Critical Lenses

1. Critical Lenses Marxist Criticism

2. Before we begin… Read the following quotes. Choose a side of the room depending on whether you agree or disagree with the quote. Be prepared to justify your position.

3. Before we begin… “The way people get their living determines their social outlook.” ― Karl Marx

4. Before we begin… “one must occasionally stand the world onits head in order to put it on its feet.” ― Henning Mankell

5. Before we begin… “The idea of capitalism is not just success but also the failure that allows success to happen.” -P. J. O'Rourke

6. Before we begin… “The reason this country continues its drift toward socialism and big nanny government is because too many people vote in the expectation of getting something for nothing, not because they have a concern for what is good for the country.” -Lyn Nofziger

7. Before we begin… “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” -Winston Churchill

8. Before we begin… “Socialism values equality more than liberty.” -Dennis Prager

9. Before we begin… “Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate.” -Bertrand Russell

10. Marxist Criticism • the primary influence on life is economic • understanding of class in terms of differing relations of production and as a particular position within such relations: proletariat/ working class vs. bourgeoisie/ capitalists • class struggle structures each historical period and drives historical change Karl Marx (1818-1883)

11. Marxist Criticism • sympathy for the proletariat—emphasis on oppression of lower class by upper class • belief that the ultimate interests of workers best match those of humanity in general

12. Marxist Criticism Not limited to focus on labor and money

13. Marxist Criticism Questions a Marxist critic will ask: • What is the economic situation of the characters? (level of luxury, need to work) • What happens to them as a result of this status? • How do they fare against economic and political odds? • What social forces and institutions are represented in the work? What is the author’s attitude towards them?

14. Marxist Criticism • Does the text reflect or resist a dominant ideology? Does it do both? • Does the main character in a narrative affirm or resist bourgeois values? • Whose story gets told in the text? Are lower economic groups ignored or devalued? • Are values that support the dominant economic group given privilege? This can happen tacitly, in the way in which values are taken to be self-evident.