Act 1 Scenes 3 and 4

Rita's first encounter with academic writing is not as good as she had expected... Her essay is far from what examiners want from students. Rita does not know how to support her views in the paper, she believes she knows better than examiners because she has read something they have not... she needs to develop a certain criteria when reading and Frank will help her do so. But this new criteria will not only help her when writing for an audience but also in most other aspects of her life. Rita struggles every time she has to go to her lessons against her family, partner and friends: her partner, especially, does not want to let her go there... he is afraid of Rita's opportunity of opening her mind, of seeing other reality than the one she is used to, of losing her... Rita tries to continue with her course against all odds... By the end of scene 4, we can see that she is succeeding, she is achieving her objective...

Act 1 Scene 2

When Rita gets into Frank's room, she is in a different world; she can see what she expects to achieve by studying, i.e., to develop "good taste," to become somebody different from who she actually is. Though she did not have the chance to become a regular student since it was frown upon by those who surrounded her (and even herself!), she enjoys looking at them, watching or imagining how their lives differ from hers. In a way, Rita idealizes both Frank and regular students: she looks up to them as they have succeeded in doing something she did not: academic life. And this is a contradiction in itself insofar as up to this moment she has been part of a social class who regards academic people as posh, as detached from "real life..." Will Rita change her mind as to what "being educated" implies? Will she try to continue studying in spite of her prejudices? I hope my questions have an answer by the end of the play!