Title Marxist Literary Criticism

● Define and explain Marxist criticism and its key concepts;

● Analyze a narrative of class struggle in a given text;
Objectives
● And, write a critical analysis of the reading text using the Marxist
literary criticism.
Tools Notebook, and Pen

1. This module covers this lesson:

a. Marxist Literary Criticism

2. List down the word(s) that you think is/are not familiar with you. Look at their definitions in
a dictionary or thesaurus.

3. After reading the learning resource, answer the following questions to refresh and solidify
your newly acquired knowledge:
a. What is Marxist Literary Criticism?
b. What is the relationship between Marxist and literature?
c. What is the significance of Marxism to literary criticism?

4. Kindly answer each question in two (2) to three (3) sentences in your notebook.

21st Century Literature

 MARXIST LITERARY CRITICISM
MARXISM

Marxism is a cultural theory that embodies a set of social, economic, and political ideas that its
followers believe will enable them to interpret and change their world. Marxist critics are also
interested in how the lower or working classes are oppressed in everyday life and in literature.

Important 20th-century Marxist literary critics include:

● Georg Lucaks
● Antonio Gramsci
● Louis Althusser
● Terry Eagleton
● Raymond Williams
● Frederic Jameson

KARL MARX

Karl Marx is the proponent of this theory. He lived in London at the time of Industrialization and
traveled extensively through Europe.

- He saw a highly developed continent where the tension ran highly because of social
inequality.

- According to Marx, social inequality was a consequence of the arrival of the division of
labor and, moreover, was what had led to the class society.

Since literature reflects economics, politics, and the kind of people in their society where they
live in, one literary piece can be subject to analysis, not in its feature elements and devices, but
in its contents, style of the writer in developing the plot, and to the extent of his background as a
compelling contributing factor to the overall effect of the whole story.

MARXIST LITERARY CRITICISM

In doing a Marxist literary criticism, one must look for the following aspects:

21st Century Literature

 ● Social class as represented in the work
- How social classes constitute the setting of the story, resolving embedded issues or
problems in the story, and the place where the literary piece was written; it includes the
time period, culture, traditions, practices, economy and politics that might have influenced
one literary piece.

● Social class of the writer/creator

- Background of the author and his/her views on the economy, politics, and society. His/her
idea about the prevailing ideas of social issues like oppression, and technique of the
author using the social conflicts.

● Social class of the characters

- Author’s message on the issue or problem whether stated directly through the characters
or merely implied.

● Conflicts and interactions between economic classes.

- Characteristics of such social classes as to how social classes interact with each other
and make conflicts between or among social classes.

PARTS IN WRITING MARXIST ANALYSIS LITERATURE

The following are the parts that are almost always present in writing Marxist analysis literature.

INTRODUCTION
a. Title of the book/article/work
b. Writer’s Name
c. Thesis statement

BODY
a. Major findings, claims, ideas, or messages
b. You may address the following questions:
⮚ Whom does it benefit if the work or effort is
accepted/successful/believed, etc.?
⮚ What is the social class of the author?
⮚ Which class does the work claim to represent?
⮚ What values does it reinforce?
⮚ What values does it subvert?
⮚ What conflict can be seen between the values the work champions and
those it portrays?
⮚ What social classes do the characters represent?
⮚ How do characters from different classes interact or conflict?

CONCLUSION
a. Overall impression of the work
b. Scholarly or literary value of the reading text
Those are the following parts that you could follow when criticizing a story or an
article using the Marxist criticism.

WRITING CRITICAL ANALYSIS

21st Century Literature

Now, let us apply your knowledge of Marxist criticism in writing a critical analysis of the story “The
Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant using Marxist Criticism. Use the structure and rubric below as
your guide.

The Necklace
by Guy de Maupassant

Mathilde Loisel is a charming and pretty woman who has always believed herself destined
for greater things than her life has brought her. The feeling that she deserves the luxuries of life
and is yet unable to afford those “delicacies” causes her to suffer continuous feelings of jealousy
and longing. After marrying a clerk who works at the Ministry of Public Instruction, Mathilde
settles into a life of mediocrity, longing for women to envy her and men to pursue her. Finding
these desires unfulfilled, Mathilde even begins avoiding her wealthy friend Madame Forestier, a
former schoolmate, because returning from her friend’s house of opulence causes Mathilde to
suffer even more deeply when she returns to her own modest abode.
One evening, Mathilde’s husband arrives home with what he believes will be joyous news
for his wife. The couple has been invited to a grand ball and celebration at the palace of the
Ministry, and the invitation has been difficult for Monsieur Loisel to procure. Yet instead of the
delight he expects the invitation to elicit, his wife responds with scorn, telling him that she cannot
possibly attend without a proper dress. Trying to comfort her, Monsieur Loisel asks how much a
simple dress might cost, and Mathilde estimates that such a dress would cost around four
hundred francs. Monsieur Loisel has saved just that amount of money to treat himself to a gun
and a getaway with friends the next summer, but he gives his wife his savings so that she can buy
the dress she desires.
As the date of the ball approaches, Monsieur Loisel senses his wife’s anxieties growing.
He asks why she’s been behaving so oddly, and she tells him that she cannot go to the ball
without having a single jewel to wear with the dress. He tries to convince her that “natural flowers
[are] very stylish at this time of the year,” but Mathilde cannot be convinced. Instead, she worries
that she will be humiliated, looking “poor among other women who are rich.” Her husband gives
Mathilde an idea that overjoys her: she should simply ask to borrow some jewelry for the event
from Madame Forestier.
Madame Forestier shows Mathilde many pieces in her collection, from a pearl necklace to
pieces with precious stones and “admirable workmanship,” but nothing seems stunning enough to
capture Mathilde’s interest. She asks her friend if she has any more jewelry, and Madame
Forestier produces “a superb necklace of diamonds.” Mathilde places it around her neck with
trembling hands, “lost in ecstasy at the sight of herself.” She kisses her friend and flees with her
treasure. When the ball arrives, Mathilde Loisel is as radiant as she’s ever dreamed. She is
“elegant, gracious, smiling, and crazy with joy.” Men desire to know her and beg to be introduced to
her. The attachés of the Cabinet desire to waltz with her, and the minister himself makes
comments about her. Mathilde dances until four in the morning, made “drunk” by the pleasure of
captivating the attention of a room, just as she’s always desired. Finally, it is time to return home,
and Mathilde finds her husband asleep in an anteroom. When Monsieur Loisel wraps his wife in
the “modest wraps of common life” before they enter the cold, Mathilde again feels the pains of
her relative poverty in comparison to the women who wrap up in “costly furs” as they prepare to
leave. Desperate to escape scrutiny, Mathilde flees the room, running outside and down the street.
The couple cannot find a carriage, and it takes a while to arrive home. As Mathilde stands before
her mirror to appreciate her beauty one final time, she realizes that the diamond necklace she has
borrowed is missing. Panicked, she tells her husband, who begins a frenzied series of questions
about where she could have lost it. Monsieur Loisel leaves to retrace their steps but returns at
seven o’clock empty-handed. He visits the police and newspaper offices and offers a reward, but
there is no lead. Finally, he tells his wife to write to Madame Forestier and claim that the clasp of
the necklace has been broken and that they will have it fixed before returning it. Mathilde does as

21st Century Literature

instructed, and the Loisel’s attempt to find an exact replica of the necklace. After much searching,
they locate what they believe is an exact match; it will cost them thirty-six thousand francs.
After borrowing money from everyone they can and adding to this total the eighteen
thousand francs left to Monsieur Loisel by his father, they are able to purchase the necklace and
present it to Madame Forestier. Mathilde then turns to repaying the debt she and her husband
have incurred. She dismisses her servant, changes her address, and takes in a boarder. Mathilde
settles into the “horrible existence of the needy '' as she submits to heavy housework, scrubbing
floors and scraping pots with her nails. She carries the weight of both slop and water and learns
to bargain with the grocer and butcher. Finally, after ten years of her life have passed this way,
Mathilde Loisel succeeds in paying off the debt of thirty six thousand francs. She goes for a walk
in the Champs Elysees one Sunday and encounters Madame Forestier there. Since she has now
paid off the debt, she decides to speak to her former friend, whom she hasn’t seen in all these
years, and tell her the truth about the necklace. Madame Forestier initially has no idea who
Mathilde is. When she realizes the identity of Mathilde, Madame Forestier ``utter[s] a cry.” Mathilde
explains that she’s had to work ten years of strenuous labor to pay back loans she incurred for the
loss of Madame Forestier’s original diamond necklace but that she is relieved that “at last it is
ended.”
It is at this point that the painful blow is delivered: Madame Forestier takes Mathilde’s
hands and explains that the necklace was “paste,” worth at most five hundred francs.

INTRODUCTION:
● Basic details about the story, such as its title, background of the story, author, and author’s
background

PLOT SUMMARY/ DESCRIPTION

● Gist of the plot
● Simple description of the story

ANALYSIS/ INTERPRETATION
● Discussion and analysis of the work (Use Marxist Criticism approach)
● It is the best to ask the following questions during this part
⮚ What aspects of the work make you think that it is a success or failure
⮚ Were there unanswered questions or plot lines? If yes, how did they affect the
story?
⮚ Does the work remind you of other things you have experienced, watched or read
before?

CONCLUSION/ EVALUATION
● Reinforcement of main assessment
● Comparison to a similar work
● Recommendation of the story (if you like it)
https://owl.purdue.edu./owl/subject-specific-writing

RUBRIC FOR WRITING A CRITIQUE PAPER

VGE (5) GE (4) SE (3) LE (2) N (1)

Summary Clearly Presents the Presents the Insufficient No

(25%) presents author's author's thesis, explanation explanation
author’s thesis and but may not of author’s of the
thesis and describes provide thesis, author's

21st Century Literature

 describes his/ his/her sufficient and/or thesis,
her strategies strategies for description of insufficient and/or no
for supporting supporting it. strategies for description description
it supporting it. of of
strategies strategies
for for
supporting supporting
thesis the thesis.

Overall Exhibits Exhibits Exhibits some Exhibit Exhibit little

Quality of clarity, clarity, and clarity, though some or no
Analysis complexity, some depth only minimal faulty logic, evidence of
(30%) perceptivenes about the depth of and/or effective
s, originality, topic, but thought about stereotypic thinking
and depth of lacks the the topic. al or about the
thought about qualities of superficial topic
the topic complexity, thinking (please
perceptivenes about the note that
s, and topic there may
originality be effective
exhibited in thinking in
level the
compositio
n, but not
about the
topic).

Organizatio Review is very Review is well Review has Distinction General

n& well organized, separate between structure of
Content organized, containing an introduction, introductio review is
(25%) containing an introduction, body n, body difficult to
introduction, body paragraphs, paragraphs follow,
body paragraphs, and conclusion, , and and/or
paragraphs, and but conclusion student
and conclusion. connections is unclear. fails to
conclusion. among these follow the
could be prescribed
improved. format.

Grammar & Clear, concise Mostly clear, Adequate Poor Very poor
Mechanics sentences concise sentence sentence sentence
(20%) No sentences. structure but structure. structure,
grammatical May have may require Writing and/or uses
errors. some minor editing for may be inappropriat
grammatical clarity/wordine wordy or e language
errors. ss. difficult to or language
Some follow in that is too
grammatical places. informal.
errors, but Many Significant
these do not grammatic grammatica
impede al errors. l errors,
understanding. and/or
Contains
errors that
are
identified by
MS Word
software
but were

21st Century Literature

 not
corrected.

TOTAL

21st Century Literature