“For Marxism, getting and keeping economic power is the motive behind all social and political activities, including education, philosophy, religion, government, the arts, science, technology, the media, and so on”. (Tyson 53-54) A Marxist has multiple theories, which are applied to different subjects within a society and the analysis explains the complexities of modern society. When we consider a Marxist analysis it mainly concentrates on the relationships between the socioeconomic classes and it describes that all the actions done by humans revolve around “the distribution and dynamics of economic power”. For instance the example given by Tyson about the comedy serial on television which shows a homeless man and his social behavior that would never change, which seems to be accepted by others but pointed out by Marxist critics. Marxist sociology develops critical and cultural studies concerned with relationship between society and economics. It has proved that the conflicts in class revolution are more due to socioeconomic differences, rather than the diversity in beliefs, race, traditions, or sexual category. Most of the Marxism doctrines are based on the political, economical and social theories of Karl Marx and other followers. Marxism creates awareness among us about how the ruling power system tries to keep us ignorant of material and historical conditions and the authoritarian philosophy. Marx philosophy is derived from three sources political economy, republicanism and radicalism.. To sum up, Marxist ideology explains how cultural production, literature, arts and media, education, religion, and many forms of entertainment help understand socioeconomic system.
The primary goals of a Marxist critic of any cultural production are that it has its own ideological conditions and the second is the intention of the author under socioeconomic environment he is living in. According to the Marxist critic the reader is attracted towards these ideologies which would be imposed on him by the literary work. Moreover, Marxist theory emphasizes that the form, theme, action, the characters, plot and symbolism pave the way for the reader to be “pulled into” the story. Additionally, the style of language, the naturalism and realism describe the truths of the real world and points out the socioeconomic conditions existing in it. For instance let us take the example of the play “Death of a Salesman”, Willy is the capitalists who had to face hardships given by the employer. It shows how a successful business man exploits a “little man” who has brought capitalist benefits. Though the play is a tragedy, it portrays how the negativity of capitalist ideology is the reason by which Willy is destroyed. It describes the shortcomings in the character of Willy instead of the society as a whole that has been the major lead towards increasing his problems. Hence Marxist theory helps us comprehend significant ideas described in the literary work where we also find ourselves as a part of the surroundings. To sum up, Marxist theory leads the way to an intensive reading where we understand the depths of the ideological conditions and are not misguided by them.
Works Cited
Tyson, Lois. “Marxist Criticism”. Critical Theory Today. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2006. 53-80. Print.
