What kind of Fish are you? An Educated Swimming Cow!

In what way is Educating Rita a play about the clash of class and culture?

Reflecting upon this question makes me remember about a lot of stories with a similar purpuse. All the soap operas by Thalia, some similar Disney's stories, also Chavo's version and so on...
While I was reading the play the first thing that came to my mind was "My Fair Lady", which also reflects very clear this clash of culture and class (from my viewpoint My Fair Lady reflects more the idea of class' clash, maybe I imagine Rita a bit different).

At the beginning of the story Rita was eager to learn, to be an educated woman, she wanted to be different from what she was. She believed and felt that she should be educated to have access to a different group of people, a different class.
Rita used to think that culture and class goes hand in hand. In some way it might be true, different classes share different customs. But the fact that they are different has nothing to do with the value they have.
That is to say, all different cultures are valuable and you and any person belonging to any of this different cultures is eucated in that culture.
I think that the word class is no longer in "fashion", I mean what can you call a different class. Are there better social classes than others? Is one social class totaly uneducated?
Education, and culture has nothing to do with social classes. You can come from a very poor part of the city or from the highest class and even then be an educated person (or not).

The idea is that a class does not make the education or culture. What is important is the people and the fact that they want to learn and become better so as to build a better society.

Small steps toward a much better world

The Educated Woman's Dress and the Hair Cut

This last scene of the play is like a balance of everything.

Rita discovers that pretending leads nowhere. She was hungry of knowledge and she really wanted to fit in this "social group."
But then she relized that as well as her, the rest of the students were not what she thought. She changed her point of view and her opinion of them. At the beginning of the story she was fascinated with them, because she considered as educated people, but in what respect to their "spiritual" or "scential" or "that" what makes a person, she was disappointed. I think she started looking at them as she used to see her clients at the beauty saloon.

Frank makes a point when he says "... I put rather more emphasis on the word woman than the word educated."

It's more important the person itself rather than the education the person has acquired.
I mean it's important to be educated as long as the education doesn't "run over" your being.

I think Rita finish cutting Frank's hair as a way of showing that she didn't loose her identity, and at the same time she is sharing part of what she is with Frank.

"Knowlege is chasing me, but I'm faster..."

The Great Pretender

Working as a hairdresser the only thing Rita should care about were details. Pure vanity and external appearance, which she considers an irrelevant issue for life - actually "irrelevant rubbish."

She cannot stand this idea of making "Beauty" the most important thing of life. It doesn't fill her as a human, because she is passionate, she is open to other things - to important and spiritual matters which really make her life.

The same happend with her name, Rita realized that her name was just external, irrelevant. The name is not what makes the person. She is no longer Rita.

She is an educated woman now. She has the tools needed to study, and she feels she can do whatever she wants. She thinks she found her place.

Frank feels abandoned, neglected. Rita does not tell him everything as she used to do (as the change of job, name, etc.). He feels a bit disappointed, he feels responsible for the changes he had done or foster in Rita. This "New Rita" is his creation, his "FrankenRita." That is why he suggest changing his name into Mary Shelley.

To conclude with his complain he asked her how should he call her now?
Virginia... under V. Wolf, Jane under J. Brontë, or Charlotte or Emily Austen.

"What is essential is invisible to the eye"

Ritamorphosis

From the very beginning Rita changed her name and that was just the first step of the metamorphosis...

Rita decided that to be an educated woman and discuss beautiful literature she needs to change the way she speaks, and not only the way but also the tone of her voice. (I image something like The Nanny trying to sound smart).

She is burying the old Rita. She is no longer herself. She has no identity.
She adopted a new name, a new voice, a new style. She has no opinion of herself, she doesn't own a point of view, she adopted writer's opinionsm and consulted recognized authorities.
Frank is quite disappointed, because he misses the old Rita, her old believes, questions, sincerity and simpleness. That's why he doesn't like her essay.

The new Rita, under the shape of a silly society which has not opinion of theirown.
I think Frank wants Rita to think for herself, and not to express what a society expects from her.

"Be yourself, no matter what they say..."

Songs of Innocence and experience

Rita is a new woman. She went back from the summer school with a lot of new experiences. She feels full of life. She has a great flat mate, she doesn't hesitate at the time of makig questions in class, she is able to talk with teachers or tutors about books and writers. She feels part of the system!

She wants to share and transmit part of this experience and energy to Frank. Rita has the idea to take the lesson out in the garden. But Frank doesn't want, he is not ready to any change.
The she tries to open the window in order to get some fresh air but it's stuck: "It hasn't been opened for generations."
Franck is closed to any possible thing which tries to make a difference in his life. He doesn't want fresh air, he doesn't want to go out. Rita thought that he has started to reform himself (as he was writing poetry again). The one stuck in life is Frank.

I think they represent the two extremes, the innocence and the experience. But they both are innocent and experienced in different aspects of life. On the one hand, Rita has the experience of life, she is able to see the simple aspects of life but she wants to know more in order to experience new things. On the other hand, Frank knows a lot and has a lot of experience in what respect to knowledge, but he is still innocent in what respects to life, for example he is not able to have a family.
They seem to complement eachother, one has what the other lacks. Innocence and experience.

Not My Glass of Wine - Not my Cup of Tea

Why didn't Rita go to Frank's dinner party?

At first, Rita was enthusiastic about the dinner party but not Denny. They had an argument about it, but anyway she wanted to go...
Something had already changed in Rita. She was very sociable, not an introverted woman at all, but now she feels insecure...
She cannot decide what sort of wine she should buy. She feels unable to talk to the other guests. She feels that everybody is going to laught at her. She feels that she is not going to fit or find her place in this party. She feels like a fish out of water.

I think that the dinner party and her life are a reflection (or consequence) of what is happening whith her studies. It's the beginning of the change, she is learning something new, she is experiencing new situations and she is seeing life from a new point of view, that is why she feels insecure, everything is new and she doesn't know how to react to this new situations.

Rita writes her essays with passion. She is unique, she still has this "something" that makes her different from the rest of the students. Frank doesn't want to change her. But she wants to start with the change...
The change which will make her able to feel secure with the rest of the students; which make her able to appreciate other things...

A change that will allow her to start again, to start a new (different) life...

Be dead Boring... or be dead Excitin'

What words does Rita use to express her enthusiasm for Macbeth?

"... I thought it was gonna be dead borin'..."
"... But Listen, it wasn't borin', it was bleedin' great, honest, ogh, it done me in, it was fantastic."
"... It was dead good. It was like a thriller."
" I just thought it was a dead excitin' story."

Rita was so delighted with the play, she felt so happy about her discovery, that she was eager to write an essay and tell Frank how did she feel. It was a completely new experience for her and the fact that she enjoyed the play promoted or encouraged her with the writing of the essay.

Could she use these words in an essay?

Of course she cannot use these words (read above) in the essay. This is colloquial language and she should use formal language do an essay.

Make a choice and Resign to something

What expressions does Rita use to emphasise how important the course is to her?

Rita claims that the course provides her with life. She feels satisfy, she is very happy with the course and she wants to keep doing it.
I think it's reasonable and maybe predictable that Denny, her husband, gets jelous. When somebody starts doing something, such as taking a course, job, or any kind of activity the people around him/her may fell neglected or rather abandoned. And it's true when we make a choice we have to resign to other things, and sometimes resign to spend time with people we love. What is more, Rita seems so excited about her carrer and her teacher that makes a good reason for Deeny to be jelous.
Although she is right to be angry with her husband actitud and the fact that he burned her books, I agree with Frank that they have to talk. If she is so happy with the course she has to do it and he should suppot her.

"Comin' here, doin' this, it's given me more life then I've had in years, an' he should be able to see that."

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger

Why do you think Rita says 'it makes me stronger coming here'?

As Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton said "the pen is mighter than the sword". I believe that knowledge is "power", knowledge not only opens your senses and helps you to see and discover things, but it also gives you a kind of power, which nobody can steal from you.

Rita is immersed in an emvironment where life is very simple. Her duty is to work and spend time with her husband and friends, that's all. She is inside a vicious circle.
People are there to live, not think about life or anything. The fact that Rita wants to learn will help her to change her environment (if she wants) will help her to think about other realities, even when the people around her don't like the idea that she can change her way of thinking, living (and maybe leave them).
Learning opens people's minds, learning empowers people. Knowledge makes people feel stronger (other people cannot deceive them).

I think this situation is repeated many times in the entire world. Just as an example, George Orwell's "Animal Farm" just crossed from my mind, where ignorant animals are deceived and controlled by those who knows a little more. They are deceived because they cannot read.

What I learn from you about art an' literature, it feeds me, inside. I can get through the rest of the week if I know I've got comin' here to look forward to.
Denny tried to top me comin' tonight. he tried to get me to go out to the pub with him an' his mates. (...) They hate it when one of them tries to break away. It makes me stronger comin' here. That's what Denny's frightened of.

The Proper Classroom for Proper Students...

What does she think about Frank's room and about the proper students?


I think Rita is a very good observer. From the very beginning she is walking around and meticulously exploring Frank's room. She considers the room to be tasteful, with everything in the right place, and at the same time a mess. A perfect mess. I think everybody has its own mess. I have my own mess. The thing is be able to deal with that mess. As Rita says everything fits in its place. I think it has to do with lifestyles, we cannot experience something without using it. We cannot live without doing and experiencing everything we want to do, and sometimes that way of living results in a mess. A mess we can understand, our own mess. Another thing to highlight is that 'There's nothing phoney about it' (the room). The room represents all Frank's knowledge his life experiences, his likes, and everything is true, because its part of his life.
As for proper students, I think Rita missed the first chance to be a proper student herself. Being a proper student was harder than being just a 'normal' girl. You have to study, you have to work hard, it is boring, your mates don't forgive you if you became a proper student. So Rita chose the easy way.

'Possessing a hungry mind is not, in itself, a guarantee of success.'

Why does Rita want to study?

The answer is easy: She wants to know.

And now the question would be... Know what for?

When we are young we don't want to study, and many times we don't know why we "have" to study. We are sent to school by our parents (in the best case). But as we are so young (sometimes) we cannot see the utility of what we are learning (long term usage).

But in the case of Rita, she is already a grown up and she wants to study at the university. Study at the university... what for?
What for are we studying at universities (or terteary levels)?
We may have different answers, different goals, different interests, but in the end we're all learning. Some of us may want their degree, some others polish their English, some of us may study just for fun. Study for fun?

I think this is the beginning of all. When we start discovering that learning can be fun, that we can use our knowledge, and that we are open to new things that we didn't appreciate before (just because of ignorance, or not understanding).
Knowledge let us understand new things, or discover new things that we weren't able to see before. Knowledge opens our mind to new worlds, and that in my opinion, is what Rita wants.

"Because I wanna know Everything" = ) * (= "I'll have to learn about it all..."

"... y' sit (...) watchin' the ballet or the opera on the telly an' - an' y' call it rubbish cos that's what it looks like? Cos y' don't understand. So y' switch it off an' saym that's fuckin' rubbish."

"(...) But I don't want to. I wanna see."