Friday 20 September 2013

Marxism and Feminism

Define Marxism:

Karl Marx - German Philosopher

"The point of philosophy was not to understand the world, but to change it"

1. History depicts the struggle of class, society is not fair, those without power are oppressed by the powerful. Struggling for justice and freedom.

2. History is the actions of men in pursuit of their own ends, not in circumstances of their own choosing. No god or fate. We have the power to change both the society and environment

3. SOCIETY CREATES OUR THOUGHTS AND IDEOLOGIES. LITERATURE IS A PRODUCT OF SOCIETY, REFLECTS THE STRUGGLES AND CONFLICTS WITHIN IT. IT WILL USUALLY REPRESENT THE INTERESTS OF THE DOMINANT GROUP IN SOCIETY AS NATURAL.

#3 links directly to the Bloody Chamber, as the story depicts the patriarchal society of the Victorian Era. The Marquis interests of killing, gathering wives and storing them in a room is presented as normal, due to the way the protagonist does appear shocked. The way he treats her and oppresses any freedom she has left also links to the dominant group in society being males.

Define Feminism:

A fight for equality.

Feminist literature will often look at the way women are portrayed and highlight flaws in the relationship between men and women.

Narrative voice of the text, female P.O.V

Feminist critics will reads texts 'as a woman' challenging the patriarchal masculinity portrayed by the way the text is written.

Men are usually shown as strong leaders, whereas females are portrayed as weak, emotional, frantic etc

What's Wrong with the happy family?
Marxism:

Maintained status of wealth; no movement in inherited money
Parents work to support family
Brainwashing children to believe certain ideologies
Having a family encourages more jobs, cycle of retirement and employment within the family

Feminism:
 
Patriarchal
Mother is the bearer, her purpose is to give him children

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