Rizwan mohammed
The play is all about Rita who wants to change. At the start of the play she changed her name to Rita but later changed it back to Susan. She wants to change from the inside. At the beginning she is a working class hairdresser in Liverpool and she is dissatisfied with her life. She wants to break away from the working class and wants to become middle class so she joins an English literature course at the Open University because she believes that it will give her more choices in life. By the end of the play she becomes more independent and self confident and has gained an education. She still wants more education but has gained the ability to choose what she wants. At the beginning she wanted to be like her tutor Frank who is middle class and educated. By the end of the play Frank is drinking more and because of this he loses his job and splits up from his partner.
The character that changes the most is Susan. She is a working class hairdresser with no education and wants to change. At the beginning she changes her name from Susan to Rita because she thinks it sound more sophisticated and middle class but realises to change properly you have got to do it from the inside. She says it is not as simple as changing a dress because you have to work at it. Later Rita changes her name back to Susan. ‘I dropped that pretentious crap as soon as I saw it for what it was’
She wants an education because she believes that her mind is ‘full of junk’. She feels ‘out of step’ by not having an education. At first she makes superficial changes such as her name so that it is more sophisticated and middle class. She also gives up smoking after coming back from summer school. This is when she is more self confident. She also changes her voice as her flat mate thought her voice was horrible but she changed it back when Frank told her it was horrible. When she starts to get an education she splits up from Denny her husband because he no longer understands her. He doesn’t know why she is unhappy and wants her to have a baby. When he realises that she’s been on the pill he is angry and burns all her books blaming education for her changing. ‘Denny found out I was on the pill again; it was my fault, I left my prescription out. He burnt all my books. She changes her job when she moves in with Trish. She starts working with her in a bistro because She idolises her ‘she’s dead great. Y’ knows she’s dead classy’. She also meets Tiger, a student from the university. She realises that the students are not perfect and sees them for what they really are.
