*INSERT NAME HERE*
What Educating Rita teaches us about individuality
“Do you go by Nathan, or Nate?”
That simple question, which I have heard throughout my life, is one that troubles me to this day. While “Nate” seems like a natural nickname for anyone of my namesake, I have always felt that just something about it feels wrong when its associated with my self image. Willy Russell, the author of the play Educating Rita would probably back me up in this sentiment.
The title Educating Rita makes it seem like the play is a one-dimensional process, in which the protagonist Rita becomes a more reader and writer, which is largely true, and there is plenty of well supported arguments that take such a stance.
The wrench in all of this is Rita’s real name: Susan, and halfway through the play, she decides to change it back. Why? To answer, we should first understand the context of Rita’s transformation, and how her name is use as a symbol of her identity.
What does a name entail?
The significance of one’s name is emphasized through a lot of Rita’s dialogue with Frank in the first few scenes of the play. For example, Rita speculates, “Maybe your parents named you after the quality; y’ know, ‘Frank’, ‘frankness’” (Russell, Educating Rita, 12).
This thought about Frank’s name and what it could imply is quite similar to how I feel about the ‘Nathan vs. Nate’ debate. I tend towards Rita’s point of view, such that Frank’s — and my own for that matter, name has a specific connotation to it. I’ve always found that ‘Nate’ inherently refers to someone who is more laid back, maybe less put together, whereas ‘Nathan’ is more respectable and intense.
Similarly, Rita connects her identity with the name Rita, especially considering it’s not her given name. Despite that for most of the play the audience knows her as Rita, she admits that Rita is an adopted name:
Rita finds that initially, the name Rita, even separate from the author, has a connotation that aligns with her self-image, in the same way that I currently would rather see myself as ‘Nathan’ — and all that the name entails.
Since Susan decides to be called Rita when she was “uneducated,” but switches back to Susan when she is “educated,” could signify that she now believes her real name, Susan, reflects who she wants to be. However, I would argue that this belief is misguided, and that the progression of her name is ironic, because she may not actually become meaningfully educated.
Rita’s Lost Identity
Early on in the play, when Rita is still known as “Rita,” she fights with her writing tutor, Frank, over the literary value of Ruby Fruit Jungle. Since Rita initially praises the book, Frank looks down upon her tastes as a reader and as a writer, which is reflected in her initial writing.
Frank’s first major criticism of Rita’s work is its distinct lack of criticism or rather critical writing. Rita responds that she doesn’t “want to criticize Rubyfruit Jungle! Because I think it’s brilliant!” (Russell, Educating Rita, 21).
This emotional response to a work of literature is one of Rita’s main qualities as a student, as shown by similarly strong negative reactions to books she finds boring, like E.M. Forster’s Howard’s End.
“Howard’s End by Mr. E.M. Forster is one really crap book!”
This identity, with a love and hate for literature, is directly linked to her name:
‘And that’s who I named myself after. ‘Cos I just love that book.”
The Loss
On the surface, Rita transforms as a person and writer throughout the play. Before her tutorial from Frank, Rita was just a hairdresser, who hadn’t experienced a formal education, and thus lacked the extremely critical knowledge of an idea what assonance was (understandably, considering many students, let alone hairdressers, have difficulty identifying such a convention).
She is nearly presented as pitiful, especially when she believes that “Do it on the radio” is a sufficiently long essay for academia (Russell, Educating Rita, 29).And while one can interpret her response, “I sort of… encapsulated my ideas into one line,” as showing that she really knew her essay was insufficient, this interaction is indicative of her lacking education (Russell, Educating Rita, 30).
This makes her transformation seem that much more powerful, such that by the end of the play, she was able to appreciate the “wit an’ classical allusion” in Frank’s poetry (Russell, Educating Rita, 75), which relies on extensive knowledge of academic literature.
However, I believe Russell’s message from this play is actually opposite of how it initially appears, i.e. Rita has actually lost her individuality through the process of “becoming an academic.” Act Two, Scene Six contains a falling out between Susan and Frank, which shows exactly how little Rita has gained from her “education.”
This scene directly shows how Rita has lost what had made her unique, and how she simultaneously decides to change her name back to her “true” name, Susan.
The Warning
I believe that a more in-depth analysis of this play offers a more layered, perhaps cynical story about how Rita simultaneously becomes educated but loses herself in the process. As established prior, Rita’s natural state of mind is one that takes dramatic, emotional stances on literature. While this presents a unique challenge to Frank as a teacher, he develops an immediate appreciation, and later affection for Rita.
Frank ultimately thinks that Rita is amazing as she is and wouldn’t gain anything by learning about literature written hundreds of years ago. In contrast, throughout her education, Rita decides to revert to her given name, Susan. While under many circumstances, that could show how Rita is coming into herself as a person, I think the more appropriate interpretation is one of irony.
While Susan has become more like Frank’s colleagues, that really didn’t achieve anything. She now has a “better appreciation of literature,” but as a hairdresser, how does that help? This question, regarding the applicability of higher education is grander than the scope of this play, but I believe Russell, through Frank, asserts that what society perceives as “properly educated” doesn’t carry much weight in real life. Instead, Russell, and Frank, appreciate people like Rita because they are un-warped, raw, opinionated people who refuse to change their feelings because of some societal standard.
The Application
While Rita’s situation isn’t incredibly popular — returning to education after joining the work force — the loss of one’s individuality can extend all the way from primary to higher level education. Students are expected to complete standardized tests, and write “academic” essays that become formulaic and lack any personality. As Russell assert,s we need to make sure we hold on to our individuality, and be proud of who we are, and who we want to be.
Works Cited:
Russell, Willy. 1980/2009. Educating Rita. New York: Menthuen
Lewis Gilbert. Educating Rita. Acorn Pictures, 1983.