Struggle for Power from Marxist Perspective

754 Words4 Pages
Abraham Lincoln once said; “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.” As a species, humans have been able to overcome hardships, disasters, and difficulties, but nothing has caused more conflict than power, or rather, the struggle for it. Man's inherent need for power, branded "ambition" by those instigating, has arguably been the root of most political and economic conflicts throughout history. In William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’, Tennessee Williams’s ‘Streetcar Named Desire’, and Jenny Diski’s ‘The Vanishing Princess or The Origins of Cubism’, the struggle for power is one of the main themes and can be analyzed from a Marxist perspective. The first example can be taken from the short story ‘The Vanishing Princess or The Origins of Cubism’ written by Jenny Diski. This short story tells the tale of a locked up princess that lives in a world where food, time, and self-awareness cease to exist. That is until two soldiers find her and give her gifts such as food, a calendar, and a mirror. In the story, the soldiers represent the bourgeoisie controlling all material good that are given to the princess. These gifts lead to the princess representing the proletariat experiences material failure when she realizes she has never had these things and likely never will. The power that the soldiers quickly acquired over the princess was used for personal gain by them. This was illustrated when the author states “…the sight of a woman eating excited him as nothing else now could.” Pg. 292 In society soldiers are generally known as honourable men but in the story the two soldiers show their character which is illustrated as one that does not care about others. When given power over the princess they take advantage of it leaving her lonely, and uncertain of her existence. This is shown when the princess states;

More about Struggle for Power from Marxist Perspective

Open Document