![]() Mentoringįrank and Rita have a classic mentor/mentee relationship at the beginning of the text after all, the play is based on Pygmalion. ![]() On the other hand, literature did allow her to break free of certain shackles, so it may as liberating as she believes it to be, albeit in a different way. It’s obvious Rita believes that she is being “fed," but by the end of the text it seems like all she has done is memorize the works of others rather than come to any understanding of who she is. ![]() As with other themes, though, Russell’s views on literature are not entirely clear. She isn’t interested in large-scale activism -just her own personal development. She scoffs at Frank’s idea that she should study politics, preferring to delve into the works of great writers and poets because they speak to her soul more directly. She sees it as liberation, as something that feeds her soul and makes her whole. Rita views literature as more than just the study of writers, books, and ideas. Russell leaves it open to interpretation if this disparity in personal growth is due to the characters’ ages, backgrounds, or inherent characteristics. In fact, his drinking and his bitterness over Rita’s forward movement lead him to regress he is temporarily removed from his job, loses his girlfriend, and prepares to leave for Australia. She succeeds in educating herself, moving up the social ladder, and freeing herself from the limitations of her old world. Rita is fervently interested in bettering herself no matter how difficult or humiliating it might be. Rita and Frank are diametrically opposed when it comes to personal growth. Thus, there are multiple relevant messages about education within this text. On the other hand, education is the mark and maker of a civilized person, and being “civilized” offers many more opportunities than the other options available. Education, as Frank believes and as Russell may be asking us to consider, cannot transform a person’s inner being. Educated people have their own mores, norms, and codes of behavior and thinking that are just as limiting as those of the working class. Frank’s comments and behavior reinforces the fact that education can shape a person in certain ways, but can also be a superficial, rigid structure in which a person’s individuality is swallowed up. Through her education she does indeed achieve all of these things, but education is not a panacea. For Rita, education is a means to jump social classes, to escape a lackluster life, and to act as an arena in which she can make her own choices and be her own person. EducationĮducation is arguably the most important theme of the text, but the role it plays is ambiguous. She may end up in an elevated class, but whether or not she possesses true and lasting happiness and self-fulfillment are left unanswered by Russell. Her desire to move up the social ladder is the core of the play, but is fraught with complexities and questions. ![]() Rita’s working class existence is rough in a very different way, but instead of languishing in apathy and self-pity, she proceeds with zest and ambition. Frank’s intellect and education place him firmly in the middle class, but he seems to take it for granted, and to be aware of the hollowness of such an existence. Rita and Frank are from different social classes -working and middle, respectively -and this is readily apparent in their manners of speaking, social mores and behavior, extracurricular pursuits, views on the world, and more. ![]()
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