Changes in Ritas Character throughout Educating Rita Essay -- Educati

Changes in Rita's Character throughout Educating Rita With reference to the social context of the play, discuss the ways in which Willy Russell shows the changes in Rita’s character throughout Educating Rita. In the play Educating Rita by Willy Russell there are two main characters, Rita and Frank. Rita is a twenty six year old uneducated hairdresser. She wants a better life for herself; she wants to have an education. She didn’t get a full education at school as she says, ‘See, if I’d started takin’ school seriously, I would have had to become different from me mates, an’ that’s not allowed.† This shows Rita felt she could never take education seriously because it was for the ‘wimps’ and she didn’t want to be different to her friends, and her family didn’t regard education as being important. She goes to the Open University to further her education in English literature. In the Open University there is a professor called Frank, he will be tutoring Rita. Frank has a drinking problem and he also thinks he is a bad teacher. He says, â€Å"Everything I know – and you must listen to this – is that I know absolutely nothing.† He thinks literature and high culture have given him nothing in life to value, that’s why he thinks so poorly of his job. In the play Willy Russell tries to show the ways in which Frank and Rita communicate. When Rita first walks into Frank’s room she is full of questions, she has a lot to say. It seems as though she is full of life. Frank describes Rita, â€Å"Do you know, I think you’re the first breath of fresh air that’s been in this room for years.† Frank likes it that Rita is different from his other students because the things she says come to her naturally. Rita has not been tr... ...ere she is eager to learn, as she says, â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..if you want to change, y’ have to do it from the inside, don’t y? know like I’m doin’.† This shows Rita wants to change. She also goes to summer school in order to learn more; by going to summer school it boosts her self-confidence. Then she moves in with someone called Trish, who she admires and now because she has changed, has a lot in common with her. The things Rita has done, which are to have taken great lengths in getting an education, show how serious she is about her desire to want to change herself. She even separates from her husband for the reason that she chose education instead of him, in an ultimatum her gave her. She has tried so hard to succeed and now that she has, I think that is being realistic. No one handed her an education on a plate, she worked hard for it, I this that is realistic.