Educating Rita by Willy Russell Essay -- Educating Rita Sociology Soci

Educating Rita by Willy Russell "Educating Rita" displays the major changes that occur in the main character, an initially narrow minded, outspoken and socially naà ¯ve Liverpudlian trapped by her working class life. Rita thinks an increase in intelligence and worldly knowledge will change this, and set her "free". She strives to change classes, and although is different from her working class peers, she still isn't ready to be accepted as middle class. She aims to reach her goal through an Open University course, yet naively thinks knowing what books to read and clothes to wear will allow her to immediately become accepted as part of her chosen social strata. Change is a major part of the play, affecting Rita in both positive and negative ways. It shows how the influence of education helps to bring about these changes, and how eventually Rita is able to overcome and negative problems and settle on a happy balance. Rita is also molded by her tutor, Frank, and learns a great deal from him, whilst also teaching him in many ways. Rita's bright, bold, bubbly character is revealed in the very first scene, as the two characters are introduced. She makes a very dramatic entrance, bursting through the door, swearing, and immediately drawing all attention to her. She isn't really sure how to act, and her insecurity and nerves make her appear in such a loud manner. This shows how little she understands of formal interview situations- one would expect her to appear fairly meekly, maybe shy, and also very formally, yet she acts cheekily and informally. For example, not only does she ask Frank if she can smoke, but she also gets out her cigarettes before he has had a chance to answer. She even offers him one, trying... ...re introduced, including maturity. In the middle of the play, she thinks Frank is a bad teacher, but by the end, she realises that he made all this possible for her, and her maturity means she isn't too stubborn to thank Frank and truly appreciate what he has done for her. Although she changed in negative ways, she learnt from these. She realises that she doesn't want to risk becoming trapped again, like with Denny, but wants to dictate her own destiny with the choices she makes. The ending is left very open, not telling the theatre viewers what happens to either Rita or Frank, but lets you imagine for yourself what paths they take and where and how they live their lives. This reflects the theme of choice, by letting viewers decide what happens, but also for the characters to decide and change which way they will go and what choices they will make.