Educating Rita. How the character of Rita changes.

Critical Essay: Educating Rita. The play "Education Rita" by Willy Russell has a character that undergoes a dramatic change during the course of the play. Rita is a character who changes during the play. It is set in a "Victorian-built university in the North of England, in a book-lined tutorial room." The play is based around Rita White, a hairdresser who is dissatisfied with her work and wants to transform herself. To do so, she goes to an Open University course. The themes surrounding this play are the transformative nature of education, self-discovery and class. In this essay I will show how the writer uses setting and key scenes to show Rita undergoing dramatic changes. One technique the writer uses in the play is the setting. The play is set in a "book-lined tutorial room in a Victorian-built university in the North of England." Rita first arrives like an alien coming from one world to another. We see that she has to overcome obstacles straight away when she struggles to open Frank's tutorial door. "I am comin' in... It's this stupid bleedin' handle on the door." This is symbolic as it means the academic world is not easy to get into. A painting in the room catches Rita's attention. We learn from stage directions that 'Rita is looking at a nude-painting. She becomes aware that Frank is watching her." Rita is not as educated as Frank and describes the painting as

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  • Word count: 528
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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With Reference to Act 1 Scene 4 & Act 1 Scene 7 as a basis, explore how Educating Rita is a play about the clash of Class & Culture

With Reference to Act 1 Scene 4 & Act 1 Scene 7 as a basis, explore how 'Educating Rita' is a play about the clash of Class & Culture 'Educating Rita' is a play that is essentially based around the clash of Class and Culture. Rita, 26-year-old scouse women, is looking to improve her life, to do this she decides to Sign up for the Open University; Rita wants to become a Middle Class Student. Her Husband "Denny" wants Rita to conform to the Working class Expectation and settle down and have a baby. Rita was put with a troubled Middle class tutor who is not satisfied with the middle class life. Act 1 Scene 4 and Act 1 scene 7 show clearly the clash between Class and Culture. Willy Russell, the author of 'Educating Rita', based to play on his upbringing; Willy was a working class child, which was attempting to become middle Class. Willy didn't care about school. Willy was an avid reader; Willy never went out to the theatre to help him with his studies, unlike Rita. Russell enrolled in an O level English literature course and passed it just like Rita enrolled herself for the Open University and worked her way towards being able to make her own choices in life. In act 1 scene 4 and act 1 scene 7 it is shown how hard it is to get an education. The Open University was established in 1969 and when the Open University opened to make it a lot easier for women to find an education no

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  • Word count: 970
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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With close reference to her speech in Act 1 Scene 4, how does Rita represent the views of Willy Russell?

With close reference to her speech in Act 1 Scene 4, how does Rita represent the views of Willy Russell? In this essay I will try to conclude whether Rita can be seen as the voice of Willy Russell. I will look at the views they share as well as the ones they may not. Throughout this essay I will refer to Rita's speech in Act 1 Scene 4 of the play as well as making reference to other parts of the play. Rita makes it clear in her speech that she does not want to follow the life that people do from her working class background. She says the she wants to "break away" from the people that are getting in the way of her progression and that she becomes "stronger comin' here" (the university). This follows on from Willy Russell experience of going on a trip to the factory when he was younger. He tells us how "most of the kids with whom I visited that place accepted that it was their lot to end up in that place", however, like he portrays Rita as not wanting to stick to her premade path of life, he also shows that he didn't feel comfortable with accepting the route his background had made for his life, proving that Rita has expressed his views. Rita's socialist views come through in this speech as she believes that the powerful people in society use their influence to make the working class background believe that they can't be more than they want to. She believes that the national

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  • Word count: 1939
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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