Introduction
Marxist criticism helps to get insight into the relationships between individuals and social groups and to understand the historical, social, economic, and political context of the environment of the story and its influence on a character within a literary text. Marxist criticism leaves a place for the application of other literary theories, therefore, it enriches the comprehension of a piece of literature.
Marxism Literary Criticism
The method originates from the Marxist theory developed by Karl Marx. The author explores the interactions among various social groups, identified by Marx as the classes, and the way they are connected to the political and economic agenda.
The Connection Between Literary Work and Reality
Since literature is a product of human activities, it reflects reality. Created in a particular historical context, a literary text deals with society and its transformation. Moreover, the notion of ideology is principal for the Marxist critical theory because a text is influenced by and transmits the specific ideology. The approach of Marxist literary criticism is holistic and evaluates a literary work from different perspectives united by the ideological and economic agenda.
Therefore, we can read the text and interpret the characters’ actions and the motives behind their deeds from the socio-economic and historical points of view, which contribute to the profound understanding of the literary work. As an illustration, Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman” describes the craving for the American Dream through the character of Willy Loman, a salesman, and his family. The promises of the big dream seen by Willy as the material commodities and amenity of the American life are available to a businessman who is attractive and good-looking. At the same time, this thirst for the wealthy lifestyle alienates Willy from his family, reality, and even from himself. During the play, Willy has not acquired self-awareness and a deep understanding of his real needs.
Deluded by the promises of the American Dream he cannot truly enjoy his life. He ignores human relationships based on warmth and love. He wants to be well-liked and percept things as the symbols of hard work, which leads to prosperity, but not as misery and financial struggles. Talking about sales as the best career for a man, Willy emphasizes the satisfaction of been remembered and loved that he can get from the profession describing his meeting with Dave Singleman by the following words, “Cause what could be more satisfying than to be able to go, at the age of eighty-four, into twenty or thirty different cities” (Miller 66).
Instead of facing the backstage of the American Dream, which is embodied in the description of Singleman, a salesman who has been working all his life and is not financially secure in his eighties.
Political Dimension of the Text
Marxist criticism adds the political dimension to the literary analysis through understanding the ideology behind a piece of text. Evaluating the notion of the American Dream through the lens of the Marxist theory leads to the assumption that the financial and political elites impose a particular view of reality, which exhausts people in their longing for the quixotic dreams. Ben’s line about a fair fight as a losing game expresses the deceptive mechanism of gaining advantage and striking truth that the rules of the game are not equal for everyone (Gailan 20).
Conclusion
Marxist criticism unites various dimensions of reality into the context of the piece of literature. The characters’ motives, actions, and relationships viewed through the underlying economic and political relations, along with the ideology imposed on society and individuals provide a deeper understanding of the literary work.
Works Cited
Gailan, Mohammad. Financial Success and the American Dream: A Marxist Reading of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Web.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015. Print.