Karl Marx sought the answers to questions by trying to understand how our capitalist society works (for whom it works better, for whom worse), how it arose out of feudalism and where it is likely to lead. Concentrating on the social and economic relations in which people earn their livings, Marx saw behind capitalism's law and order appearance a struggle of two main classes: the capitalists, who own the productive resources, and the workers or proletariat, who must work in order to survive. 'Marxism' is essentially Marx's analysis of the complex and developing relations between these two classes. Marxist criticism sees literary works as a reflection of the social constructs and institutions from the period of which they originate. Culture and ideology are two main factors which Marxist literary critics look at. Ideology, in relation to Marxism, saw that literary was a product of the mind and a form of mental production. Therefore, the class which had the power of material production had more control over those that did not. Ideology makes subordinate classes accept a state of alienation against which they would otherwise revolt.
Catherine Belsey’s ‘Literature, History, Politics’, explores the idea that there is a connection between these three factors, which previously was dismissed. She argues that “paradoxically to bring these three terms together explicitly is still to scandalize the institution of literary criticism, because it is to propose a relationship between the transcendent (literature), the contingent (history) and the merely strategic (politics)”. Belsey celebrates cultural studies’ heroic historical achievements, but berates its institutionalization, seeing therein its stagnation. She proposes the need for a revivification of cultural studies. The revivification of cultural studies would allow people to explore history further and discuss it without feeling guilty or in danger. Belsey critiques the concept of literature being ‘transcendent’ and that it can be detached from history and politics. Generations of people can feel similar emotions due to social and economic conditions. History is what links generations together and it is through literature in which emotions of people can be expressed. Belsey states that “a modern ‘recognition’ is rendered eternal by literary criticism”. Therefore, history can travel through generations through the use of literature.
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Belsey acknowledges the education system. She has strong remarks on examination questions in particular. “Examination questions, the ultimate location of institutional power, identify the boundaries of the discipline, and define what it is permissible to ‘discuss’, as they so invitingly and misleadingly put it” (Davies, 1982, p.39). She follows through with this argument by giving examples of exam questions. The seventeenth century was a period of general crisis and an exam question that was asked did not revert to any history of this period. Belsey suggests that if the question was reworded to provoke an answer that allowed history to be written about “the answer might have mattered. But that would be history”. Therefore, Belsey introduces Marx’s theory of culture and ideology. It is the class system and authority suppressing the students and moreover society. Politics is having more influence over history due to culture. “When the institution of literary criticism in Britain invokes history, whether as world picture or as long-lost organic community, it is ultimately in order to suppress it, by showing that in essence things are as they have always been”. Belsey begins to conclude her criticism by saying that there is “no political neutrality in the assertion of an unchanging essential human nature”. As a result of the oppressive nature of the governments, there are limitations as to what can be spoken and written about. Belsey argues that this should not be the way.
In conjunction with the above points, Terry Eagleton also explores culture and ideology in the novel ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily Brontë, in relation to the character Heathcliff. He writes, “Heathcliff is subjectively a Heights figure opposing the Grange, and objectively a Grange figure undermining the Heights”. The relationship, Eagleton discusses, between Heathcliff and the world in which he lives, is a complex one. Eagleton speaks a great deal about the capitalist society within the novel. He also criticizes it by mentioning the “increasingly mythical realm of absolute personal value which capitalist social relations cancel”. ‘Wuthering Heights’ is set at a time when social standing and property ownership were intertwined. Heathcliff has nothing, which contrasts with the Earnshaws and the Lintons, who own estates. Heathcliff is not welcome at Thrushcross Grange as he is regarded as “quite unfit for a decent house”. However, Catherine is invited as she is of a higher class than Heathcliff. The difference between the two classes and worlds is evident. The concept of the oppression of the subordinate class, is represented through Heathcliff’s alienation by the capitalists in society. At the beginning of the novel, Heathcliff is oppressed by society. However, he leaves for several years and reappears, wealthy and powerful. He succeeds in taking the Earnshaw’s and the Linton’s properties. “His rise to power symbolizes at once the triumph of the oppressed over capitalism and the triumph of capitalism over the oppressed”. Heathcliff succeeds in gaining wealth and power, but he is now on a similar level to the Earnshaws and Lintons, which conforms with the capitalist society he is living in. The concept of capitalism has seduced Heathcliff into thinking he needs money to gain a higher social status. This coincides with the Marxist theory of false consciousness. The culture of this world revolves around this theory.
Heathcliff challenges the social ideologies of the world. Mr. Lockwood makes Heathcliff sleep with the animals as he is only a servant. No one questions his right to do this, even though they may disapprove. Therefore, people are being suppressed by the capitalist society. Mr. Lockwood incorporates the characteristics associated with men of his stature during this period. He is represented as a quite selfish and detached individual. As a result of this, he fails to recognize the consequences of his actions and the suffering he causes to those less fortunate than him. The subordinate classes tolerate the alienation being forced upon them. However, at the end of the novel, social order is restored. Hareton Earnshaw and Catherine Linton are about to marry and move to Thrushcross Grange together. Eagleton argues that “if the decorous, muted milieu of the Grange will not easily accommodate such passionate intensities, neither will it so readily reveal the more unpleasant face of its social and economic power”. Heathcliff’s defeat is the “transcending of such naked power and the collapse of that passionate protest”.
Through Belsey and Eagleton’s writings, it is clear that to see how Marx theories of culture and ideology are used. Belsey outlines how history has been condensed and argues that history must be discussed and open to interpretation. Social and economic circumstance during the centuries changes the way in which literature can be written and read. Belsey, paired with Eagleton, discuss how the governments, monarchs and social class affect literature through the ages. According to Marx and Engels, ideology ensures the dominance of the ruling class. It achieves this by distorting reality.
Bibliography
- Barker, Francis, Peter Hulme, Margaret Iversen, and Diana Loxley. 2013. Literature Politics & Theory. Routledge.
- Belsey, Catherine. 1983. Literature, History, Politics. Literature and History 9 (1): 17.
- Brontë, E. (2009). Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. New York, NY: Classic Books America.
- Eagleton, T. 2005. Myths of Power: A Marxist Study of the Brontës. Springer.
- Nyu.edu. (2019). What Is Marxism? A Bird's-Eye View. [online] Available at: http://www.nyu.edu/projects/ollman/docs/what_is_marxism.php [Accessed 21 Feb. 2019].
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