Studying the play to write ‘Educating Rita’ essays

Out of the common academic essay assignments given out to students, are the essay projects on ‘Educating Rita’, the comedy by British playwright Willy Russell. The play revolves around the new-found relation between a tutor and a student. The complexities of the life of two common people have been portrayed beautifully in this play. It is necessary to have a very good understanding of the story before you start writing your ‘Educating Rita’ essay.

In order to grasp the plot of a play well enough, you need to first get accustomed to the characters in the play. Once you understand the characters and their attributes, it becomes easy to follow the plot and the story line. The same applies to the play ‘Educating Rita’ also. Even though there aren’t too many characters to study, the ones who are a part of the play are rather deep and going through a complex state of mind as presented in the play. Hence you must know the two main characters in the story, well enough, while writing ‘Educating Rita’ essays.

• Rita is a vivacious young woman who finds herself stuck with the boring life of a hairdresser in Liverpool. She is bored with her work and is fascinated by the possibilities of higher education. She joins an open university and finds a tutor to help her with her studies. Her longing to be a part of the well educated community is apparent from the fact that she gave up her real name ‘Susan’ to adopt the name of an author. She is not bothered about the riches or status education can buy her. For her, education is much more than means of sustaining oneself. In the play, we see the transformation she undergoes as a student.
• Dr. Frank Bryant is resigned to the fate of his monotonous life as a professor. After his wife leaves him, he resorts to alcohol and lives in a world where nothing interests him. But everything changes when he takes up Rita as his student. Even though his intention was only to earn some more money, Rita causes him to wake up into a new world of fun and pleasure. Frank realizes that life is not all about what you think it is but it is about what you want it to be.

The plot of this play is all about how two people find the world a better place when they try to see it through each other’s eyes. There are various topics which you can consider for your ‘Educating Rita’ essay.

1. The intensity of the relation between Rita and Dr. Frank Bryant.
2. Rita’s life before and after she started her education.
3. The complexities of the plot which starts with a rather dull tone and which bursts into a world of fun and pleasure.
4. The relevance of the inconspicuous characters in the play.

While writing ‘Educating Rita’ essays you should also try to gather information on the movie which was made on the play. You might also find projects which specifiy whether the essay should be written on the movie or the play. Make sure that you focus on what is asked for, to make your assignment interesting and impressive. If you wish to get a custom essay prepared on ‘Educating Rita’, our academic writers will be able to offer you an outstanding one.