1. By: Carmen Soto, Justin Wetch, Hunter Brooks
Marxist Criticism
By: Carmen Soto, Justin Wetch, Hunter Brooks

2. Persons Based largely on the writings of Karl Marx.
He is the theorist and historian behind Marxist Criticism. Friedrich Engels helped Marx create some publications on the theories.
Came about in the 1930s. Marx theorized that the caste system is doomed to fail because the classes will always fight each other.
As history has shown with multiple revolutions in different cultures; the lower class rises up against the upper class.

3. Main Points
Marx believed history to be made up of conflict between social classes.
A lot of Marxist literature reflects what is happening around the author. Hawthorn grew up with the struggle against the castes in his home. His father’s family of upper class citizens did not like his mother who was of a lower class.
Theorized that there are two classes.
Bourgeois: Dominant class who controls and owns the means of production.
Proletariat: Subordinate class: don’t own and control the means of production.

4. Key Words/ Strengths Marx created three major periods in history.
Primitive Communism: characteristic of early human history where people held everything in common.
Ancient Epoch (Slave Society): societies based upon slavery where the means of production was owned and controlled by an aristocratic elite.
Feudal Society: where land was the most important means of production. This was owned/controlled by an aristocratic class, the majority of people belonging to a peasant class( who had few; if any political rights).
Marxists believe that capitalism is a political system

5. Strengths & Weaknesses
Recognizes the author’s historical and social context and therefore helps show their mentality.
Wants everyone to feel important and needed in every aspect of society.
Promotes social equality.
Focuses on politics, and politics are generally pessimistic.
Society needs different classes to function.
People would be locked into one state of living.

6. Works Cited http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/marxist_concepts.htm