‘Educating Rita’ by Willy Russell
(Keep safe the questions and your answers as both should provide helpful revision material in your studies.)
Act 1 (i)
1.
Where is this first scene of the play set?
2.
Before Rita enters, what initial information is conveyed to us about Frank and by what means?
3.
What has led Rita to become a mature student?
4.
How precisely can you tell from this first scene that Rita comes from a very different social background to Frank? Quote where appropriate
5.
Frank attempts to persuade Rita to find another tutor. What reasons does he give for this and do you think he has reasons other than the ones that he voices?
6.
What do you think Frank means when he says “Everything I know – you must listen to this – is that I know absolutely nothing”
Act I (ii)
1.
Rita returns for her tutorial. What has she brought with her?
2.
In what way does Rita think she may have influenced Frank?
3.
“I love that lawn down there. When it’s summer, do they sit on it?” says Rita.
What attitude in Rita to the ‘real’ students does the above statement convey and how realistic do you think it is?
4.
Why does Rita say that so far it has been difficult for her to change?
5.
On what personal choice of novel has Rita written and what is Frank’s criticism?
6.
In what way does Rita’s undisciplined mind give us more information about
Frank’s life?
7.
“ I wish I could talk like that. It’s brilliant” says Rita of Frank. What does this underline about Rita’s attitude to Frank?
8.
What appears to be Frank’s attitude to Rita?
Act 1 (iii)
1.
With what novelist did Rita compare ‘Howard’s End’ by E.M. Forster?
2.
What does Frank discover about Rita’s studying arrangements?
3.
Rita is quick to draw comparisons and is far from stupid. What is it that she simply does not have?
Act 1 (iv)
1.
With what phrase of Forster’s is Rita having particular problems?
Remembering the class discussion of ‘Howard’s End’ discuss the significance of the theme of ‘Howard’s End’ to this play.

2.
On what text does Rita offer a two-sentence essay and what does she say in this ‘essay’?
3.
What again about Rita do her two sentences reveal?
4.
Describe Rita’s disillusionment with her working class community and its
‘culture’
5.
What do you think Rita is looking for in life that she feels education will bring her? ( Remember her question to Frank as she gazed out of his bay window at their first meeting)
6.
What more do we learn of Denny and Rita’s relationship with him?