1. AKA “Marxist Criticism” (Add to your feminism notes…)
Using the Marxist Lens
AKA “Marxist Criticism”
(Add to your feminism notes…)

2. Marx in a nutshell
“The history of all previous societies has been the history of class struggles.”

3. Why do this? To show how money or lack of it affects a story
To show how social class affects a story
To give the poor, invisible or disenfranchised a voice in literature
To evaluate whether class and inequality is a driving force in our society

4. What is Marxism?
Marxism is an economic philosophy revolving around who controls wealth and how to earn wealth
It is based on Karl Marx, a German philosopher who lived in England
The Germans didn’t want him…

5. Karl Marx
Lived from ; born in Germany but lived in England for most of his adult life.
Wrote The Communist Manifesto, as well as many other seminal texts
Is widely considered one of the father’s of social science and most influential thinkers of all time
Never directly involved in communist uprising

6. Terms you need to know (and should use in your essays!)
Proletariat: worker (usually poor)
Bourgeoisie: factory owners, capitalists (the super rich)
Class struggle: the inevitable struggle between rich and poor
Revolution: the violent overthrow of one government for another
Communism: a system of government based around economy (see next slide)
Socialism: the economic system that Communism uses.

7. What is communism? System of government based on economy
Command economy
Shared possessions and property
No religion
No class structure
No government is necessary
Goal: pure social equality

8. Marxist theory
The harder workers work and the more money they make for their bosses, the poorer they become
Workers will tire of this and overthrow their masters
Workers will then take control of the means of production AND government
All of history can be seen through the lens of class struggle and reform

9. Marxist theory, cont.
3. A communist system will be put into place with a temporary government
4. The temporary government will eventually dissolve, leaving behind a perfect communist state with in which everything functions perfectly and everyone makes the same amount of money doing the job they want (ha!)

10. What does this have to do with English?
When someone critiques through a Marxist lens, they focus on how the following affect a story:
Money and Power
Who has it
Who doesn’t (including authors)
How it solves or causes problems
To what degree class conflict affects society

11. What does this have to do with English, Cont.?
Class struggle
Rich vs. poor
Working and living conditions
Ability to move up the economic food chain
Social class
Workers (proletariat)
Capitalists (bourgeoisie)

12. How can I use this? Ask the following questions:
How does the author deal with the poor in relation to the rich?
Do poor characters dream of a better life? If so, do they act on those dreams?
How long have the poor been poor?
Does the author create sympathy for the poor?
…hatred for the upper class?

13. How can I use this? Are the poor being exploited?
Can the poor become rich with or without violence?