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.