Educating Rita and Adult Education
This is the draft of a paper I have due for a doctoral class. 1983’s Educating Rita , directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters, both chronicles one woman’s adventure through Britain’s Open University program and her progress in friendship with a jaded professor of literature, Frank Bryant. Susan White is a hairdresser, 26, married to an electrician and living in a working class area of a British city (the movie was filmed in Dublin but the setting is probably Birmingham or Manchester). Her husband Denny wants a baby and a satisfied wife, but Susan is not satisfied. She senses there is more to life and decides to get an education even though her family disapproves. The film tells the story of Susan’s journey and growth as an adult learner, from one of naiveté (she calls herself “Rita” after the popular feminist poet Rita Mae Brown, whose work she loves) and awe at the great learning of university types, to a greater understanding of herse