In this play, we have experienced how a “girl” (at the beginning) could find the way of feeling better when she started to make choices for her own life, and become a “woman” who is ready to take control over it.
Everything in Rita’s life has changed: her personality, her personal circumstances, her culture and also the people who surround her.
After all, I think that Rita has gained as a result of her education. She has learnt that she is able to choose what she wants for her life and what is better for her. She doesn't need to accept things as they come anymore and furthermore, she is not afraid of making mistakes. She knows now that she is the only person who is able to change her life through the decisions she will take in the future.
I cannot imagine when somebody suffers as a result of studying. Every little experience of studying something gives you growing. I totally agree when Willy Russell says: “education gives you a choice”, because not only it implies an educational experience but also a change in people’s personality.

The goal has been achieved!

The final scenes of the play show us both Frank and Rita about to embark on new stages of their lives. Frank is leaving the University where he met Rita while she has passed her exams successfully. Now, Rita is ready to take charge of her own life.
Rita hasn’t only learnt about Literature but also about making decisions for herself, a very important issue that has to do with everyday life.
While Frank is packing all his things, he gives Rita a dress he bought her some time before. He said that he bought it for an educated woman and when he chose it, he put rather more emphasis on the word “woman” than on the word “educated”.
I think that, after all, Rita has gained experience, confidence and control over herself. The change she was looking for brings more new experiences and challenges for her, who is ready to face a number of choices about the direction her life is to take.
I believe that the dress Frank gives her symbolizes the end of a challenge for him. As if it was the last detail that was missing to let Rita go away from him.

"I want to change everything"

Rita is not a hairdresser anymore. It seems that Rita is not interested in boring details so she doesn’t tell Frank about it.
Rita works in a bistro now…but what’s the difference between working in a bistro from a hairdresser’s?
To me, there is not any difference because when you are proud of what you are, you can work wherever you want. Stupid and boring rubbish details are everywhere so it’s up to you to manage them the better way you believe. But I also think that there is something more important than that.
Maybe, she feels that being a hairdresser does not match her appearance of being a “proper student”, an interesting wise woman, who does not care about a room full of junk as a hairdresser could be to her and in which she was surrounded by old ladies.
Now, she loves working in a bistro because she meets other students who are passionate about things that matter, just like her.
I believe that Rita is keeping up appearances; she is doing what people expect her to do. That’s why she cannot work as a hairdresser anymore.