What have frank and rita gained and lost by the end of the play?

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What have Frank and Rita gained and lost by the end of the play?

Over the course of the play, Educating Rita, the characters of Frank and Rita develop considerably, both gaining and shedding characteristics and changing their personalities as we progress through the play.  Rita’s gains are often more distinct than Frank’s; however we can see by the end of the play a significant development also in the latter’s character.

        One of the most key factors of Rita’s gain over the course of the play is the character’s ability to make choices of her own, and the knowledge that she can.  Despite the fact that her intentions for taking it were not entirely relevant to this beneficial element, the literature course developed Rita’s mental prowess so that she could make decisions with prudence and ease.  Her insecurity and inhibitions in making choices were eminent particularly in the first act of Educating Rita, and much of the second act.  Rita’s indecisiveness is specifically evident in consideration of her relationship with her husband, Denny.  Although Rita has not striven to hide the fact that her marriage is not a strong or healthy one, she fails to sever their relationship until given the ultimatum we learn of in Act 1 scene 8.  We also learn of her reluctance to socialize with educated people in Act 1 scene 6, although she had previously expressed the wish to be a part of middles-class society.  By the end of the play, it is also evident that Rita understands and embraces her new-found ability to make choices.  We can see this in the final scene of the play, with ‘I had a choice’ and ‘I’ll choose’.  Although any intentions Rita’s character might have had regarding her ability to make decisions were not voiced, we can infer that this aspect of the character’s new personality plays a major role in her transformation into who she wanted to be.  Rita’s knowledge of her ability to make decisions is also significant because this gives her the confidence to actually make the decisions, which is a vital component in her lifestyle.

        Another, more palpable beneficial factor for Rita’s character is that she has gained an education.  Over the duration of her course at the Open University, Rita’s character has learnt about literature and appreciation of it.  She learnt to understand and analyse literature, convey her ideas objectively, and how to pass her literature exam based on how she answered the questions set.  However, Rita has also learnt of the lifestyle of a middle-class, educated person.  As she progressed through the course, her increasing knowledge of literature gave her a broadening insight into the lifestyle she had been looking towards achieving in enrolling into the university and the experience of being educated.  The play explores Rita’s second chance to be educated, and her obvious success means that she has fulfilled her potential and become what she sees as an educated person.

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        The end of the enrolment into the Open University and her relationship with Frank left Rita a much better-rounded person.  Rita returning to hairdressing to cut Frank’s hair at the close of the play makes it eminent that she has not completely shed her old, energetic and vivacious personality, and combined with her education, Rita has become much more interesting and sociable.  We see evidence of this from the first scene of Act 2, when Rita describes how she had an intriguing conversation with students of the university.

Perhaps the most significant loss Rita’s character has sustained by the ...

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