Marxist Analysis of ‘’Look Back in

Anger’’
The Marxist lens is a literary theory that focuses on class conflict and distinctions. It tries to
understand the relationship between economic and social development.
The main character of the play is Jimmy Porter. He is from a working-class Britain family.
Although he has a university degree but he works as a trader in the local market. He runs a
sweet-stall with his friend Cliff and this job does not suit him. He is married to Alison who is
from an upper middle-class family and her family resent her marriage to Jimmy.
Jimmy Porter is the Marxist-critic of the post-war society. His life and his marriage are a bitter
criticism of it. The core of Marxist analysis is the clash between societal classes especially the
working- and middle-class families. The real difference is between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’.
The bourgeoisie uses the superstructure and dominant ideology of the society to exploit the
proletariat.
Jimmy also resents his wife Alison and her family. He keeps humiliating and degrading them.
“Either militant like her Mummy and Daddy. Militant, arrogant and full of malice.”

The resentment that Jimmy shows towards Alison and her family is actually representative of
his resentment towards the middle class. He wants to take revenge from Alison which is a
revenge against the upper class. He wants her to suffer and is satisfied when she loses her child
towards the end of the play.
“If you could have a child, and it would die...if only I could watch you face that.”
The post-war England is no longer a big power in the world and its infrastructure is destroyed.
The society which the play portrays is suffering from trauma of war, inflammation,
unemployment and high taxes. Jimmy is also a part of this society and therefore he has become
very frustrated and depressed. He lives in a congested flat and has a monotonous life due to his
low living standard. He is dissatisfied, disappointed with life in general and finds fault with
almost everything from religion to politics. He attacks the society and has become an ‘angry
young man’, a term coined in the 1950s.
However, Jimmy Porter is not fully conscious of the realities of the society unlike his friend
Hugh. Hugh fully liberates his consciousness and leaves England. On the other hand, Jimmy
refuses to accompany him for the sake of his patriotic goals. He fails to understand that
patriotism is another ideology used by the middle class to keep the lower class settled.
The ending of the play signifies that the simple relationship between these classes is not
possible like their bear and squirrel game.
“Bears and squirrels are marvellous.”
However, the reconciliation of Jimmy and Alison builds a sense of hope. It seems possible that
they will unite their worlds and form a happy relationship but it is equally possible that they will
fall into a cycle of suffering and reconciliation. The class fractions that they represent might find
a way to live in harmony or they might remain perpetually at war.