Literary Criticism on Marxist Lens

1. Literary Criticism
through the
Marxist Lens
Prepared by: Jenifer M. Malon

2. Objectives:
At the end of the lesson,
you will be able to:
1. Know the proponent of
Marxism;

3. Objectives:
2. Understand the
Marxist literary approach
and some of its relying
principles;
3. Critique a literary text
in the lens of Marxism

4. Reminders…
 Sanitize your hands with
alcohol/sanitizers now and
then.
 Wear your masks everytime.
 Please observe social
distancing- a meter apart.

5. Four Pictures, One word
Y E L N I Q I A U T

6. Four Pictures, One word
I N E Q U A L I T Y

7. - the proponent of this
theory, lived in London at the
time of industrialization and
travelled extensively through
Europe. He saw a highly
developed continent where
the tensions ran high 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.
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.

8. Example of literary piece injected with Marxism
Theory
One of the best
examples of literary
piece injected with
Marxism theory is
the 1997 movie
Titanic. This movie
makes the class
struggle obvious, It
portrays differences
in classes and the
struggle among
them.

9. The Necklace
by Guy de Maupassant
About the Author
Guy de Maupassant is regarded as
the Best French Writer of short
stories. His stories were written in
naturalist style and often described
the life of the lower and middle
classes.

10. “Boule de suif”
(“Ball of Fat”) is regarded
as his best story, while
“La Parure”
(“The Necklace”) is the
best known.

11. The
Necklace
(summary)
By: Guy de Maupassant

12. Mathilde Loisel was one of the pretty
and charming girls born into a family of
clerks. She had no dowry, no
expectations, no means of becoming
known, understood, loved or wedded by
a man of wealth and distinction. She
ended up marrying Monsieur Loisel, a
minor clerk in the Ministry of Public
Instruction.

13. •Mathilde desperately wished to marry a
wealthy man. Yet, she was convinced
that her beauty and charm would
guarantee her wealthy lifestyle she
dreamt of. Mathilde is spending her days
dreaming about the incredible life she’s
not having.

14. •One day, Monsieur Loisel brings home an
invitation to a ball hosted by his boss.
He worked hard to obtain it and thought
that his wife would be satisfied.
However, Madamme Loisel got upset
with the fact she has nothing to wear.

15. •She asked her husband for 400 francs
and he hesitantly gave them to her. Yet,
it wasn’t enough, and Mathilde threw
another fit because she had no jewelry.
Monsieur Loisel suggested she went to
see Madame Forestier, who could kindly
lend something.

16. •Mathilde chooses to borrow a gorgeous
diamond necklace. She feels better from
just looking at herself in the mirror with
the jewels on her neck. As the time of
the ball arrives, Mathilde has the time of
her life. Everyone admires her . Men
wonder who she is.

17. •She spends the night dancing while her
husband falls asleep in the other room.
At 4 a.m., Madame Loisel rushes out into
a street, so no one can see that she has
no fancy fur coat. As they arrive home,
Mathilde makes a sad discovery: the
diamonds are gone.

18. •They spend the next days and a week
looking for a necklace. Yet, they find
nothing. Mathilde writes to Madame
Forestier that the necklace’s clasp is
broken, and they have to fixed to buy
them some time. However, Loisels were
at no luck. Therefore they decided to
buy a new necklace to replace the lost
one.

19. •As they go to jewelry store, they learn
that it cost 36 thousand francs,twice the
amount of money Monsieur Loisel has.
He goes into debt and buys it. Now
massively in debt, the Loisels had to
dismiss their servants and move out of
their apartment.

20. •Mathilde, once dreaming about the rich
life, now had to do all the housework
herself. Also, she lost her beauty and
charm. Now she looked like the
household’s rough woman, yet facing her
part with unexpected heroism and
patience. Ten years later, the debt was
paid off.

21. Activity : TRUE OF FALSE
Answer the statement
whether it is true or false
according to the story we
had just read. Write your
answers on your papers.

22. True or False
•1. Mathilde marries
into a wealthy family.

23. True or False
•2. Until she is invited to the
reception, Mathilde is quite satisfied
with her position in life.

24. True or False
•3. Mathilde borrows a necklace from
her friend Mme. Forestier.

25. True or False
•4. The Loisels find a replacement
necklace for thirty-thousand francs.

26. True or False
•5. The Loisels scrimp for ten years
to pay debts created by the
necklace.

27. Thinking it through
 1. Mathilde marries into a wealthy family. (FALSE)
 2. Until she is invited to the reception, Mathilde is quite satisfied with
her position in life.(FALSE)
 3. Mathilde borrows a necklace from her friend Mme. Forestier. (TRUE)
 4.The Loisels find a replacement necklace for thirty-thousand
francs.(FALSE)
 5. The Loisels scrimp for ten years to pay debts created by the
necklace. (TRUE)

28. Digging deeper
What is the background
of the author that
influenced him in writing
this story?

29. Digging deeper
Who invited the couple at
the party? Why is it that
Mathilde was so worried
about her looks?

30. Digging deeper
What is the underlying
social issue in the story?

31. Digging deeper
If you were Mathilde,
what will you do when you
lost the necklace?

32. Digging deeper
Is the story injected by
Marxism? How?

33. Digging deeper
Do we still have Mathide
nowadays? Relate the
story to our present
situation.

34. Evaluation: To sum up everything you learned today, let us answer this activity.

 1_________________ is a cultural theory proposed by
 2. ____________________ that embodies a set of social, economic, and political ideas that its
followers believe will enable them to interpret and change their world
 _____ 3. Which among the following statements is a relying principle in Marxism?
 A. Behavior must be fair and just.
 B. Class struggle is the basic pattern in history.
 C. Sexual violence must end and sexual freedom must start.
 D. Consider the time period from which literature sprang.
 _____ 4. Which among the following points is not used in a Marxist literary criticism?
 A. Moral judgement rather than formal principles.
 B. Technique of the author in using the social conflicts.
 C. Social classes that constitute the setting of the story.
 D. Author’s idea about the prevailing social issue like oppression.
 _____ 5. This is one of the prevailing issues that is usually present in Marxist literary texts.
 A. Class struggle C. Racial discrimination
 B. Gender inequality D. Substance abuse


35. Homework:
Research one story based
from the Marxist Literary
Approach

36. Thank You for Listening
See you Next meeting
Keep Safe