You can see the difference between Rita and Frank’s education early on in their conversation,
‘Frank: You are?
Rita: What am I?
Frank: Pardon?
Rita: What?’
Just these lines show the difference between Frank and Rita. Frank is much more polite and formal while Rita is very informal and sometimes even rude and a little aggressive.
As we progress through the play Rita gathers confidence. Despite Rita’s personality Frank enjoys her company. He has never met a student like Rita, the uniqueness she possesses; the lack of fear to admit she is wrong or does not know something. He feels happy and looks forward to her next visit. For the first time in a quiet a while Frank feels happy about a student. He expresses his happiness to her by telling her,
‘I think you’re the first breath of fresh air that’s been in this room for years.’
Here Frank admits how bored he is with his career. All he does is teach “normal students”. He hates them all so much that he sometimes feels like throwing them out the window,
‘Frank: I sometimes get an urge to throw something through it.
Rita: What?
Frank: A student usually.’
Rita has come into his life and changed all of that. Teaching Rita makes him feel that he is really doing his job, something he has never felt before. Teaching her makes him happy, he enjoys himself.
However this happiness for Frank does not last long. At the end of Act 1 Rita cannot take it anymore. She desperately wants to change and start writing essays like the ones on Frank’s desk and pass examinations like a real student. Frank takes a more reluctant view. He tells Rita that what she already has is valuable and that he does not know whether he really wants to change her.
‘But I don’t know if I want to tell you, Rita, I don’t know that I want to teach you. What you already have is valuable.’
The problem Rita has with this is, in terms of passing examinations, her writing is useless. She no longer wants to be useless. She wants to make something of herself and to be someone. She tells Frank that he has to change her. This is hard for Frank as he does not want to change her for he likes the uniqueness she possesses. He does not want her to abandon it. What Rita wants Frank to understand is that she has come on this course to change so, if Frank can, he should change her.
The first act of the play focuses on the building of the relationship of Frank and Rita. In Act 2 however Rita begins to change. Over the summer Rita leaves her husband, moves in with a girl called Trish and goes off to London in a summer school. This is the start of Rita becoming more independent, more educated.
Rita comes back from the summer break fresh and happy. She has been energised and returns to tell Frank all about her adventure. She brings Frank a pen, trying to encourage him to start writing again. She comes in and is very excited, she is bursting to tell Frank all about her new experience. Frank who is happy to see Rita once again welcomes her. Rita then recounts to Frank everything that has happened to her over the summer holiday. Frank, who also went on holiday, to France, says a little about his holiday. Frank is then a little surprised to find out that Rita has moved in with a flat-mate called Trish, who, according to Rita is educated,
‘Y’ know she’s dead classy.’
This is a sign that Rita is moving up in the world and might not need Frank as much.
The atmosphere in the room till now had been very light and friendly. Rita filled with confidence and motivation asks Frank if they can start the work. She wants to start studying a really good and well known poet. Frank gets a book on the poet William Blake. To his utter astonishment, he finds Rita has already done the poet at summer school. Frank realises that he is starting to lose Rita. Rita is finding other means of education. He is no longer as important, Rita now has Trish and others. Frank knows that his time with Rita is nearing an end.
Frank starts to become very jealous and uneasy as we go through Act 2. Now Frank realises the more he teaches Rita the more she is moving away. Rita is starting to find her own way in life. The old Rita would never have interacted with anyone “educated” because she feared she could not talk properly or understand what they might say. This new Rita wants to socialise with “educated” people and has started with the students at the Open University. She is learning not only from Frank, but Trish and other students as well. Frank can not tolerate this and becomes extremely jealous.
In Act 2 scene 2 Rita comes to the tutorial late. Frank is confused for Rita has never done this before. Once Rita eventually arrives Frank realises that she has grass on her back. He asks her how and why is there grass on her back and she replies that she had stopped to talk to a few students. Frank is shocked for he has done his upmost to keep Rita away from them. He believes that if Rita spends too much time with them, they will take her away from him. Frank was always wary of the real students.
‘You were talking to students – down there?’
Rita is oblivious to Frank’s jealousy and does not see Frank’s attempts to keep her away from the other students. Frank says,
‘Well! You used to be quite wary of them didn’t you?’
Here Frank is talking about how he really feels. It was not Rita who was wary of the students, it was him. Because he kept Rita in his little world he managed to get her to think like him, hence, he made Rita wary of other students. Frank is becoming very uneasy because of Rita’s interaction with other students.
In Act 2 scene 3 Frank can not take it anymore. The scene opens with Rita for the first time. She is in Frank’s office to show that she is in control, in other words, there has been a role reversal between her and Frank. Frank comes into the classroom very drunk. Rita after seeing Franks state decides he cannot teach and starts to leave. Frank forces her to sit down and tells her he will teach. He starts to talk about Rita’s most recent essay, an essay she wrote about William Blake. He tells her that he does not like the essay. She asks is it wrong and he replies that it is not. Rita becomes slightly confused because Frank is saying that it is not a good essay but, it will get a good mark if it was to be in an exam. She asks Frank what is he trying to say and he says that the essay has lost that unique “Rita-ish” touch.
‘But there’s nothing of you in there.’
Rita then explains to Frank that he has been teaching her all this time to not be subjective in order to get a good mark in the exam.
She then literally tells Frank that he has to back off a little and give her space. This is what Frank has been dreading for a long time. He is really starting to lose Rita now.
In Act 2 scene 4 Frank starts to become more and more irritated. Rita has once again come late for her tutorial. Once she eventually arrives Frank tells her to sit down. Rita has changed jobs and did not tell Frank. Frank is hurt by this for he and Rita were very close. She used to tell him everything,
‘It struck me that there was a time when you told me everything.’
Frank is losing the importance he had in Rita’s life. Rita apologises and says she forgot to tell him but Frank’s patience is being stretched. He tries to make Rita feel guilty,
‘You can hardly bear to spend a moment here can you?’ but it does not work. Once that fails Frank becomes angry with Rita and tells her to study his own poetry and write an essay on that.
‘A critical assessment of a lesser known English poet. Me.’
Act 2 scene 5 is a very short but important scene. It is short because Rita comes at a wrong time. Her next tutorial was scheduled for the week after. But Rita could not wait. She had read Frank’s poems and found them amazing. Frank then tests how much he has taught Rita by asking her,
‘From now on I shall insist upon being known as Mary, Mary Shelley – do you understand that allusion, Rita?’
He then explains to Rita that Mary Shelley was the writer of the story Frankenstein. In the book Mary Shelley creates a monster, Frank is saying that by changing Rita he has made her into a monster, he has created a monster himself. Frank has realised that Rita is know educated and that his time with her is over. He decides to end the relationship himself. He can not bear it anymore. Rita after seeing Frank’s behaviour becomes angry herself. She tells Frank that nobody but him calls her Rita anymore. Frank retaliates at this by saying,
‘What is it know then? Virginia? Or Charlotte? Or Jane? Or Emily?’ here Frank is mocking Rita. Now that she has changed her name and become educated she must have named herself after a famous English female writer. The relationship has been destroyed.
The final scene of the play (Act 2 Scene 7) both characters have come to terms with themselves. They both accept each other. Frank shows that he has accepted Rita by giving Rita a dress he bought for her,
‘It’s erm – well, it’s er – it’s a dress really. I bought it some time ago – for erm – for an educated woman friend – of mine…’
Frank accepts Rita even though she has become educated. By giving the dress he shows that he is alright with her however she chooses to live her life.
They also agree to start over fresh. Frank plans on heading to Australia whereas Rita has yet to decide. Frank says,
‘I hear very good things about Australia. Things are just beginning there.’ And
‘It’d be good for us to leave a place that’s just finishing for one that’s just beginning.’
