Essay about Humour within the Play Educating Rita

This production was ripe with humour, witticisms and a valuable moral message, it entertained the audience and showed a different side of the elderly most would not perceive. Through brilliantly written extended dialogue, tension creating arguments and fleshed out and realistic relationships between characters portrayed the plays dramatic meaning clearly and effectively whilst keeping audiences young and old

Mrs Lyons was played exceptionally well; she helped me to understand several themes of the play-primarily class. Mrs Lyons was of a higher class, than Miss Johnston and this came through, through her movement-the manner in which, she manoeuvred around the stage. Mrs Lyons-unlike Miss Johnston would always walk with her head held high in the air and her shoulders back; her posture was always sustained and sharp, apart from when she began to derail mentally. Very often Mrs Lyons, would be alongside Miss Johnston-who was of a working class background, and through the actress’ characterization, I was able to see a contrast between the two women. This helped me to understand the theme of class.

The central conflict of this play is between Willy and his elder son Biff, who showed great promise as a young athlete and ladies’ man, but in adulthood become a thief and drifter with no clear direction. Willy’s other son, Happy, while on a more secure career path, is superficial and seems to not have loyalty to anyone. Linda, Willy’s wife sees everyone how they truly are, she wants to have a happy family but being the only girl, or so she thinks, its hard to talk to three guys who are stubborn heads.

‘Our Day Out’ is a written play by Willy Russell that reflects on the life the lower class of England live, also addressing the ‘progress class’ children that aren’t given any chances to develop themselves and get a real shot at life. This is all represented through a day out. The play is dramatic and at times comedic. There are two teachers in the play, both with contrasting personalities,Mrs Kay a very lenient and kind teacher, and Mr.Briggs a firm, strict teacher. During this short essay I will be analysing and capturing memorable quotes to back up points and observations I have made from the play regarding the effectiveness of the two the two contradicting teachers.

How Willy Russel Uses Language and Dramatic Devices to Convey the Relationship Between Frank and Rita in his Play

The play seems to be produced with a somewhat humorous tone to it, while the short story is extremely dark and places a greater emphasis on the suggested abuse suffered by Mrs. Wright. In comparing the theatrical play to the short story, it appears as if Trifles was crafted with a comic tinge, meant to be viewed and enjoyed by a vast audience comprising of men and women. The dialogue is extremely clever and witty, being delivered in

The one act play is very strong in the way that women are treated and how they live. The strict living of the women caused by the gender role of the male working making decisions and having them do all the maintenance in the house causes the women to be so isolated that they just sit in there house with nothing to do or kids to be had. The play Trifles dominates the side of male dominance and hasawheeping effect of the women and how they live their lives. Minnie the only female in the story to be given a name has been called out by her duties of a housekeeper and that is it. The other women Mrs.Hale and Mrs.Peters are known only because of

Willy Russell, a famous playwright presents this two character dramatic piece following the story of Susan White, a 26 year old working class woman, with a passion for education and self-discovery. She strives to be a certified member of the middle class, believing that education is the key to gaining more choices in life. By changing her name to ’Rita’, after the author Rita Mae Brown, she hopes to breach the limitations of her class, and progress further with the help of her tutor Frank, under the illusion that education will set her free. Directly reflecting the society in 1985, when the play is set, Russell through the use of political satire, and simple slapstick, conveys the social division, gender inequality and stereotypes in this play. Political satire is a significant part of comedy with the purpose of ridiculing social and political failures through the use of wit, irony, and humour.

An example of his transition, becoming fonder of Rita, is as quoted: “If you must open a window then go on, open it.” (Page 53). This proves that he has previously felt shut off from the world, but it willing to change in order to make his newfound student happy. Overall, ‘Educating Rita’ is one of Willy Russell’s best works, bringing about profoundly moving emotions, as well as hilarious humor. The play details the fascinating growth and change of the characters, as well as the consequences for this change.

The tone of the paragraphs 10-12 is humorous. For example, in paragraph 10 "There was a roar of laughter in the courtroom." because the lawyer thought he could grow cooked corn The author uses dialogue and figurative speech such as the metaphor in paragraph 11 when the judge asked, '"Sir, have you lost your mind?".

In the context of the play, rather then ignoring the problematic elements, Anne Barton (1997)

Realizing that her disguise has produced unexpected results, Viola makes an allusion to the Gordon knot in order to describe the perceived difficulty of extricating herself from the confusion. Viola, in the act of reinterpreting herself as a man for the main purpose of protection, has found herself the body from which other characters can derive their own interpretations.

‘It’s tone is that of satire, but of a satire which, for lack of a moral point of view, has lost its sting’ (Edouard Roditi)

Question: How is the concept of belonging presented in Educating Rita? Extract One: Act 1 Scene 1 Willy Russell explores the concept of belonging in the first scene of Educating Rita through language and dramatic techniques. It is evident from the moment that Frank and Rita meet that their perceptions of belonging are vastly different. Rita's entrance, "I'm comin' in, aren't I? It's that stupid bleedin' handle on the door. You wanna get it fixed!" shocks both Frank and the audience in her apparent ignorance of social conventions surrounding admission to a university lecturer's office. Her use of slang and contractions of words suggests that she belongs to the working class rather than to Frank's educated class. Her tone

Alternatively, at the beginning Rita is much more casual with her words.We get the impression that on some level she is proud of who she is as a child of the working class and only seeks a more open minded view of everything not a change to her personality despite the fact that this is what will inevitably happen beforeshe 'learns everything, '. 'This is the sort of thing they would of perved over in them days, isn 't it? ' Rita feels free to say what she wants but not in a closedof manner, by ending the quote by asking for an opinion Rita is open and sociable, also in addition Rita says inappropiate things such as 'perved over ' she is yet again making a sexual reference which later on she wouldn 't dream of saying something so common to an educator. We see both in the beginning and the end of Educating Rita Rita speaking for herself and not through others. As Rita changes during the play above all the level of interaction with the people at the university alters dramatically. In the beginning despite Rita 's liking forFrank, she is still very shy about the fact he is in some sense better than her. I 've commented