Final Task

While browsing through the different Educating Rita`s sites there was one question which kept rumbling in my mind. " Education gives you a choice. How does Willy Russell show this through the changes made in Educating Rita?"

I think that Educating Rita shows thetwo sides of the same coin. On the one hand , we have Rita who has clearly developed herself and Education has had a great contribution to this development. However, she has already had choices . Imean she had the choice to decide whether she wanted to be an ordinary hairdresser and housewifw for the rest of her life, or if she prefered to do something in order to go beyond that barrier imposed by her close-knitted family group. She had the choice to spend the rest of her life with someone who had no expectations, no ambitions and to choose what to do. So I think Education served as kind of springboard between her burning desires and the opportunity to make these dreams come true. Education is definitely a powerful tool which can give anyone the means to fulfill their goals , their objectives but we can have choices ( and I think Rita has proved this to be possible) even if we don`t have education. As existentialists say " we always make choices even when we refuse to choose".

Now Frank as the teacher helped her to grow . He didn`t despise her because she belonged to a lower class. He allowed her to dream and that was very generous of him. I believe that we, as teachers, should always give students the opportunity to achieve their dreams. we are as responsable as them about their education. Therefore we cannot charge everything on Education. I mean we are part of the education, parents are also part of it. So whenever we can a student who wants to fly we have to provide them with the tools to do it. We do not have to prevent them from flying. Even if they make a mistake , that is also part of their learning process. In fact, Rita made mistakes while going through this Educational path. However, she did learn a lot!!

Programme of study

Question 5

Do you think Rita has gained or suffered as a result of her education?

I think Rita has experienced both. She has gained lots of things. First of all, she has gained a new life, knowdge, self-confidence among other things. Yet, in the process she has suffered a big deal. She has had to make decisions which of course were not easy to take. An as many important matters in life, making decisions can be difficult at times. Still, Ithink Rita gained a lot more than what she suffered.

Programme of study

Question 10

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

Taking into account the play as a whole, I think it is in a way a clash of classes and culture. Rita, which is the embodiment of lower class, as well as a kind of rudimentary woman who goes to this open university looking for a change in her life. She wants to be refined , she wants to be independent. On the other hand, there is Frank, a well-educated teacher who in spite of his knowledge and class cannot cope with his life. Despite of the fact that they belong to different worlds, they get on really well and help each other. That`s way I think that in a way there is some kind of clash between them. Still, this clash can be called a blending of classes more than a clash of culture. In the development of these characters, the word clash gives the idea of pairs strongly opposed ,and here as the story is portrayed , and though characters are quite different, they are able to interact with each other perfectly well.

Existentialism


What have been the main contributions of Existentialism to Modern Ethics?

Have you ever thought that things happen without any logical or rational explanation? Have you ever acted passionately following your feelings and convictions without caring about others? Have you ever made choices which entailed commitment and responsibility? If you have , you acted following the main themes of Existentialism.

Even though Existentialism was highly regarded during the 19th and 20th centuries, its main themes are part and parcel of today`s modern ethics. Its ideas of individual Existence, Freedom and Choice, together with their anti-rationalistic position are clearly found in most human decisions. For Existentialists, all human beings try to approach perfection by trying to find their own unique vocation. They try to reach the highest good by making decisions which are completely subjective and by no means they resemble one another.

Furthermore, Existentialists consider that all human beings are different from plants and animals for the soul reason that only , we, humans are capable of making choices. We are all free to choose, even when we decide no to do it. Thus, every time one makes choices one starts to create one`s own nature.
And the fact that one starts making choices, as once the well-known French Philosopher, Paul Sartre , said, one starts taking responsibility and being committed to the those choices. However, one must not forget that feelings of anxiety and Dread may appear . These feelings have to do with the necessity to find justifications for the choices made.

All in all, Existentialism has been greatly considered as one of the most important philosophical movements of the last two centuries, making great contributions to the Ethics of today`s world. The Ethics that every person applies when making choices. Even the simplest choice carries with itself some kind of Existential thought.


Lucia Perzhalo

Ethics and Deontology , Liceo Cultural Britanico

2007-11-19

Article on Existentialism

Act 2 Scenes 6 and 7

The end of the story

These last two scenes show these ideas that after all we have said and done we come back to our roots. we make a distiction of what is worth it from what is not.. It also makes out the concept of "choice", to be able to make choices in life. The importance of taking some kind of responsability when making choices and if we feel we were wrong , we face it and we go on with our life.

Scene six starts with Frank calling to Rita`s house to let her know that he has entered her for the examination.

So in scene seven Rita goes to Frank`s place to greet him for Christmas and finds him packing all his stuff to go Australia. H e tells her that the university has decided no to dismiss him but to send him to Australia.

The interesting part in this scene arises when Rita tells Frank that she has come to see him and tell him she he is really a good teacher. She tells him that after all she has told him she realizes that he has influenced her for the better. She also tells him that she has chosen herself in spite of all her obstacles and that it is her and only her the one who is going to start a new life. She is not sure if she is going to go to France with Tyson and his group or if she is going to stay with her mum or even to have a baby,she is not sure of anything but she. It is in this moment when Frank gives her a dress that he has bought for her. he makes it clear that he has bought the dress thinking in the woman more than in the educated. Here Frank`s feelings are seen overtly without any kind of restriction. And Rita responds to this by giving him a hair cut. From my point of view Rita`s hair cut could embody Frank`s new life. In fact when she says that she is going to take years off Frank she may mean than life is going to give him a second chance. It is the hair cut and the trip to Australia a possibility to make a new fresh start. However, I don`t think Rita will be part of it. I think that from the beginning Rita has had very clear objectives. She has been able to separate the man from the teacher. On the contrary, It is Frank the one who gets confused. Well, it is at this right moment that he has the opprtunity to start again.

Act 2 Scenes 4 and 5

These two scenes are really telling!! First of all it is in scene four that we learn Frank hidden passion for poetry. It is here when he gives Rita part of his works as a poet. But at first he doesn`t tell her the truth , he wants her to be able to discover it . In fact, he gives her the task to be able to elaborate a critical assessment of an lesser known English poet. By doing this I think he has two aims: first he wants Rita to keep on developing her critical thinking without resorting to any other`s opinion, secondly he wants her to realize of his hidden passion.

However, this event leads to a terrible argument among them because when Rita tells him that he should start writng again he becomes really ironic and tells her that he should also change his name. He even becomes kind of reprouchful to her by telling her she has now got the knack to understand any kind of "shit" she reads. It is here, at this point when Rita expresses very simply what he cannot bearand it is this new Rita what he cannot bear, he cannot bear the fact that she can perfectly do without him . She has become in an entirely new person now. She feels she can do on her own. She has really made progress. However, we can see Frank has fallen behind. At the beginning of the play it is Rita the one that needs Frank desperately, but now things are the other way about. The difference is that now Rita has wings and she is not willing to stay inside a cage any longer she wants to fly and Frank cannot cope with this idea. the idea of Rita leaving him, making a new fresh start.