Clash

This play deals with the conflicts that appeared after Rita and Frank meet. They both come from completely different backgrounds and social status. They move around different social circles, Rita chats with colleagues at the hairdresser’s while Frank delivers Literature lessons at university. This is why at the beginning of the play Rita cannot understand why she cannot write her opinions directly in her essays. She is very clever. Yet, she also needs to learn how to adapt her linguistic forms according to the context in which we are immersed. Otherwise, she would not pass the exams. So Rita, as well as Frank, has to adapt to her new surroundings. For all this, Educating Rita can be considered a play about the clash of class and culture. But what I believe is that this clash turns out to be positive and enriching for both of them.

I chose, me

I’ve noticed a huge change in Rita’s attitude from the previous chapter to this one. I’m happy to see that Rita finally chooses herself. In the end, she realises what Frank was trying to teach her before, to be herself, to decide and to be responsible for those choices. Because after all, the important thing is to be free. All the knowledge Frank helped Rita to get has given her the tools to choose. Now she can confront life without shame and without pretending to be somebody else. For all this, Rita wants to thank Frank. I believe the end with Rita cutting Frank’s hair represents her acceptance of who she really is, a new Rita but at the same time the old Rita, both together merged into one. At this point, I would say she has become wise woman. This ending also symbolises all the things Rita also gave Frank throughout the novel and the fact that now she is aware of what she has done. So, I can say that both of them are teachers and students at the same time, and this is a model to follow for us teachers or future teachers: teaching is not connected with contents but with life experiences and sharing, it a double-way process.

Reciprocity

After Rita’s process of change, Frank feels she is leaving him behind, that she doesn’t need him anymore. Throughout Rita’s course of study, Frank developed strong feelings towards her and vice versa. He’s got used to her being around, consulting him about recognised authors, chatting about her feelings and conflicts with her family and job. He felt that somebody needed him, and he was more than happy to do so. But now that Rita’s grown more independent of his guidance, he feels miserable and alone. He realised that the need for guidance was reciprocal.

Who you are

As I pointed out on an earlier post, I wouldn’t say “the new Rita” is wiser than the old. Wisdom is not only related to how much “knowledge” we have about things such as Literature, Arts and Science, but also with how much knowledge we have about the world and how we learn from our experiences in life. I would say Rita was already a clever woman before starting the course with Frank as she was very skilful when dealing with every day situations. What I feel at this point, and what I believe Frank thinks as well, is that she is displacing her old knowledge of the world, replacing it with information about plays, books, authors and a bit snobbish trends. She seems to be ashamed of who she was. This is why she has changed her way of speaking, a strong symbol of her old identity. She wants to leave no trace of it. I believe this is not the right decision; internal growth involves not killing off our own identities so as to go back to square one and try again with another identity, but to build new knowledge and attitudes accepting who we are.

Life is change

The impact that Summer School had on Rita was incredibly significant. She came back fascinated, even more energetic than before, confident and proud of herself. I can imagine her faced shining with excitement while describing her marvellous visit to London to Frank. I think this period there helped her face new challenges and these in turn made her confront her fears and shames. For instance, Rita was able to ask questions in front of a wide audience and to resist the temptation to crack a joke to a tutor in a library, attitude she remarked proudly. I dare say she’s beginning to feel like the ones she called “proper students”. She wants to study outside on the grass with them. At the same time she feels the necessity to help Frank to overcome his fears by trying to transmit him her enthusiasm. I must say I love her idea of giving him an engraved pen as a gift saying: “Must only be used for poetry. By strictest order- Rita” So all in all, as we can see in this scene, Rita’s attitude changed completely, but she wants Frank’s life to give a turn as well and she is trying her best to make it happen.

Be Unique

Rita has a perfectly clear picture of the kind of person she wants to become. She does not want to be herself. She’s made this pretty clear by this point. And this is the main reason why she did not go to Frank’s dinner. She realised she has not actually changed yet, and thought she was not going to fit in with Frank’s friends. Rita peered through his window and saw the group talking seriously, confidently, wittily… Through that window she could take a brief look at all she has always wanted to be, and this vision had two effects on her. First, she freaked out and rushed to the pub where Denny and her mother were singing. But then, she plucked up courage and took this image she had seen at Frank’s as an ultimate goal to achieve, so she decided to start all over again. The sad aspect of this decision is that she wants to change everything about herself, ignoring her incredible uniqueness. She needs to be just like the rest of people, losing in that wish her precious identity.

Rita burst through the door out of breath...

Rita could not hold her excitement after having gone to the theatre, so as she abruptly entered the room she gasped: “I´ve gorra tell someone…” “I went to the theatre!” She does not reflect upon what her word choice is to express her thrill. Her words seem to burst out of her mouth like an uncontrollable flaw. “It was bleedin´ great, honest, ogh, it done me in, it was fantastic. I´m gonna do an essay on it.” Feelings and language are closely connected, the way we express what we feel is an echo of our identity, but we also need to learn how to adapt our linguistic forms according to the context in which we are immersed. For example, if Rita expressed her opinion about the play in an essay using the same register she used with Frank, the essay would be cosidered “incorrect.” Rita was never given the opportunity to learn this before, so the only way she knows to express her feelings towards anything is by using colloquial vocabulary.

“The key to success is often the ability to adapt”