At the start of the play, I would present Rita as a young woman with great pride in her appearance and a spring in her step. She would have the latest hairstyle, especially being in that career, and she would be wearing the most modern dress of the time. She would be wearing heels, possibly red to depict her passion for embracing life and getting out of it exactly what she wants, with her ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again’ attitude. She would have a good looking figure that fits the dress perfectly and she wouldn’t look out of place among the highest of fashion trends. Her make up would be enough to make her look real and genuine, someone to be taken seriously. She would carry a red handbag in which would be her essentials, for instance her purse and cigarettes. My Rita would talk with her hands to emphasise her extroverted character, accompanied by a scouse accent. She would speak in the dialect of where she originates and not Standard English.
Rita makes many choices on route to her aspiration of education and desire for cultural awareness. Her toughest decision was the one between starting a family with Denny, which is what he and her family wanted, or education. Rita had been choosing to stop starting a family from when she started to take the pill against Denny’s will. When he found out about this, he threw all her books on the fire in the yard and gave her a straight choice: him or the books. She chose the books, and lost Denny and her home, just for the sheer want of becoming educated. Going to University was initially a big choice in itself. Going from hairdresser to student was a big step, especially without great results from school when she was younger. It was seen to be irregular for a woman with Rita’s lifestyle, at that age, to attend Open University sessions, or even become independent from their other half. She is determined, and tries to absorb everything that Frank says, possessing the right attitude towards become educated. When Frank invites Rita to a dinner party at his house, “full of educated people,” Rita gets as far as the steps to his front door then turns around and leaves before being seen. The door may metaphorically be the entrance to becoming educated. All the educated people are on the opposite side to Rita, but she is not able to open the door and join them. This may metaphorically be her either not being ready or prepared to become Educated Rita, or because she isn’t yet prepared to lose everything that she was. Not at this stage anyway.
Rita has changed dramatically by the end of the play. Rita has quit hairdressing to work in a bistro, recommended by her flatmate Trish. A bistro is much more of a mature and educated place to be around and Rita enjoys the conversation with the students (and customers of a higher class than hairdressing) as she waitresses. The way her speech is now written contains many fewer phonetically spelt words, turning to more of a Standard English aspect, but not completely. She is also attending classes less and less, when it used to be the highlight of her week, the thing she’d look forward to the most. “It’s just that – that there’s so many things happening now. It’s harder.” When Rita talks about Frank’s poetry, she says she loves it and understands it, and yet would have hated it and “would have thrown it across the room and dismissed it as a heap of shit.” Frank accuses her of being “impressed by its over literary pretension” displaying how her understanding and thought process towards literature has changed enormously, and for the worse in Frank’s opinion. He believes she is now no longer who she was, the person that Frank first met when she walked into his office. He shows this when he says “Found a culture have you, Rita? Found a better song to sing have you? No – you’ve found a different song, that’s all – and on your lips it’s shrill and hollow and tuneless.” Also, she said that nobody calls her Rita anymore. She is no longer embarrassed to be herself, so doesn’t need to hide behind her old false name. “I dropped that pretentious crap as soon as I saw it for what it was.” She has also become much more confident in herself, another reason to disregard her name mask, and has openly stood up to Frank and given her honest opinion with no doubts about what she is saying.
At this stage of the play, I would present Rita, or Susan, as an almost complete contrast to the one that I described for the start of the play. Firstly, her hair and make up would be much less subtle. No fancy make up or retro hair-dos, but understated and calmer. High heels replaced by flat bottomed slip-on shoes or trainers. The handbag replaced with a stylish shoulder bag, without the shiny leather but in its place a calmer material. Her clothes would be blander and plainer. No outstanding modern dresses, instead a skirt or trousers with a blouse and mild pullover. Her scouse accent will have faded slightly, leaning a little more towards Standard English. She would walk with her head held high and a smile on her face, as she had fully attained her aspiration to become educated.
Rita learns a great deal as the play unfolds. Rita learns many things, especially about life and its course. This includes how if you want something enough and are prepared to make the correct sacrifices, you can achieve whatever you aspire to, no matter how difficult things get along the way. She also realises, through the tragic suicide attempt of her friend and flatmate Trish, that literature and the arts can certainly not provide all the answers. My personal opinion of Rita is quite high. She is a resolute young woman who will get exactly what she wants, no matter what it takes. I believe that that is a great attribute to somebody’s personality – the will to embrace change and not fear it, not looking back of your shoulder, full of regrets. Rita is also now in a position to do whatever she likes. She has achieved her goal and has many options; perhaps to France with her new student friends; she might go to her mother’s or she might even start a family. Now that she has “discovered herself,” she is free within herself to travel towards any destiny she wishes. I also feel that what Russell is saying to us is exactly what Rita learns: that if you want something enough, and you are ready to do what it takes to achieve it, then anything you want to do is, without a doubt, more than possible. He is also displaying that choices we make should be for what we think is best for us, and that education may give you a better chance in life, but won’t necessarily lead to ultimate happiness.
Iain McEwen
