Opening Scene of Educating Rita
Explore the ways in which Russell engages the audiences interest in
the main characters and themes in the opening scene of Educating Rita
and explain whether you think the play written in 1979 is still
relevant to 2005.
Willy Russell’s play, Educating Rita, written in 1979, is a story
about a typical lower class woman called Rita who decides she wants to
lead an ‘educated life’ and she tries to do this by getting a private
tutor called Frank to teach her, but learning to lead an educated
life proves to be not what she expected.
Willy Russell introduces Frank and Rita in two very different ways.
Frank is introduced as a well read university tutor who seems to like
his drink; this is shown when Russell writes ’the walls are lined with
books’ making him appear educated. But then writes: “pulls out a pile
of books to reveal a bottle of whisky” which makes the audience
question their first impression of him as a typical university
teacher, is he an alchoholic? Does he drink too much? Is this
important?
Rita is introduced as an uneducated, loud, rude young woman. The first
impression Russell gives the audience is Rita saying: “I’m comin’ in,
aren’t I?” to someone she has never met before, which shows a lack of
manners or simply a casual upbringing. He then shows her going to a
chair and “dumping her bag”. By using the verb “dump” Russell
immediately suggests that Rita is not a ladylike person, and this
follows the impression that she is ill mannered.
Russell presents the play as a two-hander so that the audience is
focused on the clash between Frank and Rita and the entire play is
focused on Frank and Rita’s point of view. The two very contrasting
personalities seem t...
... middle of paper ...
... or missing
something in his life, and Rita also says ‘ I want to be free’ which
means she feels trapped in her life and wants to escape and she wants
to do this by getting educated. They both seem to change through the
play almost into totally different people, Rita changes her name to
susan as she thinks it sounds ‘proper’. The play has a certain humour
about it as the two characters personalities and views are almost
opposite, this creates chaos, as neither of them knows what the other
is talking about which is amusing to the audience, and Rita is very
loud and uses a lot of swearing and slang which is not what you would
expect in a university. In conclusion, Russell uses the contrast
of the two characters in Educating Rita to create humour and engage
the audience, whilst facing issues and views that are still a problem
and relevant to today in 2005.
While he was writing a letter to his parents he writes about how he is
being free from “repression." She is no more able to staff off the feeling that
...ive years to thirty years is nothing he could do with the world because the way it’s changing now. He will be a stranger waling out of here. Who is going to listen to an old man? Now he going to do good. He can write a book while he in there, you know. And if you wondered about coming back here, he doesn’t even want to. Don’t anybody want to be here twenty- five years not the way things are going now.
In the opening line of his song his girlfriend leaves him, but he goes for a drive to clear his mind and his life takes a turn. He
Women are often bound to the idea of modesty. Should a woman be judged for the way she talks or looks? The answer is no. Women should feel like a woman should feel without being judged. In chapters 14 and 15 of A Lesson Before Dying, Vivian can be characterized as optimistic, responsible, and caring.
when he says “I have a dream” and “We can never be satisfied”. He used this example of allusion, “We
"Educating Rita" By Willy Russell and The Social, Historical And Cultural Context Of Britain In The Late 1970's
it related to his own life and the events going on around him at the
about the people who got him here he loves his family and will never forget about them.
Ah jus’ loves dis freedom.’ Sh-sh-sh! Don’t let nobody hear you say dat, Janie. Folks will say you ain’t sorry he’s gone.” I used this quote because it’s obviously saying what I just wrote, she wasn’t sorry for her lost. For her that meant a new opportunity in life to be
Frank and Rita in the First Scene of the Play To explore how Russell presents the characters of Frank and Rita during the first scene of the play. Russell’s play has been created to stretch out and grab the audiences attention, feelings and emotions right from the beginning of the play. In my essay I will aim to explore how he establishes the characters roles and how they interact with each other during the first scene of the play. Firstly, with the quote “he manages a gulp at the whisky.”
"Ring of Fire", Cash read a statement about his late wife that he had written before taking the stage. He spoke of how her
He is a lazy man, bored and frustrated by his life he too does not
about where he is and where he is heading. This is shown in the book
Frank presents himself as a witty, sometimes ironic and sarcastic teacher, who is obviously dissatisfied with his life and despises his culture. He has been a poet once but failed before himself as he began to write poets, which would be acceptable to literary critics and could be studied by students. Consequently he has a low opinion of himself, also because he's part of that establishment which he detests so much. Trying to escape from this world and to suppress his frustration, he drinks and puts on a cynical, ironic façade. It is her honesty, spontaneity and uniqueness that give him a sense of purpose or fulfilment in his teaching.