the play is in 2 acts, the change between act 1 and act 2 is used as a turning point in Rita, because it shows the big change after summer school. It is easy to compare Rita's character in act 1 and act 2 and note down the differences.