Trish Character Analysis in Educating Rita

A cultured and educated young woman who becomes Rita’s roommate when Rita leaves Denny. Trish represents the kind of person Rita has always wanted to be, and the two new friends spend their time talking about art and literature. When Frank gives Rita his poetry collections, she brings them home and shows them to Trish, who thinks the poems are incredible. Despite the fact that Trish seemingly has it all—intelligence, elegance, youth—Rita comes home one night to discover that her friend has tried to kill herself. Because of this, Rita sees that being an intellectual doesn’t inherently bring happiness to a person’s life.

Trish Character Timeline in Educating Rita

The timeline below shows where the character Trish appears in Educating Rita. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...Since Frank clearly doesn’t want to talk about Julia anymore, he and Rita start discussing Trish, Rita’s new roommate. “She’s great,” Rita says. “Y’ know she’s dead classy. Y’ know, like... (full context)

Institutionalized Education vs. Experiential Education Theme Icon

...asks why she’s speaking differently, she says, “I have merely decided to talk properly. As Trish says there is not a lot of point in discussing beautiful literature in an ugly... (full context)

...in question are “simple” and “uncomplicated.” “Yeh, that’s what you say, Frank,” Rita replies, “but Trish and me and some others were talkin’ the other night, about Blake, an’ what came... (full context)

...After a moment of silence, she announces that she has to leave because she and Trish are going to a production of The Seagull. Again, Frank tells her she can stop... (full context)

...to start writing again.” Holding up his poetry collections, she tells him that she and Trish stayed up all night talking about how wonderful his work is. After Rita gushes praise... (full context)

...to be questioned.” She then tells Frank that she recently came home to find that Trish, who is so educated and proper, had tried to kill herself. (full context)