Female Economic Exploitation: A Marxist Feminist Analysis of Woolf’s ‘The Duchess and the Jeweller’
Abstract
This study aims to demystify the underneath realities of the social structure in the context of Marxist feminism. Although the world has gone modern, and one observes the modernization in almost every field of life yet when we observe through our experiential actualities around the existing world, we realize that women have always been a victim of capital under the control of men. Ehrenreich (1976) relates that we find Marxist feminism as a kind of theory that emerges as a reunion of Marxism and Feminism. These two theories Marxism and Feminism particularly focus on all the possible forms and types of structured and well-planned inequalities which lead one to the episodic happening of ordeals of disadvantaged and disempowered individuals. In this research, the writer has tried to unravel woman’s exploitation through class stratification; social and emotional oppression using Marxist feminism as a literary vista. This research takes Woolf’s short story ‘The Duchess and the Jeweller’ in the context of Engel’s book (1902). The study of the selected short story concludes that Marxist feminism states that capitalism is the only reason for the woman’s oppression and subjugation and second-class status in society which can only be possible by bringing change in social structure.
Keywords: Marxist feminism, women’s subjugation, experiential actualities, episodic ordeals, change in social structure
References
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Pelz, A. W. (1998). Friedrich Engels: A critical centenary appreciation. Science & Society, Vol. 62, No. 1, Spring, 1998: 117-126. Published By: Guilford Press. Retrived from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40403691
Rodriguez, L., m., L. (2001). Contradiction and ambivalence: Virginia Woolf and the aesthetic experience in ‘The Duchess and the Jeweller’, Journal of English studies, 3, (3), DOI: 10.18172/jes.73. University of Santiago de Compostela.
Raman, S. et al. (2005). A reader’s guide to contemporary literary theory. Great Britain: Pearson Education Limited
Shakespeare, W. (1988). King Lear. Project Gutenberg’s, [e-Book #1532]. Retrieved from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1532/1532-h/1532-h.htm
Smith, S. (2005). Women and Socialism: Essays on Women’s Liberation. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2005. Print.
Sikka, P. (2013). The hand of accounting and accountancy firms in deepening income and wealth inequalities and the economic crisis: some evidence. Critical Perspectives on Accounting 30: 46-62.
Snell, K.D.M. (1985) Annals of the labouring poor: Social change and agrarian England, 1660-1900. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tyson, L. (2006).Critical theory today: A user friendly guide. 2nd ed. New York: Routlege, 2006. Print
Vogel, L. (1983). Marxism and oppression of women. NJ: Rutgers, University Press.
Vogel, L. (1995). Woman questions: Essays for a materialist feminism. New York: Routledge
Shakespeare, W. (2003-2020). King Lear, Program code and database, , George Mason University
Wood, E., M. (1995). Democracy against capitalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Woolf, V. (2012). The duchess and the jeweller. [e-Book #: 1203821], Retrieved from: https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks12/1203821h.html#ch-13
Bozzoli, B.(1983). Marxism, Feminism and South African studies. Source: Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Apr., 1983), Taylor and Francis. pp. 139- 17. Print.
Brecht, B. & Willet, J. (1964).Brecht on theatre: The development of aesthetic. New York: Hill and Wang.
Cheng E. & Zhongbao, E. (2018). Enriching and developing Marxism in the twenty-first century in various aspects: Six definitions of Marxism, international critical thought, 8:2, 177‐192.
Coontz, S. & Henderson, P. (1986). Women’s work, men’s property: The origins of gender and class. (Editors) Coontz & Henderson. London: Verso
Dekoster, L. (2018). Marxism, the classless society and history. Action Institute. Retrieved from: https://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2018/04/04/marxism-classless-society-and-history
Donavan, J. 2000. Feminist theory the intellectual traditions. UK: Continuum.
Eagleton, T. (1976). Marxism and literary criticism., University of California Press.
Eisenstein, Z., R. (1978). Capitalist patriarchy and the case for socialist feminism. New York: London: Monthly Review Press.
Ehrenreich, B. (1976): What is socialist feminism. Retrived from: Barbara Ehrenreich Archive https://www.marxists.org/subject/women/authors/ehrenreich-barbara/socialist-feminism.htm
Engels, F. (1902). The origin of the family, private property and the state. (Trans. By Untermann, E.) Charles H. Retrieved from: https://books.google.com.pk/books/about/The_Origin_of_the_Family_Private_Propert.
Federici, S. (1975). Wages against housework. (1st ed.) ©Silvia Federici ISBN 0 9S02702 9
Firestone, S. (1970). The dialectic of sex: The case for feminist revolution. William Morrow and company.
ISBN : 978-1784780524.
Ferguson, S. (1999). Building on the strengths of the socialist feminist tradition. Critical Sociology, No. 25(1):1-15
Gill, A., A. & HAider, S.(2018) Integration of Transitivity and Psycho-Analyses to Explore Stream of Consciousness Technique to Portray Victorian Age. International Journal of Language and Linguistics Vol. 5, No. 4, doi:10.30845/ijll.v5n4p19 156, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Gimenez, M., E. (1991). The mode of reproduction in transition: A Marxist-feminist analysis of the effects of reproductive technologies. Source: Gender and Society, Vol. 5, No. 3, Special Issue: Marxist Feminist Theory ,pp. 334-350. Print.
Gramsci, A. (2000). Prison notebooks of Antonio Gramsci (Q. Hoare, G., N. Smith, Trans.). Antonio Gramsci internet archive, (Original work published 1971). Retrieved from: https://www.marxists.org/archive/gramsci/
Hartmann, H. (1981). The unhappy marriage of Marxism and Feminism: Towards a more progressive union. In Women and Revolution: A Discussion of the Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism.
Lydia Sargent ed. Montreal: Black Rose
Holmstrom, N. (2002). The socialist feminist project: A contemporary reader in theory and politics. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Hossain, D.M. (2013). Do the ideas of the ‘myths of matriarchy’ prevail in the modern world? Journal of Arts, Science & Commerce IV (2): 115- 120.
Hurst, C.E. (2010). Social inequality forms, causes and consequences. (7th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Kollontai, A. (1977). Prostitution and ways of fighting it. (Trans. By Holt. A.). Retrieved from: https://www.marxists.org/archive/kollonta/1921/prostitution.htm
Ladurie, E., L., R. (1974). The peasants of Languedoc. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Lokaneeta, J. (2001). Alexandra Kollontai and Marxist feminism. Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 36, No. 17: 1405-1412. Published By: Economic and Political Weekly, Retrieved from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4410544
Luxton, M. & Bezanson, K. (2006). Social reproduction: Feminist political economy challenges neo-liberalism. Kate Bezanson and Meg Luxton, eds. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Kollontai, A. (1977). Prostitution and ways of fighting it. (Trans. By Holt. A.). Retrieved from: https://www.marxists.org/archive/kollonta/1921/prostitution.htm
McHugh, N., A. (2007). Feminist Philosophies A–Z. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007, Print.
Madden, M., C. (2006). Virginia Woolf and the persistent question of class: The protean nature of class and self. Graduate theses and dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/2612
Marx, K. (1999). Wage labour and capital, (F. Engels.Edited/Trans.). Marxists Internet Archive. (marxists.org).(Original work published 1849).Retrieved from https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/wage-labour/
Marx, K. (1999). Das capital: A critique of political economy,Vol.1. (S. Moore & E. Aveling, Trans.). (Edited) by F. Engels Marxists Internet Archive, (Original work published 1867).Retrieved from https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/.
Marx, K., Engels, F., & Stedman, J. G. (2002). The communist manifesto. London: Penguin Books.
Marx, K.& Engels,F. (2010). The German ideology . (C. Dutt., W. Lough & C. P. Magill Trans.). (Eds.)USA: J.S. Allen, P.S. Foner, D.J. Struik & W. W. Weinstone. Digital Edition Copyright © Lawrence & Wishart (Original work published 1932). ISBN 978-1-84327-949-5.
McLellan D (1974). Karl Marx: His life and thought. New York, Harper & Row [1974, 1973].
Pelz, A. W. (1998). Friedrich Engels: A critical centenary appreciation. Science & Society, Vol. 62, No. 1, Spring, 1998: 117-126. Published By: Guilford Press. Retrived from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40403691
Rodriguez, L., m., L. (2001). Contradiction and ambivalence: Virginia Woolf and the aesthetic experience in ‘The Duchess and the Jeweller’, Journal of English studies, 3, (3), DOI: 10.18172/jes.73. University of Santiago de Compostela.
Raman, S. et al. (2005). A reader’s guide to contemporary literary theory. Great Britain: Pearson Education Limited
Shakespeare, W. (1988). King Lear. Project Gutenberg’s, [e-Book #1532]. Retrieved from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1532/1532-h/1532-h.htm
Smith, S. (2005). Women and Socialism: Essays on Women’s Liberation. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2005. Print.
Sikka, P. (2013). The hand of accounting and accountancy firms in deepening income and wealth inequalities and the economic crisis: some evidence. Critical Perspectives on Accounting 30: 46-62.
Snell, K.D.M. (1985) Annals of the labouring poor: Social change and agrarian England, 1660-1900. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tyson, L. (2006).Critical theory today: A user friendly guide. 2nd ed. New York: Routlege, 2006. Print
Vogel, L. (1983). Marxism and oppression of women. NJ: Rutgers, University Press.
Vogel, L. (1995). Woman questions: Essays for a materialist feminism. New York: Routledge
Shakespeare, W. (2003-2020). King Lear, Program code and database, , George Mason University
Wood, E., M. (1995). Democracy against capitalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Woolf, V. (2012). The duchess and the jeweller. [e-Book #: 1203821], Retrieved from: https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks12/1203821h.html#ch-13
Published
2022-03-31
How to Cite
RAFIQUE, Sabahat.
Female Economic Exploitation: A Marxist Feminist Analysis of Woolf’s ‘The Duchess and the Jeweller’.
University of Chitral Journal of Linguistics & Literature, [S.l.], v. 6, n. I, p. 160-176, mar. 2022.
ISSN 2663-1512.
Available at: <https://jll.uoch.edu.pk/index.php/journal10/article/view/356>. Date accessed: 26 mar. 2023.
doi: https://doi.org/10.33195/jll.v6iI.356.
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