Educating Rita is about a woman who decides that she would like to study at the Open University. Rita's real name is actually Susan White, but she prefers to be called Rita. Rita is mentored by a professor named Frank who happens to be an alcoholic who hides his drinking behind his literature. On Rita's first day with Frank, he arrives late and drunk. They both have a very relaxed attitude towards each other; they even exchange their favorite books with each other. Rita would like to learn more about literature and art and Frank would like to use the money she gives him to pay for his alcohol. So they both agree to stay in touch, despite Frank insisting that she find a different guardian. .Rita finally explains to Frank that she had the mentality that education was unimportant and useless and recently her views on it have changed. This is why she decides to go see Frank in the first place. She wants to do well on her final exams and Frank is supposed to help her improve her essay writing skills. She is already the best student because of this. She already has a strong desire to learn and improve herself and her exam scores. At the beginning of the play, Rita was very relaxed in her analysis of the novels. Frank had read Rubyfruit Jungle and gives his take on it, explaining to Rita the proper way to analyze and critique a novel. Rita had read Howards End and simply stated that her only thought about it was that it was "crap". because the author, Foster, was only interested in the rich and not the poor. Frank is a little dismayed by Rita's analysis because she took it too literally and didn't think about it analytically. He tells her that she will have to become more disciplined in the middle of the paper......h this because Rita's writing style is no longer there. This is when Rita also becomes jaded with Frank. She begins to think that he doesn't want the best for her, but the best for himself and that makes her a good student. She becomes aware of those around her, thinks about her own life choices and makes her own decisions. She began to take control of her own life and improve herself not by using Frank, but by using herself. At the end of the play, Rita has passed her exams and she and Frank separate. Rita not only gained new self-esteem, but also gained the knowledge needed to pass her exams. This is why Rita is a better student than Frank. Rita takes away both knowledge and experience while Frank only takes away experience. To be a better student you need to acquire both knowledge and intelligence and that is exactly what Rita did..