Amina Ali and Rumsha Baig
The Marxist Literary Theory
The Marxist literary theory is a form of criticism that is used to analyze pieces of literature.
In this criticism, the text is investigated by examining the societies and their texts in terms
of certain issues like conflicts between the classes (higher and working).
The Marxist Theory
Karl Marx, a German Philosopher born in Trier, Germany in 1818, and Friedrich Engels, a
German-English political theorist and philosopher born in Barmen, Prussia in 1820, created
Marxism. Karl believed that the workers in a society were being taken advantage of by the
middle/upper classes who controlled a country’s sources of income (industries) for profit.
This theory is known as the Marxist theory or Marxism. The Marxist theory talks about
class differences and capitalism—a country’s source of income being controlled, and
profited from, by the upper and middle classes. This criticism relates itself to the
oppression of the lower class by the higher classes in different literatures. Marxist criticism
follows the path of thinking called the material dialectic, which states that “...what drives
historical change are the material realities of the economic base of society, rather than the
ideological superstructure of politics, law, philosophy, religion, and art that is built upon
that economic base” (Richter 1088). This means that a continuation of conflict between the
classes will lead to disorder, and further, revolt, by the oppressed peoples and will be the
base of a new order of society and economics where capitalism is eliminated (Brizee, A. J.
and Tompkins C., 2010).
Marxist criticism and its use in literature
Analyzing a piece of literature through Marxist criticism can be challenging. It is important
to keep the following points in mind when criticizing literature to thoroughly understand
the material from a Marxist point of view:
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Examine the characters, settings and society in the text to understand the author’s
society and its effects on the literature created.
Think about the social and political elements, as well as class differences and
conflicts, in the piece of literature.
Examine the class system: - Class conflict
- Who or what is the “higher” class? (What do they
believe? How do they force their beliefs on others?)
- Who or what is the working class? (How are they
oppressed? How can they end their own
oppression?)
- What is the result or outcome? (Which class wins? Is
there a reasonable conclusion to the conflict
between the classes?)
Amina Ali and Rumsha Baig
Works Cited
Abele, C.; Cronmiller, L.; DeZurik, A.; Hudson, H.; Marinos, D.; Ogborn M.; Pellicier, T.
(1997). 1993 Hypertext database: Marxist criticism. Retrieved from,
http://www.lawrence.edu/dept/english/courses/60a/marxist.html
Brizee, A. J. and Tompkins C. (2010). Marxist criticism (1930s-present). Retrieved from,
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/05/
Friedrich Engels. (2012). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from,
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/187483/Friedrich-Engels
Marvin, C. (2000). The window of philosophers. Retrieved from,
http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/phil/philo/phils/engels.html
.