Rita's last words in this scene refer to William Blake's work "Songs of Innocence and Experience". Rita is back from summer school and shows a drastic change from the Rita in the last scene. She is restless, more positive; she is free of inhibitions and wants to transmit Frank her new attitude, renewed after being in London.
By mentioning innocence and experience, the author is refering to Rita and Frank. Rita is the young, naif and inocent girl who had wished to change her life, and apparently has done so. Frank is the mature, experienced man who was to help her change. Now Rita has changed too much in Frank's view. He thinks she has achieved her goal of changing her life, and he is afraid he'll loose her as she doen't need him anymore to learn how to be a better person.
Monday, 3 November 2008
Doing better
When Rita's mother says "we could sing better songs than those", Rita realises she is not the only one in her family who wishes could change herself. She understands her mother also longs or had once longed for the opportunity to change herself and her lifestyle.
This shows that even people who seem happy about their lives sometimes wish they were better or different somehow. By defying her reality and wanting something more, Rita shows everyone what many people would like to do: being herself and doing whatever is necessary to become someone better, in her case, through getting an education.
This shows that even people who seem happy about their lives sometimes wish they were better or different somehow. By defying her reality and wanting something more, Rita shows everyone what many people would like to do: being herself and doing whatever is necessary to become someone better, in her case, through getting an education.
Monday, 22 September 2008
It was bleedin' great!!
Rita enters in a rush, very excited about having gone to the theatre, a real one, to see a play, Macbeth.
She begins telling Frank what she actually expected from the play saying "I thoughtit was gonna be dead borin' ". But even so, she wanted to experience by herself and she went eitherway.
After seeing the play, she found it "bleddin' great, honest... it done me in, it was fantastic".
She now wants to write about it, so excited she is... She even bought the book.
She frequently uses the word "fantastic" and "dead good" to refer to it.
Unfortunately, Rita wouldn't be able to use those wonderful expressions in an essay. Essays are part of rhe formal environment of education, and as such, she is not allowed to write with freedom to choose any vocabulary. She needs to adapt to the expected words and phrases necessary to write an academic piece of writing.
From my experience as a student, it can be difficult sometimes to find the correct words. And I have the feeling that Rita may find certain difficulties when the time comes for her to write her precious essay on Macbeth...
She begins telling Frank what she actually expected from the play saying "I thoughtit was gonna be dead borin' ". But even so, she wanted to experience by herself and she went eitherway.
After seeing the play, she found it "bleddin' great, honest... it done me in, it was fantastic".
She now wants to write about it, so excited she is... She even bought the book.
She frequently uses the word "fantastic" and "dead good" to refer to it.
Unfortunately, Rita wouldn't be able to use those wonderful expressions in an essay. Essays are part of rhe formal environment of education, and as such, she is not allowed to write with freedom to choose any vocabulary. She needs to adapt to the expected words and phrases necessary to write an academic piece of writing.
From my experience as a student, it can be difficult sometimes to find the correct words. And I have the feeling that Rita may find certain difficulties when the time comes for her to write her precious essay on Macbeth...
Monday, 8 September 2008
It's life for me
Rita gives several reasons to why she wants to study, even though she's having serious problems with her husband Denny because of the course.
She claims she is busy "findin' herself" and therefore has no time to find someone else, husband or lover... She only wants what she's findin' inside her. She says Frank gives her room to breath, which is certainly what she actually wants Denny to do: she wants him to let her live her life and become a better person. She feels Frank feeds her without expecting anything in return, whereas Denny gives her nothing more than headaches and urges her to have a baby.
She is taking the course very seriously. She has even threatened Denny with killing him if he touches what seems to have become her favourite book: Peer Gynt.
She already feels a different person, a different Rita to whom Denny married. She doesn't see the course or literature as taking the place of life, but as life providers... She feels alive now, able to choose how to live it. She wants to make the most out of the lessons, and that's why she refuses to go to the pub. Every moment counts to help her see more things, deeply...
She claims she is busy "findin' herself" and therefore has no time to find someone else, husband or lover... She only wants what she's findin' inside her. She says Frank gives her room to breath, which is certainly what she actually wants Denny to do: she wants him to let her live her life and become a better person. She feels Frank feeds her without expecting anything in return, whereas Denny gives her nothing more than headaches and urges her to have a baby.
She is taking the course very seriously. She has even threatened Denny with killing him if he touches what seems to have become her favourite book: Peer Gynt.
She already feels a different person, a different Rita to whom Denny married. She doesn't see the course or literature as taking the place of life, but as life providers... She feels alive now, able to choose how to live it. She wants to make the most out of the lessons, and that's why she refuses to go to the pub. Every moment counts to help her see more things, deeply...
Monday, 1 September 2008
Feelin' stronger
In these scenes we witness Rita's development in writing some essays. At first she cannot write following the set conventions for essays. Either she quotes too much other authors when writing about a specific one, or she writes very few words. She thinks short is good if it goes to the point. But Frank tells her that doesn't always mean correct.
She believes that attending the course is helping her open her eyes more. She views her surrounding environment as one which lacks culture as a way of living. She believes people she knows do not enjoy life as they have got used to living day by day without trully enjoying it.
She feels stronger if going to class. She mentions her husband is afraid of her becoming stronger. I believe he is afraid of loosing Rita if she becomes more educated. He may think that once she gets an education, she will want more for her life and so will want a better, more educated husband. I think Rita is not that kind of person and that what she expects of getting an education is not necessarily a way out of the working-class environment, but a way of expressing herself and feeling good with herself and her environment.
She believes that attending the course is helping her open her eyes more. She views her surrounding environment as one which lacks culture as a way of living. She believes people she knows do not enjoy life as they have got used to living day by day without trully enjoying it.
She feels stronger if going to class. She mentions her husband is afraid of her becoming stronger. I believe he is afraid of loosing Rita if she becomes more educated. He may think that once she gets an education, she will want more for her life and so will want a better, more educated husband. I think Rita is not that kind of person and that what she expects of getting an education is not necessarily a way out of the working-class environment, but a way of expressing herself and feeling good with herself and her environment.
Monday, 25 August 2008
A perfect mess
Rita goes to class with Frank for the first time in this act. As she enters the room she starts going around without sitting down. She cannot stay still...
Rita sees Frank's room as an ideal place where she feels she can get an education. As she puts it "everything is in its right place". When one finds things where they belong, one can feel at ease. The teacher's place is in Frank's chair, where he should teach her. Rita's place is... actually, all around the room, as she does not like sitting down very much...
Rita believes "proper students" should make the best out of their good luck, as they are able to study right after leaving high school. They have been "the lucky ones", being able to continue studying as they didn't have to go along with what friends and family thought was best for them.
One day, Rita decides to follow her own thoughts and enrolls at the O.U. She decides she wants a change in herself, and the only way to change is through education.
Rita sees Frank's room as an ideal place where she feels she can get an education. As she puts it "everything is in its right place". When one finds things where they belong, one can feel at ease. The teacher's place is in Frank's chair, where he should teach her. Rita's place is... actually, all around the room, as she does not like sitting down very much...
Rita believes "proper students" should make the best out of their good luck, as they are able to study right after leaving high school. They have been "the lucky ones", being able to continue studying as they didn't have to go along with what friends and family thought was best for them.
One day, Rita decides to follow her own thoughts and enrolls at the O.U. She decides she wants a change in herself, and the only way to change is through education.
Monday, 18 August 2008
Educating Rita - Act 1
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.
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