In my paper, I am going to analyze "The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock" from two different point of view- one is Marxist and the other is Modernist. I plan to shed light on the different aspects of the poem which portrays Marxist as well as Modernist features.
Marxist Criticism.
Marxism is a way of seeing the world around us through the economic terms. For example, Marxists view history as a series of class struggles between the upper and lower classes. Marxists believe that systems of production of goods exist until they are no longer sufficient or altered by a new system. They are often critical of capitalism. 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'. It analyzes the class constructs demonstrated in the literature. Marxism is concerned with economy, social class and the implications and complications of the capitalist system: "Marxism attempts to reveal the ways in which our socioeconomic system is the ultimate source of our experience" (Tyson 277). The English literary critic and cultural theorist Terry Eagleton defines Marxist criticism this way:.
"Marxist criticism is not merely a 'sociology of literature', concerned with how novels get published and whether they mention the working class. Its aim is to explain the literary work more fully; and this means a sensitive attention to its forms, styles and meanings. But it also means grasping those forms, styles and meanings as the product of a particular history." .
Reading Prufrock through Marxist Lenses.
Prufrock can be described as an exploration of the Marxist idea through different poetic devices such as imagery and intertextuality. The poem reflects the relentless pursuit of profits of the capitalists which facilitates the upper classes disadvantaging lower classes as well as the environment.