I have seen the movie made based on this play some years ago, while studying English... I don't remember if I liked it or not, but reading the book now brings some memories...
I've chosen question 1: Why does Rita want to study?
Rita is a twenty-six-year-old woman from the working classes who enrolls in a course from the Open University. This programme is meant for people who didn't have the chance to go to university in the ordinary way due to time or money issues.
Rita is a hairdresser and her husband wants her to have a baby in order to start a family. In spite of this, she wants to study Literature. She longs for knowledge she believes she can get through the course. She wants to know everything possible in order, according to her, to become a better, more complete person in life. In her own words, she wants to "discover" herself before doing anything else in life.
