Monologue for Educating Rita free essay sample

Frank is wearing shorts, a short sleeved shirt and a handkerchief with tied corners on his head looking every inch the out of place, quintessential British man on holiday, slightly sweaty and flustered from the Australian heat. The study is small and untidy but quite reminiscent of his office back in England. Frank starts to unpack his belongings, putting books into shelves, he starts smiling oddly at a new copy of Roger McGoughs poems, he opens the book and reads the inscription aloud; Frank: Im gonna be dead clever ear and say ‘Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire. W B Yeats. You lit my fire Frank. Maybe youll understand this now Rita Frank: W B Yeats, Thanks for reminding me Rita ‘The Wild Swans at Coole’ springs to mind again! The musings of a middle aged man like myself. I lost the appetite for being a poet long ago and now all I have left is nothing except the acrid taste of whisky in my mouth. We will write a custom essay sample on Monologue for Educating Rita or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Stage directions – Franks voice trails off with a sigh. He places the book on his desk with a small smile and continues to unpack. Unpacks the nude painting. Examines the painting and laughs. Frank – Ha look at those tits! Stage directions – Hangs painting on the wall, stares for a while musing with his hands on his hips then walks over to the window, sitting on the ledge looking outside, pondering. Frank – My, how I was intellectually seduced by her. She never conformed to what students were meant to be, let alone a woman! She never had a classical education yet she was incredibly intelligent without realising it, I fell in love with that, I found that an enduring and rare quality that I wanted to nature. But I had to make her conform to pass her exams, I never wanted to, I never wanted to take away the bit about her that I loved in order to achieve what she wanted, that was selfish of me, I called her my Frankenstein! Stage directions – Bangs fist on table. But I thought she was losing part of her innate brightness and original thought and that was never my intention, I wanted to keep that, to nature that and see her grow beyond the constricting confines of educational bureaucracy! What questions remain unanswered? What questions remain unasked? Why do we live our lives with our true feelings hidden away, a fear imposed upon us through fear of failure and rejection? I know why she is always running around in my mind, it is because she is meant to be there. Never have I encountered such voracious and vociferous yet simply beautifully intendant woman not content with the chains society had imposed on her, she reminded me of a song bird in a cage, waiting to be freed, I’d like to think that I helped, she certainly helped me. Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet. I feel like a poet again! She said I lit her fire? Was she hoping that would be reciprocal? Because it is, I think she knows that she ignited my passions again and I did not thank her enough, I was foolish in my coyness, was she my last chance at true love? Maybe the poets are right, maybe love is the only answer? Stage directions – Frank goes to poor himself a drink but resists, slowly puts down his glass on the table and walks towards the door. Frank – No! I think Frost can help me here; Stage directions – Frank looks up longingly and with thought. Frank I think I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence, Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less travelled by, and that, has made all the difference Stage directions – Goes to try the door, but its stuck, he steps back admiring the door Frank – It looks like there are some things you just can not escape. Stage directions – Barges the door open with his shoulder and exits the room End Commentary Structure Examine contextual background Own awareness of adult education Nelson Mandela said Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world But conversely Oscar Wilde stated that Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught As a mature student I can see the value of both, the lessons that experience has taught me and the knowledge gained from education and it is through continued education that drives me towards my goals and I have the experience and passion to get there, something sometimes lacking in a less mature mind. Rita sought education to create a better life for herself and through that pursuit found herself and a friend. She helped Frank possibly realise that he wasn’t so useless after all and got the education she so desired. Comment on my choice of content and what it shows about frank and how he changes over the play Rita is a working class Liverpudlian and aspires to a higher social and academic level so that she may have choices and Frank is a disillusioned alcoholic and failed poet with slowly diminishing choices. As Rita progresses, Russell uses a range of dramatic techniques and tensions between the two characters to explore themes of the personal, class, relationships, gender, dependence, superiority and education, and the structure shows a clear crossover within their respective roles. I felt I needed to convey this change and crossover in my monologue, that bitter sweet feeling of nostalgia, of choices and chances not taken, that black comedy and almost Shakespearian tragedy that we are left with at the end of the play, of a chance of love lost. I wanted to show the emotional change within Frank and the passion that Rita had reignited. Comment on my choice of speech, style, vocabulary Frank has a wide lexicon and vast knowledge of classic English literature. I wanted to include references to this literature knowledge with material already discussed in the play (Roger McGoughs, W B Yeats) to keep in character and theme and also some outside material such as Robert Frost to show his love of poetry is still somewhat alive. In choosing to write a monologue for Frank I was aware that to convey these aspects of his character I needed to continue this style. He is not without humour though, all be it dry and sarcastic, and I needed to include that classic English gentleman wit to carry on Franks style and for the audience to be able to recognise him as his character. Comment on my planned impact on the audience I wanted to show what I thought Franks true feelings were for Rita and finally accepting the truth to himself, yet being true to his nature and not immediately doing anything about it and still leaving his undisclosed love unanswered. A small insight into his thoughts as a whole on Rita, something we do not get to hear about from the play. I wanted to show that as Frank helped Rita, she also helped him, re-lighting his passion for writing. Keeping the audience guessing at the end of the scene is again keeping in nature with the open end of the play, leaving the audience to create their own images about where he could possibly be going.