Most of ‘Educating Rita’ is set in franks study. Many things in Franks study can tell us more about him. Firstly, Frank has a bottle of whisky hidden behind some of his books on a bookshelf. This shows he has no respect for the books because they might get some whisky on them and be ruined. It could also tell us that he is an alcoholic because most people can wait until after work before they have a drink, Frank obviously cannot. It makes us wonder were the play will lead; is it just a small glitch in his personality or will it make him really bad? When Rita first enters the room she comments on a picture on franks wall. ‘That’s a nice picture isn’t it?’ Franks says that he doesn’t look at it so this could show he doesn’t care for art but he only has it there to make him look ‘professional’. Rita also thinks that the picture is erotic but frank isn’t very warm towards the idea.
Willy Russell has used some dramatic devices in the play. An obvious one is when Rita tries to enter the room first of all. After she knocks on the door and is called in by frank, she tries to open the door. She struggles and cannot open the door. In the play this dramatic devise is disguised by the fact that the door handle was stiff and needed to be oiled but it could mean that Rita was struggling to get into franks study, which was her first step into the educated world. Russel also makes Rita act a bit of a slob when she first comes in; she dumps her bag on the floor and she talks rudely and is quite abrupt. This helps show that she is uneducated and makes her seem as if she doesn’t fit in the room. Another dramatic device that is used is when Rita and frank are talking about poets and authors but all Rita can link them to are pubs ad actors out of TV programmes. This shows she is very uneducated. Also, her favourite book is ‘Ruby fruit Jungle’ which is a very poor uneducated type of book. The fact that she offers it to frank and recommends it shows that she must think that there are no better books out there that he could of read, even as an educated man.
The language that Rita uses is very different to the language that frank uses. Rita uses slang. I know this because she say ‘D’ya’ (Do you), ‘wanna’ (want to), Y’know (You know) and many more. She also cuts the ending off her words. She uses then when she said ‘bleedin’’ on page 23. It shows she is a bad talker because she swore and couldn’t even say it properly. She swears a lot, she also says words like; ‘I’m really fucked’ and ‘…takin’ the piss...’ She asks frank if he swear and he states ‘all the time’. In the act 1 scene 1 he doesn’t swear so maybe he was lying to Rita to try and fit in with her or maybe he does swear but as he was at his work he did not want to. When they first meet, they have trouble understanding each other. Franks says ‘and you are’ and Rita says ‘I am what’ thinking that he was saying something else because she cannot talk properly yet. This changes further on in the play though. The misunderstandings in the conversations make them funny and exciting to read and would be to watch.
Relationship is a big theme stated in act 1 scene 1. You have the relationship between Frank and his girlfriend, Rita and her Husband, and the growing relationship between Rita and frank also. The relationship between frank and his girlfriend doesn’t seem to be going very well. He put his alcohol before her and he still did after she said that she had cooked him dinner. That shows he has no respect for her as any normal man would go home to his girlfriend to have dinner and go out afterwards. After he puts the phone down he says ‘yes, that it, go and put you’re head in the oven’. This shows he was annoyed at her and he had no respect. The relationship between Rita and her husband couldn’t have been very good because she said that she wanted to explore herself and not have kids. She said that she wanted to learn but her husband had been against the idea were most men back up there wife’s when they want to do something. She was also at the study in secret so she couldn’t trust what he might do if he found out, like if he found out she was on the pill. Would he hit her or something? Frank says that ‘...I think you’re marvellous...’ This shows he like her from a very early stage. The relationship develops on more after the first couple of chapters.
I think that the play relates to real life in the society at that time a lot. I think it helps with flow of the conversation and themes in the play. I think that the dramatic devices used and also the language used in the play really helps move the play along and makes it more humorous when they have a conversation. The essay has explored the social context and setting very well and used good dramatic devices. The themes have been good and useful for the reader/watcher. I think that the play would be exiting and dramatic to watch on stage.
