Educating Rita Interview

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her ways of speaking, and her fluency in the language of literature all change during/after she receives a better education. She finally calls it quits with her husband, Denny, who does not approve of her trying to better herself and would rather have a baby than support her in her pursue for a higher education. She finds new, educated friends and feels as if she is finally living the life that she has been striving for during her journey to education. There are some instances when it seems as if maybe she’s not completely changed after all. Sometimes her old jokes and comments come out and her old accent can be heard. Another question to ask yourself is, I know she has finally reached her goal of education, but has she just created new problems for herself like fitting in, always acting properly, always having to write and talk a certain way because other ways are frowned upon, or having to always look at things a certain way?”

“Thank you so much for your time Mr. Russell. Hope to talk to you again soon”

It is apparent that education is the main focus of this book and in every scene, even those that aren’t about education, there is still an underlying theme of it. Education is important to Rita and she is using it to “find herself” and she finally does succeed. But how much is she really improving her overall happiness if there are just going to be new problems in her new lifestyle? The working class that Rita was a part of is defined as little to no education past high school, low net-worth, and occupations involving physical work and/or little control or authority in the workplace (Metzgar 2003). The class that she strives to become a part of is defined as being college educated, a secure home, and control over the working-class people in the workplace (Metzger 2003). In my opinion, she never truly leaves the working class but by increasing her knowledge, she betters herself and figures out what she needs in her life and what she does not. Frank, I believe, is bettered in the process of educating Rita as well because he learns what it is like to not look at everything one certain way as his middle-class circle of friends tended to do. She showed him what a real imagination and personality looks like but since he never truly blossomed into a better person like we were all hoping he would, the extent that he improved was a great did smaller than the amount that Rita improved.

Work Cited

Bramann, Jorn K. "Educating Rita." Educating Rita. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2015. <http:// faculty.frostburg.edu/phil/forum/EduRita.htm>.

Metzger, Jack. "Class Matters." Class Matters. Class Matters, Summer 2003. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. <http://www.classmatters.org/working_definitions.php>.