Educating Rita komplette Zusammenfassung

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Act I, Scene I:

In I,1 the two characters are introduced to the audience. We understand that Frank is not
happy with his life, his wife and his job (Open University). He also seems to have developed
a drinking habit. Nonetheless, Frank is well read in English literature. Rita’s entrance is
remarkable, because the audience sees right away that she doesn’t behave (speak, act) in
an adequate way. Her language is rude – at times vulgar with a lot of sexual frankness, her
behaviour doesn’t fit into the situation (first meeting with a University Scholar). Rita asks a
lot of very direct and inadequate questions (“D’y’need the money?” p. 10, l. 8)
In the course of conversation, the audience sees that Rita has a different attitude towards
literature than Frank has (“It’s the kind of poetry you can understand” p. 10, l. 12). Rita
quite openly reveals her goals: At 26, she feels “out of step”. Everyone else expects her to
settle down and have children, whereas Rita wants to “discover” herself first. Her
motivation to join the course is apparently that she wants to create a new identity for
herself. She is looking for a meaning in her life and the course (i.e. Frank) is the means to
this end. (We may infer that Frank is in quite a similar situation). Frank tries to convince Rita
of finding a different tutor, but Rita makes clear that she is determined to have Frank as her
teacher “an’ you’re gonna bleedin’ well teach me” p. 26, l. 1-2)

Act I, Scene 2

The first thing I consider important is, that I noticed two different levels in the dialogue. First
there is a private chat and the second level is the ongoing education of Rita. Moreover,
some of Frank’s feelings towards Rita become apparent. All through the text you get bits of
information about the two characters.
The main content of act 1 scene 2 is the discussion of Rita’s subjectivity. Frank criticizes
Rita’s lack of objectivity. Though Frank does understand why Rita is offended by the
contents of the discussed literature “Howards End”, he does not appreciate the reason, why
she stopped reading it. In order to educate Rita he tries to explain, why objectivity is
necessary to be able to deal with such literature.
As a matter of fact Frank is quite amused about the way Rita’s trying to understand the
books.
Some key parts in which shreds of the relation between Frank and Rita become apparent
are e.g. when Frank is waiting for Rita to come. His repeated checking of his watch is a sign
for his eagerness to meet Rita. Moreover, Rita admires the way Frank lives. That can be seen
from the quotation “cos you’ve got taste” and “perfect mess”. Apart from that Rita is
worried about the health of her teacher (“You’ve not been drinking, have ‘Y?”).
The ambition of Rita, i.e. she wants to be able to “talk about things that matter”, becomes
clear in this scene as well. She tells Frank about her neglected school education and about
the question of whether her life has nothing better to offer for her. She is trying to resist the
pressure society is exercising upon her (“[…]you managed to resist another new dress?”p.
32 ll. 11-12) When Frank tells her, why he and his wife split up, she cannot understand the
reason (“Nobody splits up because of poetry”). Shortly after this, he’s charming Rita and
gives hints about his feelings towards her.

Act I, Scene 3

In act I, scene 3, Rita’s first impression of the books she has received from Frank is very
negative. To her, these books are “borin’” and “sort of posher”. So it’s no wonder, that there
are a lot of discrepancies (=Unstimmigkeiten) between her and Frank with regard to her
learning (or her desire to learn). After they have talked about the books, he gives her some
advice on how to understand these books right. At the end of the scene, Rita understands
(or sees) that she has to learn how to cope with “proper” literature.

Act I, Scene 4

The fourth scene of the first act of “Educating Rita” by Willy Russell starts with Rita, who
enters Frank’s room by telling him that she doesn’t understand the book “Howard’s End” by
William Forster. Later Frank reads her homework, an essay on “Peer Gynt”, which includes
only one sentence: “Do it on the radio.” Rita’s answer to Frank’s question, why her essay is
that short, is that she has had a lot of work that week, and her husband Denny doesn’t want
her to work at home. While she gets the chance to write this essay again, Frank and Rita
discuss the “working-class culture” and “Howard’s End”. Finally, she writes two sentences
(instead of just one).
Act I, Scene 5

In this scene, the audience learns that Denny has burned Rita’s books, because he has found
out that Rita is still on the pill. Rita sees that she is merely finding herself and that this
process is the reason for her crisis at home. However, Rita rather discusses Chekhov than
her marital problems.
In the following, we watch Rita and Frank talk about personal matters – e.g. Frank informs
Rita that he has stopped writing poetry, because he simply couldn’t stand his own
“academic” style.
 It seems as if Frank’s way of “educating” Rita is in contrast to his own perception
of his poems. Where he dislikes his academic style, he continues to demand a more
academic style in Rita’s way of “dealing with literature”.

Act 1, Scene 6

In the beginning of this scene Frank is sitting in his office, when Rita is entering, out of
breath. She´s a bit jittery and wants to tell Frank about her “adventures” she has had the
night before. As a result of that she talks about some play she has been to and comes to the
conclusion that it has been totally exciting and entertaining. After a short discussion it
becomes clear that it has been Macbeth. Just a minute later she wants to leave again,
because she has left a customer at the hair-dresser’s studio. But then she uses the word
“tragedy” in a wrong context, so Frank starts explaining the true meaning of a “tragedy” and
its difference to “tragic”.
Finally, Frank invites her to a dinner party at his house the next Saturday.

In this scene it becomes obvious, that Rita is just at the point where she starts appreciating
literature. She seems to be amazed by the fascinating plots of some tragedies and plays.
Indeed, Frank is a bit surprised but actually quite happy about this development.

Act I, Scene 7

In this scene Frank talks to Rita about why she and Denny haven’t arrived at the dinner-
party.
Rita tells him, that she has had a big fight with her husband concerning the invitation and
that she has wanted to go to Frank on her own, but when she has stood in front of his
house she has realized that she has been out of place there, because she’s just a second-
class woman and not as educated as the others. When she tells Frank this he tries to
encourage her to be more self-confident because she’s a ‘delight’ and a funny person.
She has gone to the pub where her family has been but there she has also felt out of place.
At this moment she has realized that she doesn’t want to end like her mum and sitting just
in a pub singing songs. So she decided to carry on going to the course.
In this scene Rita feels out of place everywhere and she’s insecure. But after she has arrived
in the pub she has started to distance herself from her family and her old way of living
because she doesn’t want to end like her mother. The other character, Frank, is, in this
scene, very charming and tries to make Rita calm down.
All in all we can see that both characters have changed. On the one hand Rita who is more
self-confident and has decided to distance herself from her old live and on the other hand
Frank shows more feelings and so we can see that now there’s really a relation between the
two.

Act 2, Scene 1:

Rita is back from London and comes to Frank’s office. They talk about the time in which they
haven’t seen each other and Rita gives Frank an expensive pen as a present. Frank hasn’t
changed a lot in contrast to Rita. He is still drinking and smoking. Rita, however, has changed
very much. She has given up smoking and has bought new clothes. She has new friends and
seems more educated. She has even lost her innocent “point of view”. Because of that
Frank thinks that Rita doesn't need him anymore, as she has achieved everything she has
wanted from Frank at the beginning of the play.

Act 2; Scene 2

Rita comes in and speaks in a new and unnatural voice. She seems like a new Rita, who
knows how to behave. She has even spoken to other students on the campus. Trish has
changed Rita a lot and Frank doesn't understand what has happened to Rita.
Act 2, Scene 3

Frank is drunk throughout the whole scene. In the beginning, Frank tells Rita that his
students have reported him, because he was so drunk that he couldn’t stand straight during
a lesson. Because of this it has been suggested that Frank takes a sabbatical for an open
period of time somewhere in the USA, Europe or Australia (p.93, ll.20f).
In the second part of this scene, Frank and Rita are discussing Rita’s essay on “Blake”. Frank
thinks that it’s ok, but there’s nothing of Rita in it and Rita thinks that Frank still sees her the
way she has been in the beginnig.

In this scene, Rita has changed a lot. She has become more self-confident so she wants
Frank to respect her work and the way she has changed (p.97, ll.15-end). Moreover, she
criticises that Frank doesn’t care for his students but just for himself (p.94, ll.1f.).

Act 2, Scene 4

In the fourth scene of the second act Frank and Rita are talking. In this scene Frank seems to
be hurt by Rita. He thinks that she doesn’t want to meet him anymore, because she is
coming too late and wants to leave after a few minutes. Frank confronts Rita with his view
of the situation: she hasn’t told him about her new job in a bistro, where she has worked for
a short time and he remembers older times, when she has told him everything. That is why
Frank is also scared of “losing” her. He always wants her to stay, when she wants to leave.
He is peeved when she leaves and he is jealous when he gets to know that Mr Tyson works
in the bistro, too. Thus, you can see he’s jealous.
Rita isn’t that emotional in this scene. She explains to him everything about her new job,
that she is worried about the exams and that she still wants to meet Frank. She seems to be
very neutral without showing any feelings.
In the end, Frank gives Rita one of his poems and wants her to analyse and interpret it.

Act II, Scene 5

Frank is sitting in his study room, drinking and listening to the radio. His emptiness and
loneliness are apparent. He used to see Rita every week, but now she’s gone and his life has
once more become pointless, but this time with no hope of rescue.
To Frank’s astonishment, Rita suddenly comes in. She has read his poems together with her
flatmate Trish. Frank is disappointed when he hears Rita’s pompous interpretation of his
work. He doesn’t at all agree with her and thinks that his poems are lifeless and without any
meaning. His comments are bitterly ironic, but Rita doesn’t notice that.
Sarcastically, he remarks that he has done a fine job on her and compares himself with Mary
Shelley, the author and creator of Frankenstein. Rita doesn’t understand the hint that Frank
has created a monster by “educating” her. He fears to have made her repress her emotions
and spontaneity. Finally, Frank asks Rita to go away because he can’t bear her any longer.
Misunderstanding him, Rita is very angry and thinks that he just regrets to have lost his
influence on her now that she has reached the same level as Frank. She tells him that she
doesn’t need him anymore now that she has found a “better culture”.
When she describes her new life, Frank wonders if this is all that she has wanted: a room
full of books, knowing what clothes to wear, what wine to buy, what plays to see und what
books to read. To him this seems to be very little. He’s disappointed because he has tried to
show Rita his understanding of culture. During the process of being educated, Rita has lost
all the qualities which used to make her a special person: Her spontaneity, her originality,
her vitality. He uses a metaphor to describe her change: Her “new song” isn’t any better
than her “old” one, but only different and tuneless.
Angrily Rita accuses Frank of wasting all his opportunities in life. Then she ridicules him for
still calling her “Rita”, the name she has rejected as soon as she has learned to recognize
good quality literature and has left behind her old life.

Act 2: Scene 6

Frank and Rita now only rarely meet each other and therefore Frank has to ring her at work
to give her the details of her exam. He doesn’t know that she calls herself by her original
name Susan.

Act 2: Scene 7

Frank has been advised to take a two years vacation in Australia. He’s packing for Australia
when Rita comes to him. Frank is surprised to see her. Rita wants to thank him for his help
and she says he was right and that he was a good teacher. Frank wants her to come with
him to Australia and Rita tells him that she now has a choice: she can choose from different
options on her own. Rita informs Frank that she will go to France or to her mum.

Act II, Scene 8

Rita has left Denny. We learn that Denny has given Rita an ultimatum. Denny has wanted
her to stop studying and come off the pill or else he has wanted her to leave.
At first, Frank doesn’t seem to carry on “as usual”, but then he discusses Rita’s essay and
tells her that it is “moving” and “honest”, but that it wouldn’t be suitable for the exams. Rita
wants to know what she is supposed to change. Frank, however, sees Rita (and her style of
writing essays) as unique and he doesn’t want to change her. Rita responds to this by
tearing up her essay and by preparing to start again.

CHARACTERS – ‘Educating rita’

Frank
Frank is a middle class English professor who is struggling with his alcoholism. He is tutoring
at the Open University. He is clearly disillusioned with his life and with being at the
University, however he is trapped in his ability to change and how he sees himself. He puts
himself down as a teacher and also as a poet.
Frank is conflicted about his work with Rita as he sees her as a very different, bright
person. He values her and finds her charming. He is attracted to her because she is the
opposite of him. He sees his life as very boring and safe. Frank’s drinking is out of control
and the University ends up sacking him after several warnings. Frank’s life is at an all-time
low and Rita is the only light in his life. Frank deteriorates as Rita improves and progresses
and becomes more independent. However, by the end of the play, he is setting off for
Australia and his journey of self-discovery will begin, symbolized by Rita’s haircut.
Rita
Rita is from a working class background and a hairdresser in her late 20s. She wants to
change her life, so she applies to study with the Open University. Rita’s real name is Susan,
but she chooses the name Rita, after the American author, Rita Mae Brown.
Rita believes that Rita Mae Brown was an important author, although she is not considered
classical or literary. Rita is passionate to change and improve her life driven by a sense of
finding greater meaning. She is married to Denny who does not understand this new phase
of her life and instead wants her to stay home and have children.
Main characters Rita and Frank are the only two characters whom we see on stage,
though other people are referred to by both of them. We hear about Denny, Rita's
husband, about Julia, Frank's partner, and about Trish, Rita's flatmate, who attempts to
kill herself. But it is Rita and Frank whom the audience gets to know best.
Rita: Rita is a working-class, twenty-six-year-old hairdresser who has taken the decisive
step of enrolling on a literature course at the Open University. It has been a difficult
decision as it means that she has to break away from the restrictions imposed on her by
her husband and by the community in which she lives and works. Indeed, Rita's choice is
a stark one: it is between starting a family, which Denny wants, or studying. In deciding to
study and become more educated and culturally aware, Rita changes her life completely.
She gradually becomes absorbed by culture and literature. It is only after her flatmate
attempts suicide that she begins to realise that art and literature cannot provide all the
answers. However, she decides to continue as a student and finally passes her
examination.
Frank: Frank is a university lecturer in English Literature with a drink problem. He has had
one failed marriage and his present relationship wit Julia is not an easy one. However, he
does appear to have a comfortable middle-class lifestyle and has achieved some minor
success as a poet. His job, nevertheless, bores him and, in fact, by the end of the play, he
has been sent away to Australia by the university authorities because of his drunken
behaviour. Rita breezes into his life like a breath of fresh air; the story of the play is the
story of their developing and changing relationships both as teacher and student and on a
more personal level.
At the start of the play Rita is loud and very brash to hide her sense of insecurity and fear of
her own ignorance. As she progresses she chooses to go back to her name Susan, although
Frank does not acknowledge this and she becomes successful in her studies. She leaves her
job and her husband and even tries to change her accent. She distances herself from Frank,
perhaps he reminds her of her old self, or perhaps she is wary of the relationship. Rita is
able to transform class and gender and has a life filled with opportunities in front of her
which she balances with her old self. At the end of the play, Rita accepts Frank for who he is
and although she does not wish to travel with him, she encourages him to move on with his
life.

n scene 5 Rita visits Frank again to tell him about her opinion about his poems. She has
understood them and praises them for being witty and profound. Frank, however, although
first feeling flattered, dislikes the change in Rita’s personality. She has lost her common
sense and now hides behind phrases representing other people’s opinions. Frank even
compares himself with Mary Shelley, who let a character in her novel create a monster.
With this in mind he rips his poems. Rita cannot understand him and accuses him of taking
too much influence while she does not need it. The scene ends in disagreement.

2.
Frank proposes calling himself Mary Shelley, because like a character in her novel he thinks
he has created a monster. Frankenstein used parts of dead bodies to assemble his horrible-
looking experiment. Of course Rita is not horrible – least of all looking like a monster.
Nevertheless there is a connection, because Frank has changed Rita from a normal working-
class-woman to something between the “castes”. She has gained education but in exchange
she has lost her common sense. Frank desperately looks for the spontaneous, subjective
comments he once liked, but finds nothing but objectivity and empty phrases. Rita also
realizes that she cannot have a normal conversation with other working-class people any
more. While she thinks she could belong to the middle class some time Frank is not too sure
about this. Rita has not acquired a better culture, a “better song to sing”, but only another
one.

Frank’s poems are full of allusions. He is referring to other high-brow literature in them, so
Rita could not have understood them in the beginning, not knowing about the novels or
poems referred to. She would have called them a “heap of shit”. Although not being fond of
Rita’s opinion Frank would have accepted it as a normal working-class member’s reaction
and as a “breath of fresh air”. Now he has to deal with something which contains some
professional critics’ opinions expressed in stiff phrases but nothing of Rita at all.
Telling Rita about Frankenstein Frank indirectly wants to make her think about her life and
redirect her way of thinking in the direction of subjectivity, although he told her to be
objective earlier.

3.
When Rita comes into Frank’s room and starts talking the changes in her language can be
seen. She tries not to use informal language or swear words. When telling Frank about his
poems she talks in long, complex sentences. Rita has become more objective, which is
reflected in her way of arguing. She does not just say “it was crap” or “it was good” but tells
Frank exactly what she likes about his poems.
On the first page she uses only a few elisions (i.e. l.19 “an’”, l.24 “somthin’”) and not a single
swear word. Her language seems to be more formal, everything well thought about.
When Rita gets angry her origin is revealed in her way of speaking. Suddenly she uses swear
words (l.29) and elisions (i.e. l. 31 “y’” l. 32 “an’”, …) again. Saying “I am educated” using a
long form seems to be misplaced here. Only seconds later she has herself under control
again and returns to talking formally.

4.
Is Rita educated at the end of the play? This controversial issue can not be addressed with
just “yes” or “no”. There are many aspects in which Rita has gained education, but there are
arguments against this, too.
Of course Rita’s sophisticated knowledge about literature can be considered as education.
She is able to tell the difference between highbrow- and lowbrow-literature based on more
than her being able to understand it now. Furthermore Rita does not use impulsive,
subjective comments to give her opinion about a book in one short sentence anymore.
Her formal language made it possible for her to get into contact with other students, which
results in an increasing self-confidence. She is even able to ask questions while being looked
at by many people.
On the other hand Rita cannot deny her origin. She is a working-class member and will
always stay one. When she gets angry she falls back on using Scouse and swear words.
Her argumentation about literature does not contain much of her unfiltered opinion any
longer. Instead of that it is just assembled of other critics’ views, put in nice sounding but
empty phrases.
Is somebody who knows about literature really educated? I don’t think it is that easy.
Without saying that Rita is stupid I would say it is reasonable to bear in mind that she was
“educated” only for one year. She didn’t learn anything at school and has a way of thinking
that is different from middle-class people.
You can compare her knowledge about literature with the one of people who think they are
good at maths or physics, but who can only use a formula given without understanding how
it works. In my opinion it is of course clear, that Rita has developed, but you can hardly call
her educated yet.