Having watched the professional production, Rita displays excitement and enthusiasm and has an eagerness for more. Rita’s attitude changes from her expectations of a boring play to sheer astonishment that she enjoys it so much. Rita watches with an open mind and she herself is surprised that she enjoyed the play and the general atmosphere so much. She expresses this to Frank by informing him that at one point she wanted to stand up and shout: ‘I was on the edge of me seat at that bit. I wanted to shout out an’ tell Macbeth, warn him.’
The way that Rita reacts to Shakespeare is valuable because she has viewed the play without looking at it from an English student’s viewpoint. She fails to notice that the play is written in verse for example.
However Rita struggles to grasp the idea of what a true tragedy actually is. She believes that a tragedy is a random event. But Frank shares his knowledge with Rita and explains that a tragedy is ‘inevitable and pre-ordained’ and that a random happening is simply ‘tragic’ not a ‘tragedy’.
Willy Russell uses different words and phrases to portray Rita’s lack of understanding, humour and excitement. He uses hesitation to show confusion: ‘So-so Macbeth brings it on himself?’ He shows her humour by using slang as well. When Frank explains how if a man is hit by a falling tree it is tragic, not a tragedy, Rita’s reply is: ‘It is for the poor sod under the tree.’
I think that in this scene Frank is a good teacher because he shows Rita how he is there for her to talk to and he listens to her first experience of something that he has experienced many times before: ‘I’m honoured that you chose me.’ Frank wants Rita to see him as more of a friend than a figure of authority (a teacher). I also think that one of Frank’s strength’s is the way he explains to Rita the meaning of tragedy without seeming pushy: ‘It’s quite easy, Rita.’ The way that he relates what he is explaining to circumstances that Rita will understand is one of the marks of a good teacher. The way that he doesn’t become impatient is also a good element of his character.
Towards the end of the whole discussion about tragedy it is significant that Rita looks through the window onto the ‘proper’ students. It is as if Frank is unlocking doors in her brain which she never knew were there before and making her see and understand things in a new, improved way. The window is a divider between the working and middle social classes. It is at this point Rita begins to see through the window clearly and she acknowledges her desire to be on the other side of it. However, though she clearly wants to be middle class, her nerves always seem to get in the way.
Russell suggests Rita’s nervousness at the prospect of going to Frank’s house for dinner y using short lines to create an atmosphere of tension: ‘Will you come?’
‘If y’want.’ Most of Rita’s lines comprise just one word, showing us how unsure she is and that for once she hardly knows what to say. We can infer that at this point, Frank is inviting Rita to enjoy a taste of middle-class life and although Rita would love to go, she feels deep down that she isn’t ready yet, ‘An’ y’ want me to come? Why?’ Rita’s unfamiliarity with the event is clearly observed because she is so anxious, that for example, she even asks Frank what she should wear.
Russell opens scene seven with the conversation already begun so that Frank can explain indirectly to the audience what has happened between now and the last scene.
Rita begins to sharpen her pencils, and this shows us that she is trying to avoid the issue that is being raised and that she feels embarrassed, awkward and guilty: ‘What does the word ‘sorry’ mean if it’s not an apology.’
At this point in the scene, Frank’s attitude is different and the way in which he is talking tells us that the argument between the two has been going on for a long time. Frank seems to be annoyed and irritated but not angry, and is in a way sarcastic. Frank expresses his anger through sarcasm: ‘two empty seats at the dinner table means more of the vino for me.’ Frank is persistent in telling Rita that he thinks she should have told him that she wasn’t planning on going. Frank virtually says that although Rita hasn’t reached it yet, she has breached middle class courtesy and etiquette.
The mood of this scene to start with is tense, awkward and almost uneasy. Rita is clearly upset and frustrated to a point, but Frank seems to patronise Rita by telling her that she didn’t have to dress up or bring wine, yet that is the sort of thing he would do. After building herself up and climbing the social ladder a bit, Frank lowers her back down and this enrages Rita.
After a while, Frank calms down and begins to tell Rita all the qualities that he admires in her, but this only adds to her anger, frustration and determination: ‘They would have seen someone who’s funny, delightful, charming…’ Rita is very honest at this point and expresses all her feelings; she seems more determined than ever, but she becomes sad and philosophical. Usually, Rita only speaks in short sentences but she now uses lengthy paragraphs of about five lines. The way in which she does this shows us how she feels the need to express herself and display all her feelings. Rita uses the word ‘freak’ to describe herself because she can’t see where she belongs in life. Rita has tried to persevere with what working class life can give her but her thirst to excel gets the better of her. She talks about herself in the third person to show detachment and distance. Rita thinks that she was invited to be an entertainer but she wants to be taken seriously like anybody else. Frank doesn’t see her as ‘educated’, and this infuriates her.
Frank tries to use humour to lighten the tone: ‘Rita for Christ’s sake; I wanted you to come along. You weren’t expected to dress up or buy wine.’ It is as if Willy Russell didn’t want us, the readers, to be dragged into melancholy. The scene ends positively though. She describes herself as ‘half-caste,’ but later decides she really wants to be middle-class. Rita realises that if she didn’t do anything now then she would turn in to her mother, who is unhappy with her life the way it is, and that she wants to take action. Rita acknowledges that she doesn’t fit into either class at this point.
This is a turning point in the play as Rita realises she wants to be taken seriously; She doesn’t want to be judged on her wit or by her appearance. Rita’s job as a hairdresser changes people’s appearances, she transforms people.
She has spent her life thinking about other people and has never thought about her self enough up until this point.
Rita thinks that there is more to herself and feels the need that she has something to prove to others, and in particular her husband, Denny.
When Rita sees her mum crying in the pub, it scares her about what might happen is she doesn’t do something. She realises that her own mum isn’t honest with herself. ‘I said: “Why are y’ cryin’ mother?” She said, “Because we could sing better songs than those.”’
In these two scenes, Willy Russell shows us how Rita has grown up and opened her eyes to reality, but also how she is still the same fiery woman that we first met. Rita now has the will power to complete her social class shift and she also has Frank’s support behind her. Frank’s words of wisdom and persistence show his affection for Rita and his wish for her to do well. In her mind, Rita is now ready to become a member of the middle class and forget her working class roots. In the succeeding scenes of the play, Rita leaves Denny, the anchor she feels was tying her down to a working class, and thus unacceptable, life. After she does this, Rita moves in with another woman who happens to be of middle class background. Rita learns a great deal from this woman and even changes her name back to Susan because she thinks that it sounds more appropriate for a middle class woman. In addition to these major changes Rita attends a poetry summer camp and this marks the final stage in her metamorphosis from a working class caterpillar to an elegant middle class butterfly. But as much as Frank wants her to fulfil her ambitions, he doesn’t want the Rita he knows and admires to change.
