Marxist Literary Criticism Applied to Middlemarch

The modern sense of "literary theory" dates only to approximately the 1950s, when the structuralist linguists Ferdinand de Saussure began strongly to influence English language criticism. ... New Criticism Was a formalist movement in literary theory that dominated literary criticism in the middle decades of the 20th century. According to new criticism, the literary text contains its own meaning within itself. ... Marxism Marxist critics are essentially interested in issues of class and social exploitation and are specifically attentive to cultural mechanisms and their literary vers...

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• Grade Level: High School

His experimentation within language and forms brought a rapid change in literary tastes. ... In this paper, this poem will be examined from two literary theories. ... Marxist Criticism Marxism is a way of seeing the world around us through the economic terms. ... The simplest goals of Marxist literary criticism can include an assessment of the political 'tendency' of a literary work, determining whether its social content or its literary form are 'progressive'. ... The English literary critic and cultural theorist Terry Eagleton defines Marxist criticism this way: "Marxist ...

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Marxist literary theory presents a challenge to traditional criticism in the sense that it provides a political social perspective upon literary works. ... Although May Sinclair's focus in the novel is upon Psychoanalysis and the repression of sexuality, the actions, virtues and social systems within this text are relevant to Marxist literary criticism. ... To take a Marxist view, perhaps it is the pressures of maintaining a family that keeps Mr. ... The descriptions seen above are a short analysis of the symbols and actions within the text that might equate to Marxist Literary criticism....

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

This overarching theme of the downtrodden masses versus the empowered elite minority is constant throughout the narrative, thus leaving the novel openly suitable for analysis from the Marxist perspective of literary theory. There are several other key themes, tropes and connotations throughout the novel which can also be connected strongly to the Marxist school of literary criticism, of which are discussed in greater detail below. ... The experience left Orwell a staunch anti-Stalinist, and as such anti-Stalinist themes would become prevalent within Orwell's literary works, especially in...

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• Grade Level: Graduate

An ideal Marxist society provides equality for everyone, eliminating class distinctions. ... The educational structure of a Marxist society consists of pupils obeying their instructors, much like the social classes (the workers obeying those with money). ... " Marxists see capital economies as a source of all strife and strain in a society. ... In a Marxist society class struggles are key to making all people equal with no class distributions. ... Ultimately, a Marxist society is the solution to society's problems. ...

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The sole purpose of literary criticism is to get to the core of the text and discover what message the author is attempting to convey. Knowledge of an author's life and experiences can be the key to an otherwise bolted door leading to the deeper comprehension and interpretation of a literary work. ... However, it takes a superb literary critic not to take biographical criticism to the extreme in the interpretation of the text. ... All in all, the biographical approach to literary criticism is a valid, valuable approach. ...

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He is best known as the author of The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution, however, James also made significant contributions in sport criticism, Caribbean history, literary criticism, Pan African politics and Marxist theory. Many academics and political activists have attempted to do so, it is impossible to pinpoint any period of James' life as his true legacy, which lends itself to debate.For over half a century James was politically and literarily involved in several counties, to include, Trinidad, Britain, the United States, and Ghana. ...

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Definition This brings us to the definition of feminist literary criticism. ... From here we see that feminist criticism is by definition gender criticism because of its focus on the feminine gender. ... Its subjects include the psychodynamics of female creativity; linguistics and the problem of a female language; the trajectory of the individual or collective female literary career; literary history; and, of course, studies of particular writers and works." ... Marxist feminism - Links specific female oppressions to the larger structures of capitalism and to oppressions of other groups &q...

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One of the more controversial approaches to literary analysis is the formalist approach. The formalist approach to literary analysis emphasizes the objective and literal interpretation of the tone, theme, and style of a literary text. The formalist literary analysis is often referred to as a scientific approach to literature because of the unembellished and literal analysis method that is applied to the written text. ... A theme that is difficult to identify will result in criticism from the formalist perspective due an ineffective attempt to provide a precise identifiable theme. ... The ...

• Word Count: 485
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate