Educating Rita- the Consequence of Change...

Belonging implies change, and change rarely comes without consequence. The progression to belong into a now culture or place may be physical, emotional or mental. Rita, driven by feeling inadequate is the main character in Willy Russell’s play, Educating Rita. She achieves a successful move into her new world. However, she must overcome change which will come at a personal cost. Throughout the play Willy Russell depicts many themes; these include relationships, choice and consequence, social class and change. These themes are constantly seen in “good will hunting”, directed by Gus Van Sant. Staring Matt Damon who plays “will hunting”, an abused foster child, he subconsciously blames himself for his unhappy upbringing and turns this self-loathing into a form of self-sabotage in both his professional and emotional life. The story is about his challenge to break from his working-class culture and move on. However, he will face many changes through-out his quest to belong.
Relationships can mould or trigger change, and change is seen throughout Educating Rita. Rita embarks on an Open University course as she wants more out of her life. Rita see’s education as an exit route from her current life, she is “out of step” with her husband, family and friends – Rita wants to “discover [herself] first”, before wanting to compensate with having a child with Denny. Denny’s obsession of one day settling down with a family leads to the later divorce and failure of their marriage. Rita’s initial depiction of Denny towards Frank was that Denny “was blind”, Rita differentiates herself by stating that “[she ] wants to see”. Denny does not understand nor is willing to negotiate or communicate with Rita throughout act one, Denny’s aggressive behaviour leads to the savage action of burning her books, in scene five, and later Rita’s moving out of the house. This change was a consequence of Rita’s action to educate herself, despite Rita’s suffering she is still sympathetic and forgiving