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Oedipus the King - Exploited or Exploiter?
Great thinkers throughout history have contrived intricate theories of social order. By applying these particular ideologies to literature, we as readers are able to see a great work through the eyes of one or many of history's most celebrated philosophers. Sophocles' Oedipus the King has been open to many interpretations. With its intricate plot, archetypical tragic character, and lofty social issues, Oedipus the King provides for virtually any and all interpretations. One such literary theory is Marxism.
Marxism, the sociological system of belief created and presented by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, has had profound influence on western politics and world sociologic theory since its introduction in the mid 19th Century. During this time, the Age of Industrialization was in full swing, and many workers were exploited and forced to work unreasonable hours. Marx noticed that in this society the rich upper echelon took advantage of huge lower class.
In response to these observations, Marx developed a set of ideals in which one faction of people could not dominate another. The cornerstone of this sociological and economic theory is the strict belief that "an upper class arises to dominate a working class of unconscious individuals" (Cole 76). In order to counteract this negative trend, a society must rid itself of the caste-like class system that divides its peoples into different economic and social levels.
Marxists argue that in a democratic or monarchical society, two major classes come into being: the Bourgeoisie, or exploiters, and the Proletariat, or exploited. Marx and Engels believed that the upper class (Bourgeoisie) controlled the financial situation w...
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...ial system. However, in recent history, this political theory has all but been totally refuted by modern idea and new edicts. In today's society, classes still remain, but in virtually all industrialized countries the middle class overwhelmingly dominates all other factions. Much of this sociological triumph can be accredited to the insight of Karl Marx and his colleagues who presented the idea that the common man should be the ultimate focus of a society.
Works Cited and Consulted
Cole, G.D.H. The Meaning of Marxism. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1964.
Frow, John. Marxism and Literary History. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard U P, 1986.
Kumar, Amitava. Class Issues, Pedagogy, Cultural Studies, and the Public Sphere. NewYork: New York U P, 1997.
Peck, John, and Martin Coyle. Literary Terms and Criticism. Hong Kong: Macmillan , 1984.
Karl Marx’s was a German philosopher, economist and evolutionary socialist born in Germany on May 5th 1818. His theories mostly consisted of the capitalist economic system. Marx’s attended the University of Bonn and University of Berlin. He is widely recognized for his theory of on the class system which included the concepts of base and super-structure. Marx’s theory of the class system is well exhibited by the documentary film, Class Dismissed: How TV Frames the Working Class.
The Potsdam Conference occurred from July 17th to August 2nd, 1945. The conference took place between US president Harry Truman, Soviet’s Joseph Stain, and England’s Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The major goal of the Potsdam meeting was what would happen with Germany postwar. They wanted to be able to ensure the “eventual reconstruction of Germany’s democracy and peace.” At that time, the Soviet Union occupied a lot of the Eastern part of Germany and wanted a “unified, but unarmed Germany.” However, President Truman did not trust Stalin’s motives. In addition, Truman had found out that they had tested their atomic bomb and it was ready to be used in battle. Truman seeing the immense advantage the US had from a military standpoint knew he had leverage.
Marxism is an economic and social system developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels during the mid-1800s (What is Marxism). A Marxist literary criticism deals with class consciousness and ideology.
During the late 1940's and the 1950's, the Cold War became increasingly tense. Each side accused the other of wanting to rule the world (Walker 388). Each side believed its political and economic systems were better than the other's. Each strengthened its armed forces. Both sides viewed the Cold War as a dispute between right and wron...
QUESTION 2: The Cold War is an international conflict, a global fight between the United States and the Soviet Union that began in Europe in the wake of World War II but quickly expanded into Asia and the Third World. These international events, however, undoubtedly influenced domestic American politics between 1945 and 1965. How did the international Cold War shape, influence, or change domestic American politics in the first twenty years of the conflict?
From the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century major historical events such as the Industrial revolution had occurred. During this period of time Europe was switching into an economy that is focused mostly on the industrial field. From this emerged two social-economic classes, the rich bourgeoisie and the poor proletariats. Furthermore, tension brewed between the two groups since the bourgeoisie source of wealth was from the exploitation of the proletariats. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ book
President Truman wanted to have a cooperative relationship with the Soviet Union as long as they did what the United States wanted them to do. He wanted to restrain their expansionist impulses and allow the United States to rebuild Germany and their Allies. Truman knew that he could get away with this because American had a nuclear monopoly which attributed to the United State’s power. Josef Stalin the leader of the Soviet Union wanted to force communism on surrounding nations.
Marxism is a method of analysis based around the concepts developed by the two German philosophers Karl Marx and Fredrich Engel, centered around the complexities of social-relations and a class-based society. Together, they collaborated their theories to produce such works as The German Ideology (1846) and The Communist Manifesto (1848), and developed the terms ‘’proletariat’ and ’bourgeois’ to describe the working-class and the wealthy, segmenting the difference between their respective social classes. As a result of the apparent differences, Marxism states that proletariats and bourgeoisie are in constant class struggle, working against each other to amount in a gain for themselves.
Both sides deeply mistrusted each other because they believed in two completely different types of government. The Eastern countries were run by a communist government, whereas the Western countries had democratic capitalist governments. The Western countries hated communism and believed that the USSR wanted to spread it throughout the world. They therefore did everything they could do to stop it from spreading. The mistrust made the East and West extremely suspicious of each other. Even though no shots were actually fired people were still scared that a nuclear war could start at any moment.
In his Manifesto of the Communist Party Karl Marx created a radical theory revolving not around the man made institution of government itself, but around the ever present guiding vice of man that is materialism and the economic classes that stemmed from it. By unfolding the relat...
According to Marx class is determined by property associations not by revenue or status. It is determined by allocation and utilization, which represent the production and power relations of class. Marx’s differentiate one class from another rooted on two criteria: possession of the means of production and control of the labor power of others. The major class groups are the capitalist also known as bourgeoisie and the workers or proletariat. The capitalist own the means of production and purchase the labor power of others. Proletariat is the laboring lower class. They are the ones who sell their own labor power. Class conflict to possess power over the means of production is the powerful force behind social growth.
If the text of the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles is analyzed using this historical form of Marxist criticism, which is context-oriented, the perpetual class struggles within this society at Thebes is revealed.
Karl Marx noted that society was highly stratified in that most of the individuals in society, those who worked the hardest, were also the ones who received the least from the benefits of their labor. In reaction to this observation, Karl Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto where he described a new society, a more perfect society, a communist society. Marx envisioned a society, in which all property is held in common, that is a society in which one individual did not receive more than another, but in which all individuals shared in the benefits of collective labor (Marx #11, p. 262). In order to accomplish such a task Marx needed to find a relationship between the individual and society that accounted for social change. For Marx such relationship was from the historical mode of production, through the exploits of wage labor, and thus the individual’s relationship to the mode of production (Marx #11, p. 256).
The political philosopher believed that communism could only thrive in a society distressed by “the political and economic circumstances created by a fully developed capitalism”. With industry and capitalism growing, a working class develops and begins to be exploited. According to Marx, the exploiting class essentially is at fault for their demise, and the exploited class eventually comes to power through the failure of capitalism.... ... middle of paper ...
He is known worldwide for his numerous theories and ideas in regards to society, economics and politics. His outlook on these subjects is known as Marxism. Marxism focuses on the imbalance and struggle between classes and society. Marx’s theories stem from the concept of materialism based society and the implications thereof. These concepts leads to the Marxist theory of the failure of capitalism. Marx had a number of specific reasons for the downfall of capitalism yet capitalism remains very real and successful. Marxism covers a wide range of topics and theories, but an in depth analysis of his criticism to capitalism and how it is not relevant to modern day will be explored.