Educating Rita
Discuss the Success of this Introduction to the Play's Characters and themes. Do you think Willy Russell has successfully made his opening Dramatic and Entertaining? I think that Willy Russell has made the introduction of the play, Educating Rita, dramatic and entertaining because he uses techniques such as: * Just two characters * Set in just one room * Humour * Similarities between Rita and Frank - both read books, and smoke etc. * Similarities between Rita and Willy Russell - both from Liverpool, both hairdressers and from working class backgrounds. Educating Rita is a stage comedy written by Willy Russell which premièred at The Warehouse, London, in 1980. The two characters are: Frank - an unsuccessful, upper class man who is in his fifties, writes poems and is a university lecturer. He is tired and jaded and has not looked out of his large bay window or looked at his nude, religious picture for about ten years. Frank is an alchoholic who pulls out a book at the beginning of the play and behind it appears a bottle of whisky. He then pours a large slug into a mug. He only works so he can buy more drink. Rita - A young 26 year old, working-class hairdresser, who is loud, inquisitive and uses lots of slang - "I'm comin' in, aren't I? It's that stupid bleedin' handle on the door. You wanna get it fixed!" This is the first time Rita speaks and she doesn't
Educating Rita
EDUCATING RITA The play is in a naturalistic setting. The whole play takes place inside one room, namely Frank's office; a book-lined study in a university in northern England. And by adhering to the unity of place Willy Russell is not just able to concentrate on the drama, but also the humour of the play. The play is set in year it was written, 1985. The play itself is structured into two Acts. The first act deals with Rita beginning her search and her education, trying desperately to fit into Frank's world. Frank is the teacher, the one with all the knowledge. He's always saying the right words. Rita looks up to Frank. Whereas on the other hand you have his opposite, Rita, who is uneducated, loud, out spoken and common. Rita breezes into Frank's life like a breath of fresh air. The story of the play is that of the developing and changing relationship between the two of them both as teacher and student and also on a more personal level. During the play the character of Rita is completely transformed. And this needs to be shown through the way the actors play their characters and the way they interact on the stage. In the beginning she struggles greatly with her language skills, only managing to develop the necessary skills after her success at the summer school, to succeed in the second act. As the first act experiences the breakdown of Rita's marriage with Denny; the
Educating Rita
Educating Rita Educating Rita is a fascinating book about two people, two every day working class ordinary people. So I asked myself how does will Russell keep our intrest with only two characters one study set in the heart of Liverpool in the mid 70's. Just when women where starting to say we should be at work not at home it must have been hard for Willy Russell. In the play Educating Rita Willy Russell has included a few details, which represent him as a person that he has included in the book. Example Rita was a hairdresser, Willy Russell came from a poor background and poor education and so did Rita. Willy Russell had many cunning tricks to keep our attention throughout out the whole of the book. Willy Russell uses several types of humour, he uses dry, witty, corse and flirt I have obtained examples of each type of humour. Flirt: Rita and Frank are having a conversation about Forster and Rita says. " Honest to god he doesn't half get on my tits". Frank has a reply, which if he had three more seconds to think what he was saying he wouldn't of said it; the reply was an automatic reaction, and that quote was "Good. You must show me the evidence". I have an example of dry humour, they are both engaged in conversation about students, and Frank starts off by saying. "Reading and Studying? What do you think they are, human proper students don't read and study". Frank
Educating Rita
Reader: "Educating Rita" The Author: Willy Rusell He was born in Whiston (near Liverpool). His dad worked in a factory, his mum in a warehouse. At primary school he read books, did a bit of gardening, played football, but didn't care much for being a good student. Secondary school in Huyton was tough, students were rude, he learnt to survive, hated his metalwork teacher, Mr. Anders, then he went to another school in Rainford, which was a paradise compared to Huyton. There, he started to enjoy reading and thought about becoming a writer, but he was a "D" level student so he had no chance to enter college, he applied to start a course to become an apprentice printer but failed; his mother suggested he should become a hairdresser and he did, but he had no abilities to succeed, even though he had his own salon, there he wrote songs and poetry in his spare time. He knew he wanted to write, so he left everything and decided to get the money to pay for the college fees, he got a well paid risky job until he earned enough money for the fees, then he went to college and felt old among 16-year-olds, however, he also felt at home. He was starting again. It was just the beginning of his career when "Educating Rita" became the best comedy of the year in 1980 when played by the Royal Shakespeare Company and in 1983 it was the 4th most popular in Britain. The story: It is a comedy
Educating Rita
The play centres around just two characters, Frank and Rita. Willy Russell uses his characters to tell his audience about social class, education and the differences between people. Consider how the play does this. What is Willy Russell's message or motive for writing this play? Educating Rita is a satirical and humorous analysis of the social class differences in our society. Insightfully and with great drama, Willy Russell depicts the chasms which exist in our highly socially stratified society. The play may seem at first sight to have limitations. There are only two characters. The setting remains largely static. Yet, despite or possibly because of these limitations, Russell gives the audience an insight into social class differences in an unusual and enjoyable manner. At the beginning of the play we are introduced to Rita who is part of the working class, she has little education and a poor job as a hairdresser. Rita feels trapped with the situation she is landed with and believes that there are better possibilities in life. She doesn't want to fit into the stereotyped image of a woman with her background, but feels that in some ways it is expected of her. "I've been realisin' for ages that I was, y' know, slightly out of step. I'm twenty-six. I should have had a baby by now; everyone expects it......See, I don't wanna baby yet. See I wanna discover meself
Educating Rita
Essay When Rita was at school, she did not have much of an education, nobody wanted to learn. Even her friends. Rita did not want to learn then because she did not want to be different "and that's not allowed". When Frank asked her "by whom?" she said "by your mates, by your family, by everyone". She had to be more interested in clothes, music and "fellers".Rita then realised that she was not satisfied with the life she was leading, "Is this the absolute maximum I can expect from this living lark?" Frank later on tells her that she "barely had a basic schooling", and she'd "....never passed an exam in her life". At first, Rita couldn't read poems "I couldn't even get through one poem. I tried to read this thing he wrote called 'J. Arthur Prufrock'; I couldn't finish it". Also Rita's first serious book that she reads, she cannot finish because she does not agree with the views expressed in 'Howard's End'. This shows lack of knowledge of how to value English literature. "...Its crap because the feller who wrote it was a louse....because he....says,....quote 'We are not concerned with the poor' unquote. That's why it's crap" By Act 2 scene 4, she has written an essay that Frank adds to the pile of essays from University students. Rita asks, "What sort of mark would it get?" and Frank replies "a good one". Towards the end of the play, Rita has not only learned about
Educating Rita
English Coursework: Educating Rita The name of the play that I am doing this coursework on is called Educating Rita, it is written by Willy Russell. Willy Russell was born in Whiston, just outside Liverpool in 1947; he comes from a working class background. Before becoming a writer he was a ladies hairdresser, he worked extremely hard to become what he is today. His dad, at various times, worked in the mines, in a factory, ran a fish and chip shop and also ran a library-on-a-bicycle, transporting books in two suitcases strapped to the sides of his bike. His mother worked in a warehouse. The fact that Russell came from a working class background is very similar to Rita, in his play, like Rita, Russell had a `low skill` life an many working class jobs, even hairdresser. Another similarity is that Russell grew up with mostly females around him; his mother, grandmother and his aunts. This had a big influence on his work and writing about women and class, again, this is similar to Rita's character. The play itself takes is for two characters and takes place in Frank's office at the university, it is set in the late 70's and early 80's and is about a twenty six year old young wife called Susan White who wants to better herself by studying literature. Rita enrols herself into the Open University; her assigned professor is Dr. Frank Bryant, a man who prefers the company of Jack
Educating Rita By Willy Russell.
Educating Rita By Willy Russell Educating Rita is a two hander play which features the characters of Frank and Rita, however, there are references to other characters during the play. There is one setting, the setting is Frank's study, which is in a Victorian built University, and there is a basic plot which consists of Rita trying to get educated through the Open University. Willy Russell was born in Whiston, which is just outside Liverpool. He is like Rita in many ways as he was a hairdresser before he became an author, he didn't have a proper education as he didn't take school seriously. He also studied English Literature t an Open University. The play was written in the 1980's. Frank is in his early fifties and is a heavy drinker, this is obvious from the first scene as it says in the stage directions: 'he manages a gulp at the whisky before he picks up the receiver and although his speech is not slurred, we should recognize the voice of a man who shifts a lot of booze.' He also sounds frustrated with his job, you can tell this when he says ' I shall need to wash away the memory of some silly woman's attempt to get into the mind of Henry James or whoever we're supposed to study on this course... Oh God why did I take this on?' This makes it obvious that Frank doesn't want to do this job at the Open University. Frank is only doing the Open University job as he needs
Educating Rita Coursework
Educating Rita Coursework The opening scene of Willy Russels "Educating Rita" is very affective in introducing the characters and the theme of the play. He gains the interest of the audience in many different ways. Firstly as the curtain rises we see frank a man in his early fifties in a room on the first floor of a Victorian built university in the north of England. This gives the effect of an intellectual play in a grand environment. As we first introduced to frank he is a middle-aged man who is scurrying along a bookshelf quickly removing books before instantly replacing them. This behaviour is very unusual and leads to the audience asking all kinds of questions about the character. As he looks further he starts to get angry using phrases like "where the hell." He then remembers a dickens book giving the impression of poetry to the audience. As he removes the book a whisky bottle is revealed which he then pours a drink from. The audience at this point believe frank is an intelligent, short tempered, middle-aged man who could be a closet alcoholic. After the alcohol fiasco Frank has a telephone call with his partner with whom he is very sarcastic with. The first thing that is noticeable is that Franks speech is recognisable to that of a drunken man confirming any alcoholic queries the audience may already have. His first comment is very disrespectful and also a sarcastic
Educating Rita Coursework
Educating Rita Coursework Daniel Chambers 0Jn 0X1 Miss Beresford. Introduction Do at the end:) Synopsis of the story Rita is a working class, 26- year old hairdresser living in the North-East England. She takes a decisive step of enrolling in the English literature course at an open university. This means that she has to break away from the tight restrictions imposed on her, due to her husband and by her community at work and home, and become educated. During the play she experiences lot of stress imposed on her, this is from splitting up with her boyfriend and dealing with her flatmate trying to take an overdose of drugs. However, she decides to continue her roles of a student and finally passes her exam. She is helped to pass her exams by her tutor, Frank. Frank is Rita's tutor at the Open University. He isn't just Rita's tutor but he is also a literature lecturer. Unfortunately Frank suffers from a drinking problem. He has suffered from one failed marriage and presents his relationship with his partner (Julia) as not an easy one. Frank does appear to have a comfortable middle-classed lifestyle and has had minor success as a poet. Body Text of this Coursework The first scene that I am going to analyse is Act 1 scene 7. In this scene Rita should look like she wants to open herself up and let Frank see her real background. Frank should acknowledge the trust the