At the start of the play Rita is a bold character and is dissatisfied with her life. Throughout the play she changes, losing her individuality and flare wanting to become the same as the students around her. As a result of Rita choosing education Denny believes she is no longer the woman he married. To Denny she is having an affair with education, which has the same effect as with another man, “You’d think I was having a bloody affair”.
Denny tries everything in his power to get the old Rita back. He tries buying her presents but Rita can see him “wondering where the girl he married has gone to”. This shows that Denny does not like what Rita is changing into.
Denny feels that as Rita chose education she has betrayed him, she admits to this “He said I betrayed him. I suppose I have”. This suggests that she knows what she has done but still believes education to be more important.
Rita’s development has affects on Frank. He does not like himself and says he is “an appalling teacher”. He used to be a poet but stopped for the “good of poetry”.
Frank really likes Rita and displays this by openly flirting with her. He tells her that there are “a thousand things” he’d “rather do than teaching; most of them with you”. This shows that Frank would like a non-teacher-pupil relationship with Rita.
At the beginning Frank does not want Rita to have an opinion but towards the end he does not like or approve of what she has turned into. She has become like all the other students and lost what makes her different. She even gave up smoking because she believed it would make her fit in better with the middle class. Rita believes she is a “half-caste” because she does not fit in with the middle class but no longer fits in with the working class. Rita wishes to change but Frank does not. In a tutorial Rita attempts to open a window but is unable to. The window being closed signifies that Frank is scared of change. Frank believes where he is right now is safe, so he does not wish to change or experience new things.
Rita believes that if she wants to change class she has to share the values of the middle class and become more intellectual. Frank wants Rita to stay the same as he thinks she is fine as she is. He does not want her to lose her flair and become like all the other students, not having an original thought. She believes that only literature is important. Frank thinks that she has lost what makes her unique in the quest for education. He judges that she no longer knows what is important, “are you capable of recognising what does or doesn’t matter, Rita?”
Throughout the play Rita becomes more confident and achieves her dream by passing the exam whereas Frank’s drink problem escalates and will inevitably cause his downfall, like the characters in a tragedy. Frank’s flaw is alcoholism. It causes him to lose his job and relationship with Julia. He no longer has a clear view of when he should or should not drink. This is shown by the character of Frank getting drunk to do a lecture for his students and not seeing a problem in doing so.
Willy Russell has developed the characters of Frank and Rita through change, due to education, each other’s company and the pressure of class and culture. Rita has achieved her dream and more by passing the exam. She is educated and believes she now fits in with the middle class, she feels she has been improved, whereas Frank does not wish to be a part of society. He does not like the views and pressures placed on him by class and culture. Drinking is a way to relieve him from all of those pressures. Frank loses his job and relationship with Julia. The development of the characters of Frank and Rita show how class, culture and the people around you can affect the outcome of an individual’s life.
