10.2.1
Marxist Analysis
Marxist Analysis
Marxist Analysis
Marxist criticism is based on the economic, political and philosophical writings of Karl Marx, a German thinker who criticised the political and economic systems of 19th Century capitalist societies.
Marxism
Marxism
- While Marxist political ideas have largely been discredited since the collapse of Russian and Eastern European communism in the late 1980s/1990s, Marxist analysis is still a highly relevant tool for examining the power relations within societies (and the representations of societies in literature).
- Conditioning
- Conditioning
- The following ideas are central tenets of Marxist thinking:
- The way we think and behave is conditioned by society.
- Although we like to think of ourselves as free and independent, Marxist analysis looks at how far we are controlled by factors such as government, money and social class.
- Our socio-economic circumstances determine much, if not all, of our lives. We have far fewer choices than we like to think we have.
- Exploitation of capitalism
- Exploitation of capitalism
- Capitalism, the economic system upon which Western societies are built, relies on exploiting (unfairly taking advantage of) its workers.
- Therefore, there is always a conflict between those who control capital (wealth) and those who are exploited.
- The idea of a class struggle between oppressor and oppressed is central to Marxist thinking.
- Alienation
- Alienation
- In Western capitalist societies, workers are treated as objects rather than human beings.
- They are valued by the wealth they help to produce rather than as people.
- This creates alienation: a lack of self-worth or of meaning in people’s lives.
- Workers are not in control of their destiny and cannot fulfil their hopes and dreams by their own efforts alone.
- Internalisation
- Internalisation
- The writer of a text is also conditioned by their own socio-economic circumstances and so the text they produce will reflect these circumstances in its attitudes towards wealth, power, property etc.
1Introduction
1.1Introductions
2Act One
3Act Two
4Extended Passage Analysis
5Character Profiles
5.1Willy & Linda Loman
5.2Biff & Happy Loman
5.3Other Characters
6Key Themes
7Writing Techniques
7.1Structure
7.3Expressionism
8Historical Context
8.1Historical Context
9Literary Context
9.1Tragedy
10Critical Debates
10.1Introduction
10.2The Marxist Reading
10.3The Feminist Reading
10.4The Eco-Critical Reading
10.5Other Debates
Jump to other topics
1Introduction
1.1Introductions
2Act One
3Act Two
4Extended Passage Analysis
5Character Profiles
5.1Willy & Linda Loman
5.2Biff & Happy Loman
5.3Other Characters
6Key Themes
7Writing Techniques
7.1Structure
7.3Expressionism
8Historical Context
8.1Historical Context
9Literary Context
9.1Tragedy
10Critical Debates
10.1Introduction
10.2The Marxist Reading
10.3The Feminist Reading
10.4The Eco-Critical Reading
10.5Other Debates
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