Application of Marxism

Marxism is a materialist philosophy presented by Karl Marx in twentieth

century. Marx was an economist and he designated economic political theory
and presented a model of society. According to this model, economy is the
base of society and the super structure that is all social institutions, is
dependent on base directly or indirectly. According to Marx society is
divided into two classes, one is bourgeois and the other is proletariat class.
He further asserts that this class distinction creates a sense of struggle in
oppressed proletariat against the ruling class which keeps on exploiting the
working class due to its economic strength.
The story “The Doll’s House” is a beautiful representation of a class
conscious society; in which upper class develops a biased and prejudice
attitude for the poor and hates them due to their poverty. Elite class boast of
their financial status and treats the lower class people as inferior. This
develops an inferiority complex in people belonging to lower class of society
and in the result they feel oppressed and this gives rise to depression in
society.
Vulgar Marxism states that Literature is trapped in ideology therefore every
writer depicts its social-class position. This story also highlights writer’s
ideology that the rich consider themselves as superior and due to their
superiority complex the poor suffers from the inferiority complex.

This story begins with the description of a doll’s house, which was given by
Mrs. Hay to the Burnells. It was very beautiful that it had impressed the
Burnells children’s Isabel, Lottie and Kazia, as these lines shows; “it was
too marvelous: it was too much for them. They had never seen any thing
like it in their lives.”
Now the Burnells children wanted to show it off to other girls at school. This
shows that they were conscious of their high status as this line show: “they
burn to tell everybody to describe, to-well-to boast about their doll house
before the school bell rang.”
They decided to invite their friends to their house in turns to see the dolls
house. They merely wanted to show off their Doll house to their friends and
didn’t want them to stay for tea. This attitude also points towards the idea
that these little girls were well aware of their social status that’s why they
didn’t want people of lower class to join them for the tea rather their sole
purpose was to show that they got something precious and costly in the form
of Doll’s house. “Not to stay to tea of course, or to come traipsing through
the house but just to stand quietly in courtyard”. This shows that as their
economic condition was good that is why they want to maintain social
relations with the rich and not with the poor.
Then at break time the girls of her class surround her, as many of her
classmates did not belong to upper class so they tried to stay closed to Isabel
and to be her special friend, this is a false consciousness in the lower class
that until they don’t remain in good terms with the people of upper class
they cannot gain importance. This line shows the attitude of the girls towards
her “their arms round her, to walk away with her, to beam flatteringly, to
be her special friend”. The school where the Burnell’s children went was
not a high class school. Children belongs to all social classes were admitted
in that school because there was no other school in that area. All the girls in
the area except the Kelvey’s gathered around Isabel. Kelvey’s belonged to
lower class and were very poor so the Burnell’s were not allowed even to
speak to them. “Many of the children including the Burnell’swere not
allowed speaking to them.” as the Burnell’s and the other belong to the elite
class so they were proud of their status. They avoided the company of
Kelvey’s and always ignored them. “They walked past the Kelvey’s with
their heads in the air and as they set the fashion in all matters of
behaviours, the Kelvey’s were shunned by every body”. This class conflict
could even be seen in the relationship between a student and a teacher. Their
teachers also treat the Kelvey’s in a rude manner and looked down upon
them. These lines show the attitude of the teacher towards Kelvey’s “even
the teacher had a special voice for them and a special smile for the other
children when Lil Kelvey’s came up to her desk with a bunch of dreadfully
common looking flowers”. In a way, the teacher also made fun of their
poverty. Kelveys were experiencing sense of separateness from the rest of
the society therefore in Marxist term it can be defined as a sense of
Alienation.
All these details demonstrate that poor are deliberately marginalized in the
society therefore Marx is very true when he says that man’s conditions are
affected by economic conditions. As they were the daughters of a spry,
hardworking, litter washer woman, who went about from house to house by
the day and had been imprisoned therefore upper class felt contempt for
them. The Kelvey’s were living through a miserable condition as they event
didn’t have means to buy new clothes for them but they were dependent
upon the worn out of the upper class. In this way they were exploited by the
upper class and made ridiculed. This line shows their dreadful state: her hat
perched on the top of her high fore head was a grown up woman’s hat,
once the property of Miss Lecky, the post mistress. It was impossible not o
laugh”. Due to appearance she was laughing stock for others. It shows that
people are commodified that is i.e. the people are respected, honored and
valued on the bases of high financial status and appearances rather than
morality. She became conditioned of her low status and felt oppressed. Like
in these lines: “no body have ever seen her smile, she scarcely ever spoke”.
She always followed her sister either in the play ground or on the road. The
writer has very beautifully depicted the prevailing false consciousness
present in poor in a way Else follow her sister quietly and didn’t show any
sort of her will or personal thinking.

At the school when Kleveys sister heard Burnell’s sister describing doll’s
house very proudly. Like in these lines “the carpet made a great sensation,
but so did the beds with red bed clothes, and the stoves with an oven door”.
It shows that by boasting off, they are following an ideology that is to
manipulate and suppress the lower class by showing of how rich they are
and how deprived the poor because of their poverty. Isabella after seeing
Kelvey’s daughter’s raised her voice to show off not only about their
richness but also tried to suppress Kelvey’s daughter.
Mrs Burnell’s attitude was no more different from her daughter’s attitude
when Kezi asked to call Kelvey’s daughter to see their doll house. She
angrily forbid her and when Kezia asks the reason she said “run away, Kezi
you know quite well why not”. The very idea of class consciousness is
depicted through the lady’s inhumane behavior and it is quite evident in the
story that she didn’t want people of lower class to her house. This point also
indicates towards the fact that how the family or elders develops false
consciousness in the minds of the children in a way that people of low social
classs are not supposed to talk with therefore almost everybody have seen
doll’s house except Kelveys daughter. Similarly on other occasion, one day
at dinner hour when Kelvey’s were eating out of their “newspaper”, Emmie
whispered in Isabela’s ear that they would become servant when they will
grow up. By saying this “Emmie swallowed in a very meaningful way and
nodded to Isabella as she had seen her mother do on those occasion”. This
conveys the idea that parents attitude influences their children and deprive
them of their natural goodness.
When Lena, Isabel’s friend, came to know from her friend that Lil was going
to be a servant when she will grow up, she decided to make fun of Lil. So,
she said: “is it true? You are going to be a servant when you grow up, Lil
Kelvey”. These sarcastic remarks make very clear the idea that rich people
make fun of poor and their economic condition as if it’s their divine right. In
fact, the upper class feels pleasure in being cruel to the lower class. Lil’s
response as she said nothing and gave a shame-faced smile, this action
shows that the Kelveys were oppressed and didn’t have the power to respond
the insulting attitude of upper class, so they try to accommodate or reified in
society which is dominated by elites. Lil’s silence made Lena restless as she
had planed to tease and hurt her which did not happen. So, she hatefully said
that Lye, your father is in prison.

Althusser defines that ideology has concrete existence; it is actually a matter

of experiences. It shapes our culture, social and political systems, i.e.
superstructure of the society. He relates ideology with false consciousness.
False consciousness is distortion of reality_ being the class struggle and the
distortion the prevailing ideas of the ruling class. The Burnell’s daughters
Lena belong to upper class and they had this in their mind that they had high
status that’s why they have right to treat poor class in inhumane way. As a
result of this false consciousness they insulted and degraded Kelveys
daughters. Kelveys kept quite and suffered a lot. They did not protest to the
disgrace of the Burnell’s because of their false consciousness that due to
their poverty, they have no power and had to bear the disgrace of upper class
at all cost.

Marxian view says that social norms, values and traditions and relations are
determined by financial status. As one day when Kazia was alone at the
courtyard of her house, she invited Kelveys into her home to see the doll’s
house. Although Kazia belong to the upper class but her attitude to the lower
class was different from others. She resists the norms of the upper class and
feels sympathy for the lower class. The Kelveys after a little hesitation
accept the invitation and got in and saw the doll’s house. When Aunt Beryl
came to know about the Kelveys at her place, she grew furious and said to
Kezia: “How dare you ask the little Kelveys into the courtyard? You know
as well as I do, you are not allowed to talk to them”. This shows that the
higher class wanted to maintain a distance with the lower class. When she
scolded the Kelveys and said “run away, children, run away. And don’t
come back again”. The people of lower class were considered valueless as
these lines show “and she stepped into the yard and shouted them out as if
they were chickens”. Here in the story we also notice that material or
economic conditions are so much powerful that they can determine the ways
people would be treated and considered. Kelveys were suffering merely
because they were financially weak consequently they were considered like
animals and called as rats and cats and drove out of house as if they were
chickens. They are reified as brought down to the level of animals and their
human self is degraded as well as manipulated, at the end they are treated as
an inhuman creature not as a living human soul.
Catherine Mansfield herself belongs to a middle class, and she is a
progressive writer in this regard, really feels sorry and pity for the poor state
of people belonging to proletariat class; who take their suffering and
suppression as natural and prewritten. They don’t rebel the atrocities and
brutalities imposed by Bourgeois class because their minds are occupied by
the false consciousness that they have no right to enjoy luxuries of life or to
be privileged in the society. In this story, the writer is ironically making fun
of the people belong to upper class, who takes the poor as an object,
valueless and treat them as animal. She highlights the idea that the rich
people’s biased and prejudiced attitude makes the poor to suffer from
inferiority complex, and they feel restless and uncomfortable while living
with upper class people.
To conclude, it can be said that concept of class discrimination is highlighted
in the story. According to Karl Marx, in a capitalist society, an economic
minority, the bourgeoisie dominate and exploit the proletariat who are in
majority. The Burnells belong to the upper class and their attitude towards
Kelveys is exploiting. Marx also said that “the ideas of the ruling class are
in every epoch the ruling ideas,i.e.the class which is the ruling material
force of society,is,at the same time, its ruling intellectual
force”(ideology).In this story, The Burnell formed their ideology that they
had to disgrace people of lower class that’s why they ignored and insulted
the Kelveys. The Kelveys did not protest against the insulting behavior of
Burnells because of the false consciousness that they have no right and
power to protest against the elite and they have to obey it like servants.
SUBJECT:
Literary theory and practice

TOPIC:
Application of Marxist theory on short
Story
“The Doll’s House”

SUBMITTED By:

Abida Younas
Mahwish Aslam

DATED:
12.11.2012