Frank works in a university but also tutors for the Open University. Franks wife has quite a few friends but frank doesn’t because he is always out at the pub. Frank uses clever words and talks in an intellectual manner.
When Rita looks at the picture and says“ that’s a nice picture” frank thinks it is a strange thing to notice because he has never really noticed it. “Actually I don’t think I’ve noticed it in about 10 years”. Frank feels it is a very strange thing to talk about. He takes his surroundings for granted, For example the window “ I don’t often consider it actually” and jokes about throwing a student out of it.
I think Frank likes and respects Rita because he said, “Would you like to borrow it” meaning the book. He also must have had respect for her to let her come to his dinner party.
Frank finds Rita attractive and tells her at the end of Act 1 Scene 4 “If she knew I was at the theatre with an irresistible thing like you Rita, it would be deaf and dumb breakfast for a week”. When frank flirts with Rita she puts her self down to try and stop him “Well, what’s she got to be jealous of me for”. This suggests that they both think different things about their relationship. Rita thinks they’re friends but I think Frank wants more or maybe he’s joking.
Rita thinks of frank as a tutor and a friend but nothing more for example “You’re a good friend Frank”.
Rita tells Frank that Denny “gets dead narked if I work at home”. This shows that Denny doesn’t like Rita going out. Perhaps he does not want her to do better than him. Rita says that Denny is afraid of her getting stronger by going to Open University. He would prefer her to “go out to the pub with him an’ his mates”. He is probably afraid that he will lose her.
Denny is working class however Rita talks about working class culture “round our way like” – meaning going to pubs and talks about people in the hairdressers not understanding about books. Denny does not appear to want to improve himself in any way. He likes things as they are. He also thinks that that women should have children. However Rita says she is not ready for children yet. She is pretending to have come off the pill. When Denny finds out that she has been lying about it he burns her books. This shows how unhappy he is with Rita’s new interest. He also hates the way she’s changing.
When Rita says she isn’t having an affair with Chekov Denny says he wouldn’t put it past her to “shack up with a foreigner”. This shows he doesn’t understand anything about books or what Rita is learning.
Rita and Denny split up when Denny tries to make Rita stop doing the course. He packs her bags and says she has to stop going to see Frank and stop taking the pill. Rita decides to leave because Denny tells her to choose between her tutorials and him.
Rita starts breaking away from Frank when she leaves for summer school and she also starts missing classes “you didn’t come last week”. Rita doesn’t rely on Frank much any more because she starts to become more confident and independently minded. She goes to a summer school to learn even more. Frank is surprised when Rita has read poems by William Blake already. She has made opinions of her own without Frank helping her.
Frank still wants and needs Rita because she is the only thing left in his life. I know this because he asks her to go to Australia with him “Rita, will you come away with me”. Again we don’t really know if he is joking or not.
The audience feels that Denny is a nice man but doesn’t think about what Rita wants and needs. The audience think that Frank doesn’t really care any more for example getting drunk before lectures.
Education has changed Rita into a completely different woman; she speaks good English and writes literately. At the end of the play when she has passed her exams we don’t know what Rita will do next. She may go to France. She says she may even have a baby, “I’ll make a decision, I’ll choose. I dunno”. She will take her time and now is more confident to choose herself.
