Educating Rita SummaryEducating Rita summary Rita, a witty, 26-year-old working class British hairdresser who decides to seek an education at Open University.
Rita needs a tutor, and she selects Dr. Frank Bryant , an alcoholic college literature professor whose life is a shambles. Divorced, Bryant’s new lover is now having an affair with his best friend and he’s increasingly depressed, seeking solace in whisky. Bryant’s domestic turmoil is mirrored by Rita’s, as she has opted for college over motherhood, a source of friction between her and her husband. As Rita blooms intellectually under the tutelage of Bryant, she realizes that what she really lacks is self-confidence, not education, and a gentle romance blossoms between her and Bryant.
At home, however, Rita’s newfound self-respect and intelligence cause her even greater pain. ). Dr. Frank Bryant is an alcoholic cynical professor of literature who has become bored with his own teaching and his students.
In comes along a new student, a lady in her twenties: Rita, a frustrated young working class hairdresser who decides to seek an education at Open University. She wants to learn something else about life, other than the usual things, getting married, having babies and so on. The well-meaning but generally drunk professor starts to enjoy his tutorship of this witty and spirited lady. She doesn’t have all the knowledge and studies that all students do, but she has verve and nerve.
She has original naive and fresh ideas and Frank is revitalised through this relationship. As Rita engages her teacher in a fuzzy romance, she matures and discovers a new side of herself. The relationship between them is left very much to our imagination
