Educating Rity by Willy Russell

744 Words3 Pages
Choose a play in which there is significant conflict between two characters. Describe the conflict and show how it is important to the development of the characterisation and theme of the play. **************************************************************** A play in which there is significant conflict between two characters is 'Educating Rita' by Willy Russell. Rita and Frank are, in fact, the only two characters in the play and the development of the characterisation and theme of the play is centred around their dialogue, with the setting and directions giving important clues. Rita's role in the play is to represent a person who is struggling to better herself and achieve personal fulfilment. This is the central theme of the play. She is 26, barely educated and embarks on this journey of self-discovery by signing up for an open university course in Literary Criticism. Frank is the tutor she has been assigned to. The reason there is conflict between these two characters is not only because of the challenge Frank faces by eventually agreeing to tutor her, but, more importantly, because he has serious reservations about doing so. Throughout the play, Frank experiences moral difficulties with his commitment to tutoring her because he feels he is compromising her uniqueness as an individual. Rita has to spend a large part of the play trying to convince Frank that this is really what she wants. The first impression we receive of Rita is from Frank's referral to her while on the phone with his current girlfriend. He excuses his later trip to the pub by saying: “I shall need to wash away the memory of some silly woman's attempts to get into the mind of Henry James...” Thus, the first reference to Rita is indirect and biased. It indicates Frank's possible prejudices. The first actual impression we get of Rita is when she first
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