Marxist literary theory presents a challenge to traditional criticism in the sense that it provides a political social perspective upon literary works. The focus with this critical approach is that it attempts to deconstruct the social reality and "givens" within the text. It is essentially a materialist approach and therefore mainly concentrates upon economic factors and influences and how this can lead to the oppression and subjugation of both the Proletariat and indirectly women. Drew Milne (1996) elegantly expresses this with his comment: .
"Marxism tries to offer a critique of the ideological distortion of human interests, recognising the relation between civilisation and barbarity in literature, but without simply mirroring the current system of production." .
Therefore, the conceptions within literary and fundamental Marxism can easily be directed towards inequality and the complex economic relations within families. It criticises the oppressive determinist social values and norms in society that govern the individual by common-held morals, expectations and the undermining of free will. A text that can easily be acquainted with this approach is May Sinclair's (1863-1946) novel: The Life and Death of Harriett Frean, as it concentrates upon the Victorian English class system and the willing oppression of the named protagonist. Although May Sinclair's focus in the novel is upon Psychoanalysis and the repression of sexuality, the actions, virtues and social systems within this text are relevant to Marxist literary criticism. The Victorian family in this text are portrayed severely and are seen to be subjected to values that essentially cause the disintegration of both family life and human relationships. The protagonist's life, Harriett Frean, is highlighted by self-inflicted self-sacrifice and by the chant-like repetition of "behaving beautifully". This "chant" (which appears no less than fifteen times throughout the novel) is seen by Harriett as the moral embodiment of all what her parents thought and did.