Marxist theory assumes class struggle is the root of all struggle and in literature it is the root of all narrative tension. The bourgeoisie (haves) benefit at the expense of the proletariat (have nots). This criticism originally wanted to see the worker rise up in protest and escape exploitation but due to no revolution, it now tries to expose, reveal, or explain the forces at work that keep a revolution from happening that are at work within the artifact. Through this theory, one may find the text reinforces oppressive ideologies that keep the superstructure in place or it might attempt to subvert those ideologies overtly.

Questions: How does the work reflect the social/historical conditions? In what ways the work reinforces capitalist notions and power structures?  In what ways does it seem to support a more Marxist agenda- but then folds back on itself to also exhibits a false consciousness that reinforces the status quo instead?  In which ways is the form itself the product of the historical moment?  What ideologies are present in the text that work to reinforce the status quo and how they work?

Karl Marx- developed Marxism. There has never been a society to be completely in keeping with the principles.