Educating Rita

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Educating Rita

This coursework is about the play ‘Educating Rita’. The main purpose of this coursework is to cover all the changes in Rita throughout her tutoring period with Frank and to decide whether these changes helped Rita achieve her goal, which was to have a good education and to be able to mix in with clever people without sticking out like a sore thumb.

The play ‘Educating Rita’ is written by Willy Russell. Willy Russell was born in Whiston, near Liverpool, England, in 1947. Russell has written a string of popular, award-winning plays and musicals, but perhaps one of the most well known is ‘Educating Rita’ which was successfully made into an Oscar-nominated movie starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters. Other well known Russell works include Shirley Valentine and Blood Brothers.

The play is set in the time it was written, in 1985. ‘Educating Rita’ is mainly about a 26 year old hairdresser who wants improved knowledge. Her aim in life is to be a well-read person who can mix in with the clever crowd (especially with the students). Unfortunately Rita has to alter her self to reach that stage.

The person who aids her with her learning is her tutor Frank; he attempts to teach her to think differently and helps her gain confidence. When she reaches the stage where she can read novels and understand them, Rita becomes much more independent. She goes to summer school where she begins to change who she is. She does this by amending her accent, transforming her style, getting a better job as a waitress and changing her name to Susan. Although these changes broaden her variety of friends, ‘Susan’ eventually realises that education isn’t about changing who you are and pretending to be someone your not, so she changes her name back to Rita and no longer remains Frank’s responsibility. She finally understands that her education gives her more choices in life.

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        At the beginning of the play, Rita enters the room on the first floor of a Victorian-built university in the north of England. Franks first impression of her is that she is funny and very sarcastic. Rita persuades Frank to teach her after a lot of pestering. Frank feels as if though he is not good enough to teach someone so enthusiastic because he has failed to do so with his previous students, who complain a lot about his drunken behaviour.

 Rita is very keen to learn. Franks asks her ‘What do you want to learn?’ Rita replies ‘Everything’. ...

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