Programme of Study (About Educating Rita) - Part 1

The question to answer now is if Educating Rita is a play about the clash of class and culture. Well, let me tell you that it is so. For us to realise that there are culture and social differences between Frank and Rita it is not necessary to go any further than just a couple of pages. By the way in which both speak (Rita showing in her speech her coming from the working class and Frank's one showing that he is well-read and formally educated), we almost immediately learn that they are both from different backgrounds. And here is where the clash appears! Although at the end of the story the both learn how to 'co-exist' without having to discuss every single aspect of life in order to agree on something, it took them really quite a lot of time to understand each other, to learn from their differences and to be able to negotiate ideas, values and thoughts. Since they come from different backgrounds, they have different ideas and concepts about the same things. For instance, when Rita came back from Summer School acting in the way she did, pretending to be someone she was not, she showed us that she really believed that for her to be educated she had to be like the former students and like the people at the party in Frank's house (do you remember the party to which Rita didn't go because of not feeling properly dressed and because of not knowing which wine to take?). Rita believed that being educated meant to be able to get in touch with well-educated people to discuss about Blake (all this clearly shows how the working class sees education: as something just meant for wealthy people and, if you were to try to get your own education -as Rita did-, you would have to become one of them -as Rita thought-).
On the other hand, according to Frank's belief, education has nothing to do with dressing up, going to parties, being wealthy and choosing a proper wine. When Rita comes back from Summer School and he sees her acting like that, he shows her that he does not agree with her doing so for in order to get an education she does not need to leave out her essence, but on the contrary, learn by means of it...
Both Frank and Rita, as I said, learned a lot from each other and managed to cope with their being from different classes and cultures. Educating Rita is a play about the clash of class and culture which, fortunately, has a good and positive and encouraging outcome since, after a long process of exchanging and negotiation, both cultures (both Rita and Frank) could find the way out...

Educating Rita: the play about intercultural discovery and learning