Act One, Scenes Six and Seven in Educating Rita :: Educating Rita Plays Willy Russell Essays

Act One, Scenes Six and Seven in Educating RitaRe-read Act 1 scenes 6 and 7 of Educating Rita. How does WillyRussell suggest that these scenes are important stages in Ritasdevelopment?When we speak of the way that Rita is educated we speak of twodifferent types of education. Frank is Ritas teacher for both thesetypes of education as he is a person who Rita looks up to andidolises to an extent. Not only is she educated in EnglishLiterature to gain a qualification, merely also she is also educated tomake the transition from the lower social class towards the middle(a)one. Rita also sees Frank as someone to look up to, as he is where shewants to be in life.Scenes six and seven come roughly half way through the sport. This issignificant because we are looking at Rita halfway through herchallenge of gaining an Open University degree and her challenge ofbecoming the person she truly wants to be.The play is centred on two main characters, Frank, a middle class,alcoholic University tutor and Rita, a working class, scousehairdresser, who are very different. Rita decides to enrol on an OpenUniversity English Literature course in rules of order to try to create abetter life for herself. Her tutor for this course is Frank. Howeverat first Frank tells Rita to find a new tutor, precisely Rita refuses andthey continue to work together. Franks fondness for Rita continues togrow over time and he warms to her and her witty, individualisticnature. However Ritas quest to further her knowl butt is troubled byher economise Dennys disagreement with what she is doing. Yet thissimply fuels Ritas ambition more and leaves her hungry for success.Rita is more passionate about gaining the qualification than ever whenshe goes to see a production of Macbeth, so much so, in fact, thatshe even buys the book. Rita shows how much her relationship withFrank means to her when she goes to tell him first thing the next day But listen, it wasnt borin it was bleedin great honest, ogh, it do me in .Having watched the professional production, Rita displays excitementand enthusiasm and has an eagerness for more. Ritas attitude changesfrom her expectations of a boring play to sheer astonishment that sheenjoys it so much. Rita watches with an open mind and she herself issurprised that she enjoyed the play and the general atmosphere somuch. She expresses this to Frank by informing him that at one pointshe wanted to stand up and shout I was on the edge of me seat at