How does Willy Russell establish the differences between Frank and
Rita in act one scene one of “Educating Rita”?
In the play “Educating Rita”, Willy Russell presents us with the idea of two completely different people: Rita, who is a working class, uneducated, hairdresser and Frank, a drunken university professor, who is bored with his life. In the play the two characters are shown to have very different lives and backgrounds. Frank uses alcohol to escape from his life and his job, whereas Rita wants to escape from the restrictions of being working class, and plans to use education as her passport. Russell himself used to be a working class hairdresser, so this could be where he got Rita’s character. Russell has used different devices in this play, these are language, themes, symbols, allusions, staging and contemporary social issues.
In this play, Russell presents the themes of escapism and self-discovery. Frank and Rita are vastly different in terms of class status and education, but they both want to escape. Rita is desperate to escape from her husband, the traditional role as a wife and mother and old lifestyle as she feels it is holding her back. She refers to this as “degrees for dishwashers” alluding to her Open University course, and the housewife status she wants to escape from, in order to be more educated. However Frank has the education and intellectual lifestyle that Rita so desperately wants, but he too wishes to escape this life, rather than continue it; he tries to do this by using alcohol. As shown in the film, he keeps a bottle of scotch in the bookcase, and often turns up to his lessons drunk. During a telephone call to his girlfriend “I shall go to the pub after work” showing that he cannot stop drinking because he is dissatisfied with his life.
Education is important for both Frank and Rita. Rita wants to become educated and tries to put off having a baby yet, admitting that this is what society deems to be her designated path when she says, “ I should have had a baby by now, people expect it”. However she wants to get a better job first, as her current job is no longer as interesting as it once was. She does not want to be hairdresser anymore as she finds it boring and lacking in intellectual stimulation. On the other hand, Frank works in the academic world sought by Rita but he wants to leave his job. Russell shows that Frank wants to leave his job, this shows us that, by telling Rita: “there are other tutors”, this shows
The first way that Frank overcomes adversity in his memoir is when he gets a job as a paper delivery boy to help support his mother Angela and his siblings because his father drinks away all of his money at the local pubs. “Mrs. O’Connell gives me telegrams to deliver to Mr.Harrington, the Englishman with the dead wife that was born and bred in Limerick…” (326). This quote tells of how he has to work and do work that he really does not like to help out his family and their situation. Frank is overcoming adversity by providing for his family and saving money to
...cts with his parents when they are trying to help him. He and his parents get frustrated and impatient when something does not go as planned. Arguments often take place regarding how Frank wants something done because he cannot do it himself.
At the beginning of the play it is evident that he cannot determine the realities of life, and so he repeatedly contradicts himself to establish that his conclusion is correct and opinion accepted. These numerous contradictions demonstrate that Willy is perturbed of the possibility that negative judgements may come from others. Willy strongly believes that “personality always wins” and tells his sons that they should “be liked and (they) will never want”. In one of Willy’s flashbacks he recalls the time when his sons and him were outside cleaning their Chevy. Willy informs Biff and Happy the success of his business trips and how everyone residing in Boston adores him. He mentions that due to the admiration of people he does not even have to wait in lines. He ultimately teaches his sons that being liked by others is the way to fulfilling one’s life and removing your worries. These ideals, that one does not need to work for success, demonstrate Willy’s deluded belief of achieving a prosperous life from the admiration and acceptance of others. This ultimately proves to be a false ideology during his funeral, when an insufficient amount of people arrive. Willy constantly attempts to obtain other’s acceptance through his false tales that depict him as a strong, successful man. In the past, he attempts to lie to his wife, Linda, about the amount of wealth he has attained during his
still the same today and so, the play is still enjoyable now as it is
The similar philosophies of life residing in both Willy Loman and Mr. Webb are present in both plays as they progress. Their strong belief in themselves gives them the ability to influence others by giving them advice. The advice which Mr. Webb provided to George was “start out early by showing who’s boss” (Wilder IIi 58). The confidence to tell a strong willed son-in-law shows his aptitude in his belief. Similarly, Willy was often dictating the actions of people around him. Usually his interferences would be contradictory to what others had in mind such as “No, you finish first” (Miller 1.3). His constant dictations most often cause contradictory with his dictations! At first, Willy referred to Biff as “a lazy bum” (Miller 1.2), but then later called him “such a hard worker” (Miller 1.2). This exhibits Willy’s faith in his ideas, but shows a confusion within those ideas. Mr. Webb also inherits the same weakness that Willy has. Descri...
"Educating Rita" By Willy Russell and The Social, Historical And Cultural Context Of Britain In The Late 1970's
During the time of World War II many people suffered the effects of war. Sadly during this time there was the holocaust, where the Jewish people along with the cripples, retards and those who were not German were put into work camps and were tortured and were forced hard labor on a daily. Because of a man named Adolf Hitler was able to start the Nazi party and turn the German people against Jews, millions died, suffered due to this tragic event in history. But amongst the chaos, many Jewish people hid in secret bunkers holding on for dear life hoping they would not get caught. Many Jews kept diaries, documenting their everyday lives in hiding. Other Jews wrote books after being liberated out of the concentration camps. They wrote about their experiences, their feelings. Because of their writings, it greatly impacts our society and reminds us the terror that we can cause to one another. We see the great faith in God and the hope for a brighter tomorrow, no matter how bad their circumstances were.
In the beginning of the play, Rita is introduced as a talkative woman who is very capable of expressing her thoughts in a straightforward fashion. Based on Rita’s casual dialect and her lack of discipline, it is clear that she has had limited education prior to this encounter. On the contrary, Frank is a “bona fide lecturer” who is knowledgeable in his field of study. (4) Ironically, Frank is very dissatisfied with his occupation, and the same negligent attitude can be found in Rita’s personality. (16) Their relationship flourishes immediately because of this similarity, establishing a welcoming environment for Rita. The office becomes Rita’s sanctuary as she slowly reveals her lack of confidence. Rita expresses her disbelief when she received her acceptance notice. In Rita’s mind, Open University must be an inferior college and they must have lacked applications this year. (4) For Rita, if it were any other tutor, she would have “packed in” and left. (9) Frank is the reaso...
In this novel, The Piano Lesson, we learn that some characters are doing their best to leave their mark on the world. A main character, Boy Willie, continually attempts to do so. For instance, he says, “I got to mark my passing on the road. Just like you write on a tree, ‘Boy Willie was here.’” By this, he means that he wants to make sure the world knows that he was here, and that he left something behind. Just as his grandfather carved beautiful, intricate designs into the piano and left it for his family, Boy Willie wants to do something similar. For example, he wants to buy Sutter’s land and make it nice for generations to come. Ironically, Boy Willie wants to sell his grandfather’s statement in order to make his own.
To start with, in the play Linda makes many excuses for Willy. For example, Willy says, “I suddenly couldn’t drive anymore. The car kept going off onto the shoulder ya know?” Linda replied, “Maybe it’s your glasses” (Miller 22). By making these kinds of excuses, it’s almost like Linda is ignoring the problems Willy has with his head. Also, Willy says, “I suddenly couldn’t drive anymore.” Linda replied, “Oh, maybe it was the steering again” (Miller 27). Willy doesn’t make excuses for himself, its Linda who acts like nothing is wrong. Willy is living half in the past and half in the present. In the play, Willy says, “It took me nearly four hours from Yonkers.” Linda replied, “Well, you’ll just have to take a rest” (Miller 27). By making all of these excuses, it shows that Linda refuses to believe that Willy has problems, and she tries brushing it off like it’s no big deal. She knows there are problems, but she is unwilling to face them.
In the play Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell, a small number of people are at the Wright house trying to figure out why and how Mr. Wright was murdered. Mrs. Wright is already the suspect, and all that is needed for the case is evidence for a motive. The jury needs something to show anger or sudden feeling so that they can convict her for murder. The men, Mr. Henderson, Mr. Peters, and Mr. Hale are there to find the evidence. The women, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, are there to pick up a select few items for Mrs. Wright. While the men are going about business and looking for evidence to build a case against Mrs. Wright, the women are looking over what Mrs. Wright left behind and intuitively trying to understand what happened. They are also trying to fathom why Mrs. Wright would be compelled to perform such an act of violence. As the story goes on, it constructs each of the characters in slightly different means. Susan Glaspell presents Mr. Wright and Mrs. Hale as having contrasting and comparable characteristics. While Mrs. Hale and Mr. Wright differ in terms of emotions, they are similar in their cleanliness and are well respected by others.
To begin, Willy’s methods of searching for likeability are erroneous. He believes that the superficiality of attractiveness goes hand in hand with being well liked. Willy’s downfall started with his impression of Dave Singleman, an 84 year old salesman. According to Willy, he had “…the greatest career a man could want.” Sure this man was liked in cities around the world, but Willy’s altered perception of the American dream masked the realities of his life. Willy failed to see that instead of being retired at 84, Dave Singleman was unwed, still working, and in the end “dies the death of a salesman”; alone and without love. Believing in this dream, ultimately leads Willy to his hubris; too proud to be anything but a salesman. Throughout the play, Charlie often asks Willy, “You want a job?” Instead of escaping his reality of unpaid bills and unhappiness, Willy’s shallow values lead him to refuse the switch from him attractive job, to that of a carpent...
Foremost, Willy has a problem with his inability to grasp reality. As he grows older his mind is starting to slip. For example, when he talks to the woman and his brother Ben. Throughout the story, Willy dreams of talking to the woman, because the woman is a person that he was dating in when he went to Boston. He was cheating behind his wife’s back. Willy basically uses her as a scapegoat when he’s hallucinating about her. He blames all of his problems on the woman. For instance Willy says, “ Cause you do… There’s so much I want to make for.” (38) This is the evidence right here. Also he dreams about his brother Ben. Willy wishes could be more like his brother who has just passed away a couple of months previously to the story. He also wishes he didn’t have to work and could be rich like Ben. He respects Ben for not really working and making a lot of money. Another example of Willy’s hallucinations are when he says,“ How are you all?” (45) This occurs when Willy is talking with Charley and he starts thinking about Ben. Willy’s inability to grasp reality never changed throughout the story.
Willy’s Distinct idea on the American dream is if your are well liked by people you will be successful. As said in the play by Willy "personality always wins the day”(Miller 1737). as said in the play by Willy. as read through the drama he looks at people who are successful and feels they have yet to attain full success. As they are surely intelligent and work hard, but do not live up to their true potential. For example, his son Biff, he feels he is wasted potential, as he is well liked yet has not obtained success. This is the point in which Willy has misunderstood, all because he had a good for nothing father. This led him to believe that the ideal success is the opposite of his father. Willy went through his life with this
The very first section of the first scene, already defines the basis of Willy’s character for the rest of the play. The stage directions on page 8 identify him as being an exhausted aging man, whose work seems to be wearing him down. “…lets his burden down…” (Miller, 8). Although this makes Willy appear uninteresting, he soon contrasts this characteristic when he shows an optimistic determination towards his own failures. “I’ll start out in the morning. Maybe I’ll feel better in the morning.” (Miller, 9) Another aspect of Willy that makes him more interesting to the audience is his already visible complexity of layers: “I have such thoughts, I have such strange thoughts.” (Miller, 9) This of course leads the audience on to wondering what exactly is taking place in a man’s head to make him say such a thing, evoking a mild fascination in Willy’s character. Another character that is developed almost immediately within the first two pages of the play is Linda. Again the stage directions on page 8 introdu...