The whole play is set in Frank’s office. It is very formal, old fashioned and a very academic environment. In act one, scene two, Rita asks “What y’ lookin’ at?” while she is wondering around the room. This shows he is attracted to her physically, as he follows her around the room with his eyes and obviously likes looking at her. At this point in the play he likes Rita and her personality and looks.
By Act two we see a very drastic change in Rita’s personality. During the break which the change of act symbolises, she has been to a summer school. She know has more knowledge of literature, and has changed her lifestyle. She has left her husband and the mental barrier he represented in the earlier scenes, and has now moved in with Trish. She has also learnt some self control over herself, by not giving a humorous answer and instead, giving an educated answer. We see an example of this when Rita is asked “are you fond of Ferlinghetti?” Instead of replying with humour, she replies with “actually, I’m not too familiar with the American poets. Whilst at summer school, she has been taught about Blake (Frank’s favourite poet) and his works by another tutor. This seems to upset Frank, as another tutor has had influence over her and her knowledge is not all thanks to him. He realises that now she does not totally depend on him, and he is not the only one she looks up to as a symbol of middle-class life. She acts more confidently and seems to be taking control in their relationship. During this scene Frank becomes more and more quiet and low as Rita discusses the development she made at summer school. He is obviously very disheartened by her change, as he refers to her leaving. He says “what do I do when, in appalling sobriety, I watch you walk away.” This shows that when she is no longer in his life, that he will have nothing to work for, and that he is scared of that time. Her change which we have seen in this scene has prayed on his insecurities, and has made him think of times when she has completed her transformation and will no longer need him.
There is also a lot of dry humour during the play to cover up the unhappiness Frank is feeling. Frank also talks about her leaving, saying “I shall be glad to see you go” although we can tell that he does not want her to go (the comparison to “air” shows his need for her in his life). He now realises that she does not rely on him for her education and that she has other influences on her change, such as other lecturers and Trish and this seems to upset him. Rita describes the way his mood has affected her “like [she’s] having a bad night in a mortuary” which shows his obvious upset about her being so happy now she has had other influence. The use of humour in this statement shows the tension between the couple, and that Rita feels the need to break the ice between them. Rita now is very confident with an author which Frank presumed he would have to teach her. She can recite one of Frank’s favourite poems and she shortens ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience’, to ‘innocence and experience’ which makes her seem very confident, like it is something she uses all the time and can abbreviate. At the end of scene one, he says “No. Of course”, this sounds very dry and lifeless. He then sits down. This also shows us he feels very hard done by as she becomes less dependant on Frank, as other people are having a bearing on her education and it seems to upset him.
Her change of clothing also symbolises her transformation. During the play, Russell uses clothes to symbolise change. In the early scenes, Rita says “I’m not going to get one either, not till - till I pass me first exam. Then I’ll get...the sort of dress you’d only see on an educated woman.” Her new image shows that she feels she has changed. She seems very proud of her change in the first scene of the second act, and first greets Frank with a twirl to show off her outfit. This is another sign of her confidence, to which Frank seems at first happy, but his mood soon changes to become dry, irritated and slightly upset as he realises she has bought new clothes because the tutors at summer school have helped her change. We can see he is jealous of the other tutors who have had an effect on her change, when he says “my influence gone forever.” This tells us that, he very quickly presumes she does not need him when she has become educated.
By scene two of the second act, Frank has developed a very strong sense of jealousy towards all the others who have had a bearing on Rita’s development and life. He also seems to be annoyed that Rita spent her time talking to other students rather than coming on time to his tutorial. He firstly greets her by saying “hello Rita. You’re late.” It is a very formal opening instead of his usually friendly, sometimes flirtatious greeting, such as “what is this vision, returning from the city?” This shows us he now feels cold towards Rita, instead of being happy to see her as he was in earlier scenes. She is talking in an unusual voice, which she sees as making her sound more educated. Frank dislikes her ‘new voice’ partly because she has decided to speak in that way on the advice of Trish. He seems jealous that she has listened to her and says “(appealingly) Rita, stop it!” He asks her to “just be [her] self”. He wants to change her voice back the way he wants to change her back to the way she used to be. He does not seem to understand that she does not want to be herself and that he must let her change. In this dispute, Rita seems to be the one who is right, as Frank is being ignorant of her needs. He cannot see that she needs to become educated to escape the lifestyle she once lead. I think that Rita is right in this argument, and her control in the argument, shows the transfer of power in their relationship. It also symbolises her becoming more educated, as now she is right and does not rely on Frank to advise her, she can speak for herself.
Later on in the tutorial, Rita tells Frank she was late because she was discussing literature with other students and that they have invited her to go with them to France at Christmas. He immediately jumps in and comes up with reasons why she cannot go, saying she has her exams and then her “results to wait for”. However, Frank wants her to stay to be with him, although he cannot say this to her face and so tries to make up an excuse. During the play they have established a mutual need for each other and Frank feels that she cannot leave him as he needs her as much as she needs him. Rita then talks about Tiger, one of her new friends but Frank seems to become very jealous saying, “is there any point in working towards an examination if you’re going to fall in love and set off...” Although Rita did not mention that she is attracted to Tiger (she merely likes being with him and the crowd which he is associated with), Frank jumps to this conclusion as a sign of his own insecurity, as if he has feared something like this would happen. He is being very melodramatic at the thought of her going away from him, as he needs her in his life. At the end of the scene, Frank has accepted her essay to be of the same standard as the other students. Instead of praising her and complimenting her when she says “honest?”, he just says “dead honest”. This lack of compliments shows that Rita does not need frequent compliments like a small child would do, and now she can recognise her own accomplishments, without being told. He seems very low and instead of being friendly about it, he just speaks the two words, as if he finally realises that she is changing and has now become educated. By scene three, Rita is able to generate her own ideas about a poem they are studying, called ‘the Blossom’, but Frank says he does not agree with her ideas and does not like her essay. The title of the poem is significant, as a blossom is associated with spring, when new life is born. This is another way which Russell shows she is changing, or being re-born. Frank says “we discussed it” and it upsets him that she is now independent and does not rely on him to teach her, as she can now think for herself.
In scene four it also upsets him that she has not told him about a major change in her life, when she changes jobs. Rita says “I was telling someone” which makes him feel very down, as she now just sees him as another one of her friends, as they are all of the same class and that she can not remember who she has told. This is another sign of her changing, as he is now not as special as before, he is just one of her friends and Frank reacts badly to this, feeling very sorry for himself.
Later on in the second Act, Rita begins to lose the traits that previously attracted Frank to her. Because Rita was so different to the people he usually befriends seemed to be one of the reasons he found her so attractive (her being like a “breath of air”) and as she begins to lose her unique persona, Frank acts in many different ways towards her. In scene three, it is as if Frank has become the person Rita once was, whilst Rita acts in the way Frank did. Frank has read ‘Rubyfruit Jungle’ and thinks it to be “excellent”, and then repeats something which Rita said before she had changed: “assonance means getting the rhyme wrong”. By referring to things she has said and done in the past, it is like he is trying to recapture the parson she once was. This shows the audience, he does not like the person she is now, and wants the old Rita back in his life. He does not like the person he has helped her turn into and likens himself to Mary Shelly in scene five. He says, “I shall insist upon being known as Mary, Mary shelly.” In drawing a parallel between Shelly and him, we see he feels that he has created a monster and is not happy with what he has done. He feels that her change has not been for the better and that he will soon lose the distinctive person she once was. We see this when Frank reads her essay in scene three, and he says, “But, Rita, these aren’t your views” and “there’s nothing of you in there”. This refers to how she used to be very opinionated in her writing but now she does not write subjectively but objectively. Frank shows obvious unease at this and dislikes her essay purely because there is nothing showing the person she used to be.
As her attendance to tutorials becomes more sporadic, Frank questions her commitment to the course, saying “perhaps you don’t want to waste your time coming here any more?” However, in saying this, he is also referring to her commitment to him. He is showing his own insecurities, that she might not want to come and spend time with him, and that he will lose her. He is showing his upset as he realises that his tutorials are not the centre of her life anymore and that their mutual need for each other is now non-existent as it is only him who needs her in his life. This firmly puts Rita in control of the relationship, as she has no real reason to continue with the tutorials as she could easily pass the exam without anymore help from him.
In the final scene of the play, Frank and Rita meet for the last time. Frank seems to have come to terms with the transformation Rita has under-gone and Rita has begun to see that being educated does not make you happy. She has realised that the two major influences in her life both have problems, but hide them with their lifestyles, which is what she aimed to do by becoming educated. Frank presents her with a “dress...for an educated woman”. The symbolism of this, refers to Rita stating in Act one, scene two that she won’t get a new dress until she has passed her first exam. “The sort of dress you’d only see on an educated woman.” The presentation of a dress shows his acceptance of her metamorphosis into an educated woman. Rita’s many choices now include ones from her past and her present, but at the end, she cut’s Frank’s hair. She is doing a job which she associates with her old lifestyle, showing she has completed a complete circle. The ending that Russell has chosen is effective, as it draws together all the points of the play, by concluding Rita’s change, Frank’s feelings towards her and his final acceptance of the person she now is. Frank used to be attracted to her, and thought her to be a very interesting character, whereas now, she has none of the traits which attracted him to her, and so he now purely sees her as a friend, however he is still uneasy about what the future holds. Throughout the play, we see how Frank’s feelings change from being attracted to her, to being cold and arrogant towards her in scene two of the second act. The ending Russell has chosen however, has no definite conclusion, and lets us imagine what might happen between the two characters in the future. However, as Frank now does not like Rita as much due to her change, it seems their relationship has runs its course, and there is no future for the two.
