In the opening first scene the characters are put in a working setting. The scene starts with Rita struggling to open the door to Frank’s study and is stressed by the fact it can’t open. This symbolises the eagerness she has to be taught and the struggles she faces to get what she wants. On the other hand it can show the carelessness Frank has and it could be his way of locking himself away from the world.
As she finally enters the room she comes out with an outburst.
“I’m coming in aren’t I!? It’s that stupid bleedin’ handle on the door. You wanna get it fixed!”
Rita is nervous on her first time meeting Frank, her body language and speech speaks her mind freely and uses slang, swearing and has a question and answer for everything. She talks back in ways such as “What am I?” and I’m a what?” which shows she’s being defensive towards Frank while he’s trying to give her an identity.
She gets curious as she enters the room by looking all around to spot different objects. She is interested in a classical nude painting on the wall and took a start on questioning what it was doing there and coming out with inappropriate remarks such as “look at those tits”. Due to this picture she misunderstands Frank’s choice of art yet doesn’t seem to know that it wasn’t his personal choice. Frank doesn’t even remember the picture being there by saying he hadn’t looked at it for about 10 years, this shows he takes everything for granted and doesn’t appreciate anything.
Rita notices the wide viewed window at the back of the room where she suddenly is hooked to which pictures her looking out to freedom. Frank doesn’t even notice that it’s there either, which shows his lack of interest in the outside world.
Frank is more of a humble yet secretly sneaky character. He doesn’t seem to show much appreciation for what he has such as having a successful job and a caring girlfriend. During a phone call with his girlfriend, he mentions the word ‘lamb’. This could’ve been a technique used where the playwright wanted to show the innocence his girlfriend has compared to Frank. He treats everything with hardly any respect and as soon as Rita enters the scene there was a sudden obvious mood change. He offered her some drink and shared a cigarette with her which shows a start of a bond or friendship but nearing to the end Rita quits her addiction which leaves a gap between them both. As soon as Frank discovers Rita’s enthusiasm to education and her willingness to be taught he sees her in a different light and claiming to her by saying “You’re the first breath of air that’s been in this room for years” which could mean Rita could be educating Frank as much as he’s educating her.
As witty and as hard as Rita may seem she does have a caring and sensitive side to her. She cares about the way people judge her and the life she has in hold. She wants an education as she believes it’s the only way she can be set free from a life she feels as if she’s trapped with. Her husband doesn’t even encourage her and forces her into becoming a housewife and wants children with no intention of arguments so it could be seen as a failing marriage. She then puts her all into becoming as educated and open minded as she can get by working hard and proving everyone wrong. “God what’s it like to be free?” This shows a s sense of depression and shot the start of her fight for freedom.
With the thought of Rita’s enthusiasm entering Frank’s life he backs out. It seems as if he wants no fun in life at all and wants to be stuck with the same dull job he has spent doing for over a decade now. He’s a very reluctant person as he refuses for Rita to cut his hair which could mean a big change in the usual ‘scruffy’ look he has that could make him look like a better person. He admits to being an “appalling” teacher and refuses to tutor Rita as he feels inadequate for the job and says “I’m sorry... there are other tutors, I’ll arrange it for you”. In another sense it seems as if Frank is jealous of Rita as she’s trying to make a difference in her life while he doesn’t even bother to do his job properly. Who would expect a university lecturer to be hiding bottles of alcohol around the study and being a raging alcoholic?
As the play nears to the end it comes from an awkward ‘getting to know each other’ feel to not wanting it to end. Both Rita and Frank grow close with each other over time and the viewers grow to love them too.
