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Discuss the portrayal of metamorphosis In Willy Russell's 'Educating Rita'

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Discuss the portrayal of metamorphosis In Willy Russell's 'Educating Rita' In this essay, I am going to discuss the portrayal of metamorphosis in Willy Russell's 'Educating Rita.' I am going to write about how the play's two round characters, Frank and Rita, change their attitudes, confidence, lifestyle, appearance and their overall look on life throughout the course of the play. To do this, I will analyse Frank and Rita at the start of the play and then go on to comment on how they change from the beginning to the end of the play. The writer who wrote this brilliant play is called Willy Russell. He was born in 1947 in Liverpool and lived most of his life there. He came from a typical working class background, with his father owning a chip shop and his mother working in a factory. Russell enjoyed writing from a young age but still decided to leave school at the age of fifteen. After working as a hairdresser for a short period, he decided that it wasn't for him and thought that he would try his hand at becoming a teacher. During Russell's life, he wrote a number of plays, such as, 'Our Day Out' and 'When the Reds.' ...read more.


The audience sympathises Frank at the start of the play, as he is obviously depressed due to the amount of alcohol that he consumes. As he has bottles of alcohol his in his office and his girlfriend tells him not to stay long at the pub when she talks to him on the phone, it leads the audience to believe that he is an alcoholic. Frank also appears to be depressed and lonely during the first half of the play. His relationship seems to be failing and he never appears to be very happier or cheerful. He seems to be incomplete and his life has something missing. He is set in his ways and his life doesn't have much excitement. Frank obviously does not like his teaching job due to the lectures he turns up drunk to, and by himself stating that he is a boring teacher for his boring students. This demonstrates that although Frank is an academic (everything Rita aspires to,) he is unfulfilled and lacking self-esteem. By the end of the play, both Rita and Frank undergo what they consider a positive change and transform into better, more confident, happier people. At the end of the play, Rita has transformed into a more sophisticated woman. ...read more.


He can no longer rely on alcohol halfway through the play and even ends up ripping up his poetry that he wrote years before, as he had no self-belief. Rita helps to encourage Frank and make his confidence grow. It eventually increases but never to the same point as Rita's. I believe that Frank has had enough of his life and all he wants to do is start afresh somewhere new. To conclude, both of the characters of Rita and Frank have certainly undergone a radical change in 'Educating Rita.' As the writer of the play, Willy Russell, came from a working class background, he tried to portray his life through the character of Rita. What he was trying to put across is that everyone in this world can succeed as long as they put there minds to it and give it their all. Both of the characters in this play definitely play an important role in helping the other to transform into something that they wanted to become. The main thing that I believe helped them to reach their goals was determination. If people give up, nothing will be achieved. Yet as they stuck at it and didn't wallow in self-pity, they managed to transform themselves. Rita showed a lot of courage by doing what she did. It helps to show people that anything is possible if you have the confidence to believe in yourself. ?? ?? ?? ?? ...read more.

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